Forest Service in the News©
NATIONAL NEWS
Groups urge national ATV limits, Duluth News Tribune
Forest Service caught using misleading photo - Area shown suggested natural area but was actually logged, MSNBC
Logging promo oversteps bounds, Pasadena Star-News editorial
Ponderosa Poster Child - U. S. Forest Service Misrepresenting the Historic Condition of Western Forests and the Effects of Fire Suppression and Logging, Swan View Coalition
Public lands under attack, Denver Post editorial
Super seeding Mother Nature, Tacoma News Tribune
Scotts' New Turf, The Motley Fool

Drought, Heat, Dead Trees Inflame Fears of Wildfires - Officials across the West fear conditions are ripe for a fire season even more devastating than those of recent years, Los Angeles Times

D'oh! Rey: Me? - USDA's Mark Rey drags feet on releasing info about forest policymaking - Forest Service boss won't say where forest management ideas came from, Grist magazine
Fire offers Forest Service a lesson in accountability - Forest Service must make public commitment to fireline safety, Idaho Statesman editorial
Who Us, Clowns? , Los Angeles Times
Forests, fees and second thoughts, Headwaters Idaho Falls Post Register
Sale of mining patents roils Crested Butte residents - For less than $1,000, Phelps Dodge has acquired 155 acres of USFS property next to a resort town where a tenth-of-an-acre lot is selling for $100,000, Denver Post
Diamond Bar cattle are sold at auction, Silver City Daily Press
Shrubland Fire Management, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

Congressmen want probe of PR spending, San Francisco Chronicle
Selling 'Pay to Play', Register-Guard editorial
Road Rage, Taxpayers for Common Sense
Forest roads lapsing into disrepair, Helena Independent Record
Foresters decry double standard, Missoula Independent
Project Learning Tree - Lessons from loggers taught in America's public schools - Don't Be Fooled: The Ten Worst Greenwashers of 2003, The Green Life
WORLD NEWS
Forest of paper flushed, Calgary Herald
Rescuing a jewel in Peru - Eager to slow the destruction of the world's ecologically rich rain forests, Chicago benefactors help lock away one biological mother lode, Chicago Tribune
Rescuing a jewel: Saving the Cordillera Azul - Preservation vs. profit: Conservationists won protected status for a huge swath of Peru's rain forest, but oil, timber and cocaine interests remain a constant threat, Chicago Tribune


More forest in corporate hands - 57 per cent of Canada's commercial forest is now under the control of private companies, Vancouver Sun
Shrubland Fire Management, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

Hamburger Connection Fuels Amazon Destruction, Center for International Forestry Research

Sierra Club Calls for Release of Mexican Forest Defenders - Indigenous Environmentalists Held On Trumped Up Charges, Sierra Club
U.S. appears willing to negotiate separate softwood deal with B.C. - Move to market-based stumpage puts province first in line for relief from duties, Vancouver Sun
B.C. seeks separate lumber pact - U.S. official confirms softwood talks underway, gives thumbs-up to province's forest policy changes, Vancouver Sun

Isabela cops seized hot timber, Zamboanga Sun.Star
On illegal logging, Jakarta Post letter
CONGRESS & WASHINGTON

Judges tie themselves in knots when it comes to the West, Writers on the Range / Summit Daily News
Built With Steel, Perhaps, but Greased With Pork, New York Times at Ocala Star Banner

Off-Road Group's Suit Against BLM Dismissed - Appeals court keeps BLM study area off-limits to off-roaders, Salt Lake Tribune AP
National parks get more money, Portland Press Herald - Fran P. Mainella op-ed

A Fox in Interior's Henhouse - Secretary Gale Norton's top deputy - J. Steven Griles, Denver Post
Bush Gives Away Public Assets to Campaign Contributors - Taxpayers to Pay for Private Logging Roads -- And the Logs Too, Taxpayers for Common Sense
E Pluribus Undone - Handling Diversity?, Government Executive Magazine
NORTHERN REGION (Region 1):
Montana and Northern Idaho

Skinny trees may be boon for sawmills - Tree-thinning effort could bring needed volume, conferees told, Spokesman-Review
'Eco burn' lights up CdA slope - Forest Service makes pre-emptive strike to clear Canfield Mountain of brush, small trees, Spokesman-Review
Bear plan meets resistance, Kalispell Daily Inter Lake
Yew Rock Timber Sale Sold, Nez Perce National Forest
Forest Service Cabin At Chief Joseph Pass For Rent, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest

Benefits of bull trout ignored, groups say - Saving bull trout will cost up to $300M, feds say, Missoulian
USFS revamps state wildfire tab, Helena Independent Record
Fire Food, Daily Inter Lake
USFS: Hard workers, Bozeman Daily Chronicle letter

