Forests in the News©
NATIONAL NEWS
Ghost Roads - Forests battered by off-road vehicles as officers struggle to protect the land - Off-road rule may do little to curb abuses in Colorado forests, critics say, Colorado Springs Independent
The road to ruin, Bozeman Daily Chronicle op-ed
Off-road damage is exaggerated, Boston Globe letter
Land reservation systems will merge, Federal Computer Week
State, feds agree to prairie dog control plan - Enviros file notice of intent to sue, Rapid City Journal

Two-Faced Forest Policy, Los Angeles Times editorial
Local Officials, Citizen Groups Expose Bush Administration Plans to Exploit America's Forests - New Report Documents Destructive Logging and Energy Development by Bush Administration, American Lands Alliance
Roadless Area Conservation Rule Under Attack, Center for Biological Diversity
Public To Benefit From Single Reservation Service - E-Gov Initiative will Provide One-Stop for Campgrounds/Recreation Reservations, USFS
Rising from the Ashes - Smokey the Bear said fires were bad, but real bears and other creatures see it differently, Defenders of Wildlife
White House touts its efforts against Western wildfires - Wilderness Society boss: The increase in funding has come at the expense of community protection, Salt Lake Tribune

Forest Service yields on Biscuit, Post-Intelligencer AP
Activists want wider salvage-logging ban - Northwest Forest Plan land should be included, they say, Statesman Journal AP
BLM land-sale plan decried, Statesman Journal
BLM land sales, Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial
Forest Service Claims Success Fighting Fires Without Airtankers - Firefighting Without Planes More Expensive, The Denver Channel
Forests to roll out new Smokey code: Forest fire danger colors now include "Critical", North County Times

Off-Roading Loses Its Way, LA Times editorial
Rough Riders, Boston Globe editorial
Conserving roadless areas critical to future forests, by Bill Clinton - LA Times reprint
Timber retailer pines for native forests - Once Targeted by Protesters, Home Depot Plays Green Role - Retailer Leans on Suppliers To Protect Forests Abroad, Wall St Journal at Australian Financial Review
Apples losing genetic diversity - Scientists decry genetic similarity of today's apples: Thousands of varieties reduced to few hundred, Toronto Star
Smokey Bear turns 60, Desert Dispatch
Smokey Bear, website

Judge rejects tree selection process - Six Biscuit fire timber sale sites can't be logged until the Forest Service comes up with a new way of picking trees to be cut, Oregonian
Necessary Meddling - Wilderness management: Much of the Southwest's de facto wilderness needs work, including with chainsaws, or natural landscapes will disappear, Headwaters News Perspective
Our Forests May Be on a Road to Ruin, Bill Clinton Commentary in the LA Times
Response mixed on roadless plan, Eastern Arizona Courier
Fire Management Professionals Look to WFRAS For Fire Mitigation And Avoidance - Wildland Fire Risk Assessment System, Space Imaging - GISUser News
Wilderness Dilemma, Denver Post
Nature Besieged, New York Times editorial

Forest-Fee Plan Stirs Up Foes - Pilot program to charge those who use national parks could be made permanent. Opponents say the money is not used for maintenance, Los Angeles Times
The Forest For the Trees, Alameda Times-Star op-ed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The Wrong Road, Salt Lake Tribune editorial
Reemphasize Courtesy On National Forest Lands, Bozeman Daily Chronicle editorial
Boise Cascade Morphs Into Office Max, Environment News Service
WORLD NEWS
Rain forest turned into soybean fields, Lexington Herald-Leader
Chile uses terror law to fight an old battle - Mapuche Indians in Chile Struggle to Take Back Forests, NY Times at IHT
Cuba: Restructuring in Rural Mountain Areas - Tree plantations replacing sugar cane, IPS News
Mangrove Action Project News, Mangrove Action Project

From poacher to farmer, Malaysia Star
Mole Creek logging 'illegal', ABC Tasmania News
Mahoganies: It's the Soil, Stupid - A study has revealed how Africa's giant mahoganies require specialized, poorly understood soil conditions – results that could have huge implications on how Africa's tropical forests are managed, Newswise

Timber retailer pines for native forests - Once Targeted by Protesters, Home Depot Plays Green Role - Retailer Leans on Suppliers To Protect Forests Abroad, Wall St Journal at Australian Financial Review
WWF: Out on a limb, Sydney Morning Herald
PNG: Making maps for people who can't read, WWF Newsroom, WWF Newsroom
Pemberton council threatens to block logging trucks - Weyerhaeuser wants to log in watershed above Signal Hill school, Pique News magazine Whistler, Canada
Logging proposal opposed, Whistler Question


Climate change triggers deadly fires, environmental data interactive exchange
'Working forest' dies - Environmentalists rejoice as province backs off plan to designate huge tracts, Victoria Times Colonist
Traders now abandon logs, Tanzania Guardian
CONGRESS & WASHINGTON
Veneman to attend Pine Nursery transfer ceremony - Park district gets 170 acres from USFS after four years, second legislation, Bend Bugle

