The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views
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Arizona Lumber and Timber Company, Coconino National Forest, 1939, photo by Walter H. Shaffer Sometimes language can get in the way. Foresters are becoming aware that their traditional language for cutting trees confuses the public, and reduced their ability to explain what they are trying to accomplish. This is especially true today when trying to … Read more
The announcement went out today for the dates of the initial series of public meetings on a new planning rule, including: A science forum in Washington D.C. on March 29-30. Three National Roundtable meetings on April 1-2, April 20-21, and May 11-12. Regional roundtable meetings in April: Pacific Northwest Region (Region 6), Portland, OR … Read more
I hope all of us will post responses to the NOI for the planning rule that we find interesting. Frankly, we all are a bit overwhelmed at this point (some people have sent me copies of theirs, plus we will all be able to access the comments when they are published on the FS website). … Read more
Army Officer at Nine Mile Camp, Mt. Baker National Forest, 1933, photo by W.L. Baker The more we look at the literature, the more evidence we find that our current NFMA management system doesn’t align with the current thinking about land use management. We gravitate toward adaptive management, but we don’t quite grasp it yet. … Read more
In the early 1990s a few of us — Hanna Cortner, Maggie Shannon, Larry Davis and a couple of us in the Intermountain Region — nudged the Forest Service toward an approach we called “Building Public Decisions”. Today we might call such adaptive co-management or collaborative stewardship, or ??. In 1993 I ran a little … Read more
Whether we are talking about planning, assessments, monitoring, or any other managerial function it is good practice to also talk about what I like to call the “p” words, psychology and politics. Here is a little tidbit I’ve been thinking about again recently. How often do we resort to blaming others for our own problems/failings? … Read more
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (center) expresses his appreciation for being given the opportunity to tour and learn more about Arizona’s groundbreaking effort to restore forest health and protect fire-threatened communities. Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick (left) and various local and forest officials accompanied Vilsack on the tour. Please see story on Four Forests Initiative in … Read more
Here I suggested we meet back here in a week after we had time to read the report of the Forest Options Group. I’m glad that Andy brought this paper to our attention. Many of the problems are still as relevant today as they were in 1997. Not really about planning but interesting to me.. … Read more
Jim Burchfield January 18, 2009 If genuine, deliberative collaborative processes become an inviolate principle in the development and implementation of a new generation of National Forest plans, then the geographic scale of planning becomes one of the most important early decisions in the establishment of planning rules. I will argue that a vital, but not … Read more
Some of these comments sounded worthy of discussion. I was intrigued by the concept that somehow collaboration avoids NEPA and other legal requirements. I guess I was having trouble imagining collaborating at any level on anything that ultimately results in decisions that violate legal requirements- because the legal nexus is the decision. Can someone help … Read more