Pole sitter closes bison trap, Jackson Hole Zone
Yellowstone bison: To shoot or not to shoot? - Rangers have killed 2,700 due to a rare disease. Now, activists are fighting back, CS Monitor
Wildlife left out in land deals, Bozeman Daily Chronicle letter
Award winners named for park bison debacle, Bozeman Daily Chronicle letter

Forest roads lapsing into disrepair, Helena Independent Record
Foresters decry double standard, Missoula Independent
Lolo NF ready for mushroom pickers, Helena Independent Record
Park prepares bison vaccination plan - Why do the wildlife always have to suffer the burden of cattle industry?, Billings Gazette
Bison Hazing, Bozeman Daily Chronicle
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION (Region 2):
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming
Public lands under attack, Denver Post editorial

Snowmobilers Cited For Riding In Wilderness, Medicine Bow & Routt National Forests
San Juan NF: Wolf Creek fights for territory - Offbeat ski area opposes plan for resort in its midst, Denver Post

Sale of mining patents roils Crested Butte residents - For less than $1,000, Phelps Dodge has acquired 155 acres of USFS property next to a resort town where a tenth-of-an-acre lot is selling for $100,000, Denver Post
Saving Red Mountain, Denver Post editorial

Protecting public land, Rapid City Journal editorial
We've got to clean up our act, Black Hills Pioneer op-ed

Salvage logging debated, Durango Herald
Fee demo program makes forests better for visitors, Aspen Times op-ed by White River NF supervisor Martha Ketelle
Massive "Village" with Major, Irreversible Impacts Proposed at Wolf Creek Ski Area - Scoping comments due April 15, Friends of Wolf Creek
Early fires signal concern, Denver Post editorial
Evening rain, snow slow Picnic Rock blaze - Dry day had spread fire to 8,000 acres; officials put containment at 30%, Denver Post
Are fire resources adequate?, Denver Post editorial
Fire may be first of many, Springs Gazette
The need to act now to avert fire, Rocky Mountain News editorial

Shooting site closed, Rapid City Journal
SOUTHWESTERN REGION (Region 3):
Arizona and New Mexico
Congressman seeks Forest Service inquiry - Misconduct, harassment of Gila-area rancher Kit Laney alleged, Santa Fe New Mexican

Fire Season Begins, Santa Fe National Forest
Forest Service Partners Restore Nutrioso Creek, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests
Anatomy of a controlled burn, White Mountain Independent
Who's going to clean up the forest mess?, White Mountain Independent op-ed
Coronado NF: Deadly Oasis - Following the death of Russell Faulkner at Tanque Verde Falls, officials stress safety in the outdoors, Tucson Citizen
Tucson's deadliest park, Arizona Daily Star editorial

Off-Road Group's Suit Against BLM Dismissed - Appeals court keeps BLM study area off-limits to off-roaders, Salt Lake Tribune AP
Heather Wilson Went Extra Mile, East Mountain View Telegraph editorial
Diamond Bar cattle are sold at auction, Silver City Daily Press
Raising a Howl - We petition the feds to make policy changes that will help the Mexican gray wolf survive in the wild, Albuquerque Tribune op-ed
State Runs With Wolves, Albuquerque Journal
NM Game Commission endorses wolf program, Silver City Daily Press AP
Wolves Called Blessing and Bane, Albuquerque Journal
Myths Surround Wolves, Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Recovering trout can feed an economy, Headwaters guest column

Panel OKs proposal to thin trees near homes to stop wildfires - Legislative committee also endorses proposal to offer tax incentives for businesses to clean up the state's ailing forests, Tucson Citizen

Cibola NF: JFK trail, camp area open this summer - New fence, parking will address safety, News-Bulletin
Salt Cedar Controls Drafted, Albuquerque Journal
Meeting takes on salt cedar, Albuquerque Tribune
Rooting out invaders - Conference taking aim at salt cedar and other nonnative plants that are infesting vast areas in the Southwest, Albuquerque Tribune op-ed

People Management Needed In Wildlife Areas, Arizona Daily Star op-ed by Nancy Zierenberg
Visitors retake Sabino, Arizona Daily Star
Backtracking, Arizona Daily Star editorial
INTERMOUNTAIN REGION (Region 4):
Southern Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and SW Wyoming
Owyhees plan may protect wilderness - Some areas would be closed, but others open for ranchers, trail users, Idaho Statesman

Warning: Mud may flow again, Deseret Morning News

Fire offers Forest Service a lesson in accountability - Forest Service must make public commitment to fireline safety, Idaho Statesman editorial
Forests, fees and second thoughts, Headwaters Idaho Falls Post Register

