National Forests

Former U.S. Forest Service Chiefs Ponder Future

Kim Briggeman, Missoulian
Sep 10, 2009

Excerpts:

Tomorrow's U.S. Forest Service and its new chief forester should take leadership roles in hot-button conservation issues.

"I think the Forest Service really has to show what we can do regarding climate change. There's a huge number of things the Forest Service can do in that realm," Dale Bosworth said Wednesday.

"The chief ought to be a high-profile conservationist visible to the public again, because that bully pulpit is still there," agreed Mike Dombeck.

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Backcountry pilots push for better access

Karl Puckett, Great Falls Tribune
Aug 30, 2009

Excerpts:

John McKenna, a 55-year-old pilot from Bozeman and the president of the Recreational Aviation Foundation, said the Montana airstrip is the first to be approved on any forest in the nation in 40 years, but he's lobbying for more like it.

… In July, then-Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell outlined the agency's policy on backcountry airstrips in a memo to regional foresters, calling them "an appropriate use of National Forest System lands."

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Light in the Forests

Editorial Board, New York Times
Aug 21, 2009

Excerpts:

Mr. Vilsack’s speech displayed a firm grasp of the importance of healthy forests, and he promised to work with landowners to keep even private forests in good shape. “It is essential,” he said, in language not much heard in his department, “that we reconnect Americans across the nation with the natural resources and landscapes that sustain us.”

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Make Roadless Rule Law

Editorial Board, Eugene Register-Guard
Aug 7, 2009

Excerpts:

Despite the court’s ruling and the administration’s timeout on road-building, the roadless rule remains at risk. Environmental regulations are vulnerable to legal challenges, and the roadless rule remains entangled in litigation. For example, environmental groups are appealing a Wyoming district court judge’s decision from last year repealing the roadless rule.

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Forest Road Ban Reinstated

Seattle Times
Aug 6, 2009

 Excerpts:

A federal appeals court Wednesday blocked road construction in at least 40 million acres of national forests, including about 2 million acres in Washington state and 2 million acres in Oregon.

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Officials deciding fate of national forest roads

AP, Silver City (NM) Sun-News
Aug 3, 2009

Excerpts:

Hundreds of miles of dirt roads and trails cut through northern New Mexico's mountains. The hard part is deciding which ones to keep open and which to close.

It's a scenario that's playing itself out across the country as the U.S. Forest Service tries to designate by 2010 a system of motorized routes that will provide recreational opportunities while still protecting America's natural resources.

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Studies foresee dilemma over forest carbon storage

Jeff Barnard (AP), Seattle Times
Jul 8, 2009

Excerpts:

Globally, forests can absorb up to 30 percent of the carbon released by burning fossil fuels.

But when they are clearcut for lumber and to clear farmland, or allowed to burn uncontrollably, they also release huge amounts of carbon, said Steve Running, professor of ecology at the University of Montana and a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's latest report on global warming.

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Forest Service must reinstate tougher guidelines

Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle
Jul 1, 2009

Excerpts:

U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilkin ruled in favor of a group of 14 environmental organizations that sued the U.S. Forest Service for essentially relaxing regulations in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act.

The decision means the Forest Service will have to reinstate rules protecting fish and wildlife and limiting logging in 150 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering 192 million acres, including more than a dozen national forests in California.

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Judge Won't Limit Scope of Decision Axing Roadless Rule

Noelle Straub (Greenwire), New York Times
Jun 17, 2009

Excerpts:

A federal judge has denied the government's request that he reconsider or limit his 2008 decision to Wyoming after tossing the 2001 roadless rule nationwide -- a decision that conflicts with a California federal judge's decision upholding the rule.

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Trail users collide in crowded forests in Colorado

Mark Jaffe, Denver Post
Jun 14, 2009

Excerpts:

Colorado — with about 27.1 million forest visitors, more than any other state — is ground zero in the effort to stop riders and hikers from bushwhacking their own trails and in sorting out the sometimes conflicting uses.

"People go to the forest with expectations — a quiet hike, motoring through the woods. When those expectations clash, you get tensions," said Peter Newman, a Colorado State University professor studying natural resources and recreation.
 

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