Public To Benefit From Single Reservation Service - E-Gov Initiative will Provide One-Stop for Campgrounds/Recreation Reservations, USFS
Consolidated Reservations Procurement Awarded to Spherix Competitor - National Park Service Contract to Conclude by the End of 2004, PR Newswire
Reservation Service Support, Contract Solicitation Notice
Restoring Forests After Catastrophic Events, USDA Forest Service Testimony

Parks Budget Praised, Criticized, Albuquerque Journal
Who does the Bush administration serve? - Forest policy is now in the hands of Mark Rey, a former timber industry lobbyist, Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Species Act rule eased in Valley - Ranchers get some latitude on actions that might affect the tiger salamander, Sacramento Bee

DeFazio to unveil new forest plan in Springfield: The Rural Employment and Forest Restoration Act, The News-Review
Bush backpedals on environment, Part 2: Post-Intelligencer op-ed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Greens call forest cutting a threat to national parks; Protecting the perimeters: Development of resources on land next to the parks would be devastating, they contend, Salt Lake Tribune AP
U.S. Eases Review of Pesticides for Endangered Species - The EPA will no longer have to consult with agencies on the potential harm of products, LA Times
NORTHERN REGION (Region 1):
Montana and Northern Idaho
Forest Service must be made to comply with the law - Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF Antelope Basin overgrazing plan, Bozeman Daily Chronicle letter
The road to ruin, Bozeman Daily Chronicle op-ed


Wilderness On Hold, Missoula Independent
Lolo NF to prepare EIS on Forest-wide Integrated Weed Management treatments that includes herbicide (aerial and ground application), biological, and manual control methods, Federal Register


Goshawks, Helena Independent Record
Reemphasize Courtesy On National Forest Lands, Bozeman Daily Chronicle editorial
"Timber Sale Planning and Forest Products Marketing", Montana State University Extension Forestry Program
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION (Region 2):
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming
State, feds agree to prairie dog control plan - Enviros file notice of intent to sue, Rapid City Journal
Prairie dogs won't make the list - Critters don't meet endangered criteria, federal agency says - "This politically motivated decision will condemn the prairie dog to a bleak future," said Lauren McCain of Forest Guardians, Rocky Mountain News
Governor and congressional delegation praise prairie-dog death sentence - S. Dakota now able to "manage" prairie dogs with poison, Aberdeen American

Ghost Roads - Forests battered by off-road vehicles as officers struggle to protect the land - Off-road rule may do little to curb abuses in Colorado forests, critics say, Colorado Springs Independent
Land owner, USFS duel near Telluride - A trailhead for those hiking up Wilson Peak and two other 14,000-foot peaks is being blocked by the owner, Rusty Nichols, Summit Daily News
Borers attract interest of USFS, Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Trees, not trail, getting the ax, Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Protocol dictated firefighters' actions, Aspen Times letter from Aspen district ranger Bill Westbrook

Pike NF: Scar reclaimed for forest - Former quarry, home to herd of bighorn sheep, now federal land, Colorado Springs Gazette

Forest Service Claims Success Fighting Fires Without Airtankers - Firefighting Without Planes More Expensive, The Denver Channel
People Climbing 14ers Triple In 10 Years - 500,000 Climbed At Least One 14er Last Year, The Denver Channel

Colorado: Senate candidates split on fees, drilling - Fee-Demo becomes a campaign issue, Aspen Times
White River NF: Open to interpretation, Glenwood Springs Post Independent

Overview of DEIS Concerns, Save the HD Mountains
Remote areas under debate, Summit Daily News
Let Forest's Managers Manage, Vail Daily op-ed by Scott McInnis
Lady's lovers seeing red - 155 acres of FS land patented for $875 - Threat of mining atop crown of Crested Butte has local skiers on edge, Rocky Mountain News
SOUTHWESTERN REGION (Region 3):
Arizona and New Mexico
Tucson Public Hearing on Crisis in Roadless Forest Rule, Decline in National Parks in State and Western U.S., PR Newswire
Man arrested after 7 cattle killed for 'destroying the beauty of the forest', Tucson Citizen
Juniperworks: Boyle says art is in the woods, but picking the tree is tough - Michael Boyle, retired USFS forester, Silver City Daily Press

Two-Faced Forest Policy- Carson NF Valle Vidal, Los Angeles Times editorial
Cibola Forest Proposes Manzano Mountains Restoration Project - Project To Reduce Fuels That Create Fire Risk, KOAT News
Apaches celebrate heritage with annual Sacred Run: Coronado NF Mt. Graham, Eastern Arizona Courier
County to build and map new ATV trails, Eastern Arizona Courier
Power of the Flood - A year after the deadly Bonito Canyon flood, residents are still recovering from the devastation - Apache Peak burnout set by Forest Service crews, Tucson Weekly
Habitat Habit, Albuquerque Tribune

