The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views
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Outside of Montana the entire forest/wilderness protection community has rallied together to oppose a mandated logging bill for America’s national forests sponsored by Rep Doc Hastings (R-WA), Rep Steve Daines (R-MT) and 21 other GOP House members. The so-called “Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act” (H.R. 1526), which reads more like a timber industry/Sage … Read more
One of the reasons we started this blog was to increase the net discussions between law school folks and practitioners of planning and NEPA. This is a video recorded in October 2007. The main voices are Fred Norbury, Professors Fred Cheever of the University of Denver Law School and Mark Squillace of University of Colorado … Read more
Forest Service announces transfer of forest restoration contract FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Forest Service announced today the nation’s largest stewardship contract to treat 300,000 acres over a 10-year period as part of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) has been transferred from Pioneer Forest Products to Good Earth Power AZ LLC (Good Earth). Good Earth … Read more
Thanks to Char for sending this.. here’s an excerpt: Not all fire’s consequences are as obviously beneficial, at least not for those of us dependent on mountainous watersheds to sustain our thirsty downstream communities. Yet it turns out that in this context too words, and the thoughts and actions they generate, matter. Although some reports … Read more
A reader who works for the Forest Service sent the below in: Excerpt from AFRC newsletter. Highlighted is what we are finding….takes longer and is more painful. We find that we have to make LOTS more words and speak and field trips, etc., that never change the outcome on the ground… Each panel member was … Read more
Listening to the Forest Service and new roads discussion, and the points made about generalized statements about “enviros” in our discussions last week, I was thinking perhaps we should adopt an additional civility goal. Maybe as part of our continuous improvement program in civility. t seems like our first goal was “don’t call people names”. … Read more
This blog has had numerous posts, debates and discussions about the Four Forest Restoration (4FRI) in Arizona, including this article, “Is the US Forest Service killing the last best chance to save the Southwest’s forests?” Well, the latest development via the in-depth reporting of Pete Aleshire with the Payson Roundup in an article yesterday titled, … Read more
A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) titled, “Forest Service Trails: Long- and Short-Term Improvements Could Reduce Maintenance Backlog and Enhance System Sustainability” was released recently. According to the report, one-quarter of the Forest Service’s 158000 miles of trails met the agency’s standards, and the estimated trail maintenance backlog is $314 million, with … Read more
The following article, written by Claudine LoMonaco, appeared in the Santa Fe Reporter recently. The article provides a number of details about a series of alleged lies, deceits and questionable business practices concerning Pioneer Forest Products, described as an “under-the-radar company from Montana” that “lied about its work history in its proposal to the federal … Read more
A reader sent me this link: here’s his review: Bill Imbergamo’s hit it out of the park with his oral and written testimony. I wanted to give him a hug. Norm Johnson was awesome about the variable retention and science, children’s books, etc Risch was spot-on also. If you haven’t watched, I highly recommend it. … Read more