The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views
Community Sourced, Shared and Supported
A Nov. 7 article in The Missoulian by Rob Chaney. Public lands advocates push collaborative approach Collaboration brings people together. Lawsuits divide them. Reaching the first without triggering the second remains the challenge for those interested in the future of forests. Montana public lands currently have between 30,000 and 40,000 acres left in legal limbo … Read more
Discussion about the unfair access of litigants to decision-makers ignores the privileged position of local governments and economic interests during the planning process. That is illustrated by this account of a meeting between the Forest Service, ESA regulatory agencies and northeast Oregon ranchers and county commissioners concerning revision of the Blue Mountains forest plans and … Read more
NCFP Bloggers, You may recall that I am editing a book, a collection of essays called 193 Million Acres: Toward a Healthier and More Resilient U.S. Forest Service. The aim is to present constructive proposals for increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the agency — solutions that would address challenges the agency faces. I have … Read more
Interesting look behind the scenes…. The former Southern Appalachian Regional Director for The Wilderness Society was the catalyst and key facilitator for a compromise and groundbreaking proposal for the Pisgah-Nantahala national forests that brought conservationists and recreational users together under one umbrella. But that collaboration would eventually cost Brent Martin his job. A local activist … Read more
This is a must read! Public lands, wildlife management and Forest Service censorship, oh my! Dr. Martin Nie is not only the director of the distinguished Bolle Center for People and Forests at the University of Montana…but Dr. Nie was one of the founders of this blog. The Missoulian article also includes quotes from current … Read more
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 Forest may sell 123 million board feet of timber by the end of fiscal 2017, WJFW-TV reported. That would mark the fifth … Read more
Secretary Perdue Announces Tony Tooke as New Forest Service Chief (Washington, D.C., August 21, 2017) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced Tony Tooke will serve as the new Chief of the U.S. Forest Service. Tooke has worked for the Forest Service since age 18 and currently is the Regional Forester for the … Read more
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court denial of a preliminary injunction for the North Fork Mill Creek A to Z Project on the Colville National Forest, which has been discussed here. Of note, the question of contractor-NEPA was not addressed, although the court said that the Forest Service “reviewed and approved” the EA, and … Read more
The take-homes from Trump’s first Forest Service budget suggest a significant shift in how this administration views the Forest Service. Timber sale levels will go down modestly. With the Forest Products line item funded at a no-change level of $360 million, I predict sale levels will remain below 3 billion board feet (notwithstanding a stated … Read more
This piece was written by longtime Wilderness advocate Howie Wolke. – mk When it comes to wilderness, bigger is better. From a human perspective, it is difficult to experience wilderness values such as awe, oneness with nature, solitude and challenge in isolated natural areas hemmed in by roads or noisy machines. The authors of the … Read more