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MAY 1998 NATIONAL NEWS
Chief Breaks Bread With 30 Year Club: Mike Dombeck, accompanied by Deputy Chief Ron Stewart and Associate Deputy Chief Gloria Manning, participated in the 30 Year Club's annual spring banquet in Portland on May 3. The Club is the Pacific Northwest's FS retiree organization. Dombeck followed the dinner with a give-and-take discussion with retirees and their spouses. According to past club president, Wendall Jones, the event was an outstanding success and gave both the Chief and retirees a chance to become better acquainted. (FSX) Hydropower Relicensing: Deputy Under Secretary Brian Burke, Forest Service Lands National Hydropower Coordinator Rick Swanson, Office of the General Counsel attorney Jeff Eisenberg, and representatives from the regional and national forest offices, utility companies, and interest groups toured the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest Regions to look at hydropower sites and discuss relicensing efforts. The tour included the Skagit River Project on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie (WA), the North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project on the Umpqua National Forest (OR), and Spring Gap-Stanislaus and Donnells-Beardsley Projects on the Stanislaus National Forest (CA). Hydropower licensing and use has been a controversial subject, especially in the Western States. Relicensing of hydroelectric projects offers a tremendous opportunity nationwide, over the next 30 years, to mitigate resource damage associated with hydropower operation, and enhance recreation opportunities. (FS) D.C./National Forest Foundation Projects: During the last week of April, the National Forest Foundation selected from its second round of proposals projects totaling $167,000 to improve communities in the District of Columbia. These projects join first-round projects totaling $83,000. The National Forest Foundation raised $250,000 for the projects to match Federal agency contributions. The response by local organizations to this initiative has been exceptionally good. During its second round of requests for proposals, the National Forest Foundation received 20 new proposals totaling $663,000. This program is in response to the President's call to assist the District of Columbia in improving its urban environment. Forest Service employees in the Washington Office will have the opportunity to volunteer on these projects throughout the year. This initiative is being coordinated by the Northeastern Area of State and Private Forestry. (FS) Seeking Middle Ground: The Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, created through legislation authored by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), will encourage mediation of contentious environmental and natural resource issues. The Institute is part of the Morris K. Udall Foundation, named for former representative Udall, who had a reputation for crafting environmental compromise. Armed with a $5.5 million appropriation from Congress, the foundation will begin later this year helping to resolve environmental conflicts involving federal agencies. The number of such disputes is growing, especially in the West, where the federal government is the largest landowner and chief regulator of natural resources. Kirk Emerson, a political scientist at the University of Arizona and director of the new institute, said that in 1990 only two environmental lawsuits were filed in federal district court in Tucson; in 1995 there were 62. The number of Endangered Species Act cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rose from five in 1990 to 35 in 1997. Referred to as alternative dispute resolution, the method involves using neutral parties skilled at mediation to try to reach agreements that all sides to a dispute will accept. Last week, the House passed a measure that would require all federal district courts to require litigants in civil cases to consider using alternative dispute resolution to settle their differences. Attorney General Janet Reno, a strong advocate of such techniques, is expected to call for enactment of the bill during her annual Law Day speech today. Washington Post 5/1/98 (FS) 29 Species Taken Off Endangered List: Declaring that the Endangered Species Act works, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt says over two dozen birds, plants, and animals, including the bald eagle, are on their way to recovery and may soon be removed from the law's protection. This marks the first time in the law's 25-year history that such a large number of species would be removed from the endangered list. The delisting includes such species as the Peregrine falcon, the Eastern timber wolf and the Aleutian Canada goose. Washington Times 5/6/98 (FS), DOI Press Release 5/6/98, Bangor Daily News 5/9/98, Seattle Times 5/6/98, Washington Post 5/6/98, and Salt Lake Tribune 5/6//98 Forest Certification Too Costly?: The growing European practice of certifying forests where responsible logging is practiced is finding resistance in the Pacific Northwest, where timber owners complain the cost of current restrictions to protect fish and wildlife already is high enough. Lumber from approved forests carries a label certifying sound logging practices. The standards are set by the Forest Stewardship Council [see also Sweden's FSC, and the international FSC], a nonprofit organization founded in 1990. Having wood certified will be increasingly important to anyone exporting wood or wood products to Europe, analysts say. Oregonian 4/26/98 (FS) Also see what environmentalists have to say about forest certification, and see what's being discussed at the FSC online forum. Russia firefighter planes lack fuel: With thousands of acres of forest burning in the Russian Far East, lack of fuel has grounded firefighting planes and helicopters there, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported Thursday. Flames have engulfed an estimated 22,895 acres of forest, up from 15,400 acres on Wednesday, ITAR-Tass said. The worst fires were in the Kharbarovsk region. There were smaller blazes on Sakhalin Island. Authorities say they cannot effectively monitor and fight the fires without planes and helicopters, but they do not have the money to buy more fuel. AP, 5/24/98Rudolph Wendelin Honored - Created Smokey Bear: Rudolph Wendelin, of Alexandria, who is retired from the U.S. Forest Service, has been presented with the Medal of Honor by the Daughters of the American Revolution for creating Smokey the Bear, the American icon of forest preservation. The award is given to Americans who have made significant contributions to this country. He received an engraved medal at a Department of Agriculture ceremony. And More...