'Serious, willful' safety violations in Idaho fire deaths - Forest Service violated all basic rules, OSHA says, SF Chronicle AP
Congressmen want probe of PR spending, San Francisco Chronicle
Old trail ignites road war, Salt Lake Tribune
Road plan held up by fish studies, Elko Daily Free Press
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST (Region 5): California
Logging promo oversteps bounds, Pasadena Star-News editorial
Forest Service caught using misleading photo - Area shown suggested natural area but was actually logged, MSNBC
Ponderosa Poster Child - U. S. Forest Service Misrepresenting the Historic Condition of Western Forests and the Effects of Fire Suppression and Logging, Swan View Coalition
Groups vow court battle to save fisher, Sacramento Beehttp://www.portervillerecorder.com/articles/2004/04/13/news/local_state/news01.txt
A prescription for burning, Mt. Shasta News

Forest Service PR probe sought - "We want to make the Forest Service into the Microsoft of outdoor recreation", Salt Lake Tribune
Big Sur National Forest possible?, Monterey County Herald
Visions of a new national forest - Idea includes Hearst Ranch, though it's not for sale, San Luis Obispo Tribune
Forest Predator in Trouble, Service Finds - West Coast population of the fisher will be added to candidate list, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Bush Administration Illegally Delays Protection of Pacific Fisher - Administration plays politics while old-growth dependent mammal heads for extinction, Earthjustice Newsroom

Forest Vision Extends Into Hearst Tract - U.S. agency looks at idea for preserve encompassing Ft. Hunter Liggett and portions of Los Padres land, Los Angeles Times
Who Us, Clowns? , Los Angeles Times
Firefighting Grants Application, Lake Arrowhead Mountain-News
Shrubland Fire Management, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

Congressmen want probe of PR spending, San Francisco Chronicle
More bumps ahead for off-roaders, Porterville Recorder
Some Homes Had Shields to Ward Off Wildfires - If you have 30-foot clearance and a good roof, you have a 95% chance of survival, Los Angeles Times
Local Bureau of Land Management to keep jobs in house - USFS study not complete yet, Newport News-Times

Tearing limbs from limbs - With video cameras rolling, climbers and tree-sitters match wits and skills in the fog-slickened old-growth treetops of Humboldt County, Los Angeles Times
Battle Stations, Los Angeles Times
Going after Treesitters, Los Angeles Times
We Save Trees!, website
Sheriff's Office Too Cozy With MAXXAM, The Eureka Reporter letter
Jackson State Forest reforms approved by State Resource Committee - Law would for the first time require California to manage Jackson Forest in a manner that would provide sustainable timber production, Ft. Bragg Advocate-News
Monumental deal for PG&E land - 140,000 acres of utility's upper watershed to be protected for wildlife, outdoor enthusiasts, San Francisco Chronicle
PACIFIC NORTHWEST (Region 6):
Oregon and Washington
Ten years into the forest plan, Oregonian editorial
On Eve of Northwest Forest Plan 10th Anniversary, Conservationists Decry Administration Plans to Increase Old Growth Logging - Activists Say Restoration Projects Are What Northwest Communities and Forests Need, Unified Forest Defense Campaign
Owl vs. Jobs, circa 1994, editorials from our archives, The Columbian
Smith praises Bush on Forest Plan anniversary - Senator says president 'making good' on Clinton's promise, Bend Bugle

Super seeding Mother Nature, Tacoma News Tribune
Timber Turnaround - A speedy BLM Post-fire Flea Flicker sale sped through environmental reviews, now being logged, The News-Review

Logging plan could be fast-tracked - An emergency declaration would let officials begin Biscuit Fire salvage efforts, Statesman Journal AP
Call to Speed Up Logging at Biscuit Fire, Oregon Public Broadcasting
Forest plan has failed before, Statesman Journal letter
Proper forest plans needed, Statesman Journal letter
Add to nearby wilderness, Oregonian letter
Forest Predator in Trouble, Service Finds - West Coast population of the fisher will be added to candidate list, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Bush Administration Illegally Delays Protection of Pacific Fisher - Administration plays politics while old-growth dependent mammal heads for extinction, Earthjustice Newsroom
A look at the timber life - Douglas Fir: Museum brings in 3,000-pound tree to showcase history of logging in exhibit, The News-Review

Out of the woods? - Advocates on both sides agree on one thing: No one's happy with the way the old-growth management plan has worked, Mail Tribune
Land swap deal needs more talk, Corvallis Gazette-Times editorial
Prineville forest health research center on the way - Senator, congressman announce Forest Service deal to dreate facility, Bend Bugle
Nibble on the Biscuit - Sen. Wyden's plan to split up the Biscuit fire salvage would put loggers to work in less controversial areas, Oregonian editorial