Take a close look at our national forests and you will find that they are scarred by a vast network of unused roads left over from years past. This road system was born of industrial logging practices allowed decades ago, but today it’s an outdated, crumbling and environmentally-harmful vestige on the land. It’s time to start removing these roads, not only because doing so will improve water quality and help decrease a massive maintenance backlog, but because it will give us one more tool in the fight against climate change. more

A troubling recent report from the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) claims that private forestland contributes more to state economies than public land. NAFO draws this conclusion by ignoring most of the diverse economic values derived from public forestland. For Montana, the NAFO report claims that each acre of private forestland adds $570 to annual gross domestic product compared to $190 for a public acre. The NAFO claim should be troubling to Montanans because of the high profile Montana Legacy Project. more

This year is shaping up to be a banner year for environmental policy. The Obama administration is making decisions based on sound science and reason, peeling away actions and policies created in the past administration that significantly weakened environmental protections. The administration is establishing a new hope for our forests and wildlife. more