Clik here to view.
Forest Service Mindshift: From Regulators to Partners
The Forest Service seems to love the idea of partnerships, but questions remain as to how this happened, and where it will end. I’m not talking about government-to-government collaboration here, but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
National Voter Attitudes Toward America’s Forests
I ran across this report of a survey done by NASF which I thought was interesting. Here’s the survey. Given these factors, seven out of ten voters support maintaining or increasing efforts to protect...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hooray for Transparency!
Here is Region Five’s “Ecological Restoration Implementation Plan”. It is definitely worth a browse, especially if you are a local within or near any of these National Forests. Each Forest spells out...
View ArticleForest Supervisor speaks out on behalf of public lands
Kudos to the Forest Supervisor on the Cleveland National Forest for engaging in the local planning process and pointing out the threats to the national forest of increased housing density on its...
View ArticleBP makes the FS look bad
An interesting story of “all lands” planning (or not). BP has filed a lawsuit against a large residential development adjacent to its forested property, and also adjacent to a national forest. “Along...
View ArticleLocal planning and forest planning
I think this article was an offshoot of the recent surge in discussion of transferring federal land to Montana (and other western states). (A number of the articles linked in the sidebar are about...
View ArticleNew possible planning tool for the birds
The study analyzed 308 species of birds that live on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service, the two largest public land managers in the western United States. Drawing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Yosemite Visit
I recently spent three days in the Yosemite National Park area, shooting each day, in different locations. Yes, I did find a marvelous group of dispersed camping sites (free!) within the Rim Fire...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Update From the Yosemite “Laboratory”
Here is a stitched-together panorama from the Foresta area of Yosemite National Park. I’ll have to pair it up with my historical version, one of these days. Restoration processes seem to be minimal, as...
View ArticleSage grouse plans are out
Here are national and state perspectives. The proposals to amend federal BLM and Forest Service plans to protect sage grouse have been released. I haven’t read the new plan components but I have...
View ArticleShould the Forest Service intervene on the side of environmental groups?
“Public interest groups filed a lawsuit Thursday, Sept. 15, challenging the city of Highland’s approval of the high-density Harmony development. The development sits at the confluence of Mill Creek and...
View ArticleCommunity Planning Assistance for Wildfire
“Working with communities to reduce wildfire risks through improved land use planning.” (A self-help program for communities in the WUI – a little late for this year, but something to think about for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Personnel, politics and public access to public lands
Yes, it looks like Forest Service employees should be concerned about how Trump might affect their careers. Here’s an example about offending private landowners who block access to national forests....
View ArticleAnother kind of access challenge
Sometimes the threat to national forest access results from undeveloped private land adjacent to a national forest becoming a subdivision, and here’s an example of that. In a recent development...
View ArticleUtah counties make plans for federal lands
Sagebrush Rebellion light? The state required counties to make these plans, which by itself should be a good thing (especially where there has historically been anti-planning sentiment). “This helps us...
View Article“I understand firefighter safety, but you have to put people on the fire.”
This from a resident near the Lolo Peak Fire – a fire that had recently killed one firefighter. He added, “I’m tired of the smoke and I’m tired of the fire. I think there needs to be more...
View ArticleForest plans and “valid existing rights”
This is about forest plan litigation – sort of. The Michigan Wilderness Act included a provision protecting “valid existing rights.” A series of forest plan amendments by the Ottawa National Forest...
View ArticleWhen the locals pay for national forest fuel reduction …
Everybody wins? “So were Flagstaff officials prescient when they proposed what, at the time, was one of the first municipal partnerships with a national forest to have lands outside city boundaries...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Good Neighbor Authority
This isn’t something that has been discussed here, but in the last couple of days I’ve seen two stories that make it sound like the greatest thing since tab tops. The Chequamegon-Nicolet National...
View ArticleReview of collaborative restoration initiatives
The Forest Service funded a study (2 page summary here) of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program and the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership. Of note (to me any way):...
View Article