Whether tucked away in his office in Denver or out exploring the forests, mountains, and canyons of Colorado, our Central Rockies Assistant Regional Director Steve Smith is immersed in the process of protecting the wilderness he loves. Now even the Forest Service has taken note, selecting him as this year’s recipient of one of their most prestigious honors: the Bob Marshall Award for Individual Champion of Wilderness Stewardship. more

On a hot summer day last week, a group of forest scientists and managers hiked up a cool Idaho mountain ridge to look at trees in trouble. Whitebark pines are hardy, gnarly and long-lived trees at high elevations across the Pacific Crest, western Canada and the Northern Rockies of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. While these trees have long withstood wind, snows and freezing temperatures for millennium, on slopes from 5,000 to over 12,000 feet — today, a combination of conditions puts the species at risk. more

Areas of the Prescott National Forest in Arizona are getting a long overdue visitor called fire. Normally, this wouldn’t be news — the type of ponderosa pine forests that make up places like the Prescott are naturally thinned out and tidied up by low-intensity fires every five years or so. It’s like nature’s maid service. more