Feb 03 2012
From today’s Missoulian . . . The U.S. Forest Service wants to speed up work on national forests, for both timber production and forest health. “Collaboration is most effective in getting forests managed in a proper way,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a conference call on Thursday. “We want to move beyond the conflicts [...]
Jan 27 2012
Here’s a pretty useful write-up on the proposed new national forest planning rule. Or, for those of you who like to read source documents, the official U.S. Forest Service press release and a link to the (take a deep breath) “Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule” [...]
Jan 26 2012
A shiny, new set of national forest management rules are due to take effect in early March . . . The Obama administration says new rules to manage nearly 200 million acres of national forests will protect watersheds and wildlife while promoting uses ranging from recreation to logging. The new rules, to replace guidelines thrown [...]
Oct 26 2011
This week, Larry has some observations about the U.S. Forest Service bureaucracy . . . As promised early in the summer, the Forest Service has rebuilt boat access sites at the Canada border and at Ford Ranger Station. Although it will be easier to launch at Ford due to the removal of the wooden terraces, [...]
Jul 20 2011
In this week’s column, Larry Wilson covers a broad range of topics, including the Border Patrol’s seemingly excessive secrecy about their operations . . . It has been another action-packed, fun-filled week on the North Fork, with community service, educational, informative and just plain fun social events. The biggest gathering was for the interlocal meeting, [...]
Jun 20 2011
From the just-published North Fork Bear News . . . The U.S. Forest Service in cooperation with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Glacier National Park and others is sponsoring a community bear fair on July 9th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Polebridge Mercantile. The event will feature educational talks, booths and displays [...]
Apr 21 2011
Larry Wilson’s column this week discusses the changes on the North Fork over the last century or so, especially those related to Forest Service activity . . . I have written several times about how change has affected the North Fork, especially the changes brought about by the influx of the two periods of homesteading [...]
Mar 23 2011
This article from today’s Missoulian is well worth reading if you have any interest in the proposed changes to the USFS planning rule. The write-up includes information on how to access the planning rule website and leave comments . . . It’s a little like changing the shape of the strike zone in baseball, or [...]
Dec 03 2010
U.S. Forest Service Regional Forester Leslie Weldon gave a talk at the University of Montana yesterday. The presentation seemed short on specifics, so it wasn’t entirely clear whether he was advocating good things, bad things or just being diplomatic, but any time the Forest Service adjusts the way they do business, it has a pretty [...]
Sep 09 2010
Today’s Missoulian has an interesting, slightly worrisome, article on changes in management and focus within the U.S. Forest Service . . . Not quite a year into her station as top forester of Region 1, Leslie Weldon finds herself in the middle of a major U.S. Forest Service identity change… Region 1 covers 25 million [...]
