North Fork Preservation Association » national forests

Excellent local coverage of Tester’s “new-style wilderness bill”

nfpa — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:24:28 +0000

The Daily Inter Lake posted a set of well-written articles late last night on Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, including an interesting overview of previous efforts. Looks like Jim Mann had a long, hard day putting all this stuff together.

Here are the links and lead-ins . . .

Tester unveils new-style wilderness bill

Backed by loggers, outfitters, conservationists, hunters and anglers, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., unveiled forest management legislation for the state, with wilderness designations, on Friday in Townsend.

The 80-page Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is largely based on the input of collaborative groups involving diverse interests over the last few years.

Bill includes 25 wilderness areas

The Jobs and Recreation Bill includes 25 new wilderness designations in Montana, many of them small, and Sen. Jon Tester says that is a reflection of how the bill was tailor-made through years of collaborative negotiations.

Williams recalls past wilderness proposal battles

Former Montana Rep. Pat Williams unsuccessfully tried to pass wilderness legislation 16 times during his 18 years in Congress, but he says things have changed since then and Sen. Jon Tester’s proposal stands a better chance.

Tester tackles forest disputes with sweeping bill

nfpa — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 07:49:30 +0000

Here’s the Associated Press coverage of Tester’s forest bill . . .

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is tackling bitter, decades-old forest disputes head-on, unveiling a plan Friday that promises both more logging and more wilderness areas in Montana.

Read the entire article . . .

National forest roadless rule revived — sort of

nfpa — Sun, 31 May 2009 05:10:50 +0000

I’ve you’ve lost track of the administrative and legal status of the infamous national forest “roadless rule,” you’re not alone. The Obama administration has effectively reinstated it — sort of — for a year while they figure things out. Here’s the lede from the Associated Press article as published in yesterday’s online Flathead Beacon . . .

The Obama administration is ordering a one-year moratorium on most road-building and other development on about 50 million acres of remote national forests.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued a directive Thursday reinstating for one year most of a Clinton-era ban against new road construction and development in national forests. The 2001 rule banned road-building and logging in more than 58 million acres of remote national forests, mostly in the West.

Conflicting court decisions issued since then have left the so-called roadless rule’s legal status in doubt.

Read the entire article . . .

Stimulus money discussed; wilderness designation mentioned

nfpa — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:07:48 +0000

There’s sort of an odd article in today’s Daily Interlake reporting on a presentation by Regional Forester Tom Tidwell concerning plans for federal stimulus money in the area’s national forests. Wilderness designation also gets a passing mention, as well a number of other interesting tidbits.

Here’s the lead . . .

A wave of federal stimulus money will hit the ground in national forests soon, and it will be aimed at boosting private sector employment, Regional Forester Tom Tidwell said Monday in Kalispell.

In a meeting with the Inter Lake’s editorial board, Tidwell also discussed the importance of maintaining a Montana timber industry and the potential for wilderness designations in the region.

Read the entire article . . .