Rally for our forests, New Mexican editorial
Hearing Targets Fed Road Policy, Albuquerque Journal
GAO Report Angers Heirs, The New Mexican
Parks Budget Praised, Criticized, Albuquerque Journal
The Gorge Rises, Salt Lake Tribune editorial
Mt. Lemmon trails open again, Arizona Daily Star
Arizona, Great Western Trail

Kit Laney arraigned on assault charges from ranch incident - Prosecutors call rancher's spurs deadly weapons, The New Mexican
Charges upgraded - Federal prosecutors upgraded charges against rancher Kit Laney to include a count of assault with a deadly weapon, Silver City Daily Press
Necessary Meddling - Wilderness management: Much of the Southwest's de facto wilderness needs work, including with chainsaws, or natural landscapes will disappear, Headwaters News Perspective
Response mixed on roadless plan, Eastern Arizona Courier
Rain on burn area causes mudslide, Eastern Arizona Courier

Trees may line our rivers again - Officials propose $150 million effort to bring back mesquite, cottonwood and willow trees - but no water - to stretches of the Santa Cruz and Rillito rivers, Arizona Daily Star
McCain taps new land exchange bill, Prescott Daily Courier
Kirtland to Bar Otero Trail Access - Air force base decides to fence off rather than clean up ordnance in withdrawn Cibola NF lands, Albuquerque Journal
Land swap appears to be good for all, Tucson Citizen editorial
INTERMOUNTAIN REGION (Region 4):
Southern Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and SW Wyoming

Bad planning, flooding linked, Deseret Morning News
Utah plans to join county suit against feds - Road dispute: The state is asserting ownership of a rugged trail up Salt Creek, Salt Lake Tribune
Stand and fight, Salt Lake Tribune editorial
Fish face death sentence, Casper Star-Tribune


Tapping the Bridger-Teton, Casper Star-Tribune
Safety rules compromised at Cabin Creek Fire, Pocatello Idaho State Journal
Safety rules compromised at Cabin Creek Fire, Pocatello Idaho State Journal

Take Pride in Idaho's Great Outdoors, op-ed by Sen. Mike Crapo
Trying to save open space - Groups need $275,000 for land near Grandeur Peak, Deseret Morning News
Feds unveil bull trout proposal, Twin Falls Times-News
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST (Region 5): California
Time to wake up and smell the sediment, Eureka Times-Standard op-ed
Meetings planned on Angeles NF recreation spot - Officials will be taking suggestions on management of Littlerock Recreation Area, L.A. Daily News
Lewis: Congress won't let forest die - Veteran congressman speaks at ceremony honoring wildfire efforts, San Bernardino County Sun

Biologist, others in way of logging plans - Forest Service says thinning will help spotted owls, MSNBC

Off-Roading Loses Its Way, LA Times editorial
Smokey Bear turns 60, Desert Dispatch
Smokey Bear celebrates 60, Tulare Advance-Register
$1 million for Tahoe research, Tahoe Daily Tribune
Palco's watershed plans assailed, Eureka Times-Standard
'A race of a different breed' - Palco's dirty campaign to unseat District Attorney, Eureka Times-Standard

San Bernardino NF: Cutters make friends, foes - Power company effort finished ahead of time, Riverside Press-Enterprise
Fuel to the Fire, Fresno Bee
Bush breaks environmental promise, Post-Intelligencer op-ed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Fire safety czar might be answer, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin editorial
Conservation Groups will Sue to Protect Pacific Fisher - Bush administration plays politics while old-growth dependent species heads for extinction, Earthjustice Newsroom

The Forest For the Trees, Alameda Times-Star op-ed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
San Bernardino NF: Forest officials balance safety, fun - Fire-safety rules, closures irritate some visitors, Az. Republic AP
Thinner forests save lives, Santa Cruz Sentinel
PACIFIC NORTHWEST (Region 6):
Oregon and Washington
Veneman to attend Pine Nursery transfer ceremony - Park district gets 170 acres from USFS after four years, second legislation, Bend Bugle
Sky Lakes Wilderness: Tasting the wild life - Rogue River and Winema NFs, Mail Tribune
Clear Up the Gorge, Columbian editorial

Wilderness is not a locked door - New Mount Hood wilderness would restrict some uses, but also invite visitors to experience solitude and nature, Oregonian
Training for tourists - Thanks to a grant from the USFS Rural Communities Program, The News-Review

Forest Service yields on Biscuit, Post-Intelligencer AP
Carving a Niche - Logging the Biscuit, Coos Bay World
Ruling on spotted owl may hinder logging - An appeals panel orders federal land managers to use a stricter standard for protecting critical habitat, Oregonian
Kitzhaber starts resources policy institute - Former Gov. to try to broker timber peace, Eugene Register-Guard AP