Interagency Outdoor Recreation Information System on the Web: On Tuesday, April 21, Vice-President Al Gore, Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck, and Bureau of Land Management Director Pat Shea unveiled an interagency electronic system by which a visitor to an internet site http:// www.recreation.gov may find in one stop information about recreational opportunities, recreation use permits, and reservations on Federal land. Some local sites are linked to State and local tourist offices and to local chambers of commerce, and a paper map and guide, titled "Recreation Opportunities on Federal Lands," will be obtainable soon through the site. The map and guide is an update of a popular 1992 map that has been distributed to over one million people. The recreation.gov electronic information system, developed by seven agencies (Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) is part of Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government, a multiagency effort to improve customer service. (FS) Dombeck Receives Pacific Rivers Council Award: Chief Mike Dombeck received the "Outstanding Conservationist of the Year Award" from the Pacific Rivers Council at a ceremony on April 15 in Portland, Oregon. Rep. Elizabeth Furse and Salem, Oregon, Mayor Mike Swaim, among others, spoke at the event praising Chief Dombeck's efforts and his focus on the health of the land. (FS) Pacific Rivers Council 4/15/98 National Smokejumper Association Denied: During the week of April 6-10, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) denied the National Smokejumper Association's request to allow Forest Service smokejumpers to parachute from the Ford Trimotor aircraft as part of the association's documentary on smokejumpers. The request was denied because the Ford Trimotor aircraft is considered historic, and therefore no longer is approved by the Forest Service and BLM as a smokejumper aircraft. The Forest Service also declined the association's request to borrow smokejumper equipment such as parachutes, jumpsuits, and helmets. The denial is consistent with Forest Service and BLM policy regarding firefighting safety. The National Smokejumper Association has contacted members of Congress for intervention in the matter. (FS)
Land Between the Lakes Legislation: The following bills were introduced into various committees to transfer administrative jurisdiction of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area from the Tennessee Valley Authority to the Secretary of Agriculture:
Congressman Robert Menendez introduced legislation on April 1 to eliminate the National Forest Foundation
House Resources Committee: Chairman Helen Chenoweth has scheduled a hearing April 28 before the House Committee on Resources, Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health concerning three bills:
The Forest Service has not been asked to testify. (FS) FY 1999 Forest Service Budget: The Senate Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Subcommittee held a hearing on the Forest Service FY 1999 Budget April 23. Subcommittee members were primarily concerned about roads, the roads moratorium, and Forest Service accountability and financial management. Under Secretary Jim Lyons and Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck were the witnesses. (FS) (Only the Chiefs' Testimony is Available) Public Land Management Improvement Act - Former FS Chiefs Invited To Testify: Senator Larry Craig invited former Forest Service Chiefs Jack Ward Thomas, Dale Robertson, Max Peterson, and John McGuire to testify before the Forestry and Public Lands Subcommittee at a hearing on S.1253, the Public Land Management Improvement Act of 1997. Hearing testimony from April 30, but the Chiefs testimony is not yet available. (FS) See also testimony from the April 23 hearing, testimony from the May 5 hearing, and testimony from the June 4th hearing. And More...
NORTHERN REGION (Region 1): Idaho and Montana Early Fires: The Goat Creek fire, an early season fire burning into the Flathead National Forest north of Missoula, MT, has firefighters in Montana bracing for "one hot fire season." Below-average snowpacks and weeks of hot weather beginning in late April have dried out the forests and grasslands. Weather forecasters predict continued hot and dry conditions for the next two weeks and low rain levels this summer. "Our fire danger levels are where they'd normally be in late July or early August," according to the manager of the Missoula Interagency Dispatch Center. Firefighters in the region are stepping up prevention methods in an effort to prevent a repeat of the summers of 1988 and 1996. In those years fires burned 5.9 million acres and 6.6 million acres nationwide. In contrast, the fire season has gotten off to a slow start in the Southeast and Southwest. However, according to Dan Key, the Gila National Forest's Silver City Hotshots superintendent, current conditions could change quickly. The winter rains produced abundant grass. The Washington Post 5/12/98 and The Missoulian 5/6/98 (FS) Montana Bans Open Burning: In an unusual move, the State Department of Environmental Quality issued a Montana-wide ban on open burning. High levels of particulate pollution from dust storms, wildfires, and intentional burning were blamed. "It's a health issue that needs to be addressed," stated an official with the Sanitarian's Office. Particulate levels soared in recent days, then stayed high because of stagnate air. Helena and Butte were cited for violating particulate pollution. Missoula declared its first air-pollution alert in two years. The Missoulian (FS) Idaho Wolf Pack Growing: Four tracking crews and two full-time trappers will keep tabs on 13 potential wolf pairs and packs this summer in the Idaho Wolf Recovery Project. Curt Mack, Idaho Wolf Project Leader for the Nez Perce Tribe, says by mid-June he will know how many wolves mated this winter. Locals fear the predators will seriously depress elk populations. Retired Fish and Game supervisor Gary Power said he believes wolves will depress the mountain lion population as well. Three of 12 elk he inspected had been killed by mountain lions, which were then chased off the kill by the wolves. Post Register 5/2/98 (FS) Gravelly Meeting Draws Full House: Ranchers, businessmen, and other citizens met in Dillon, Montana Tuesday to discuss the effort among county, state, and federal officials to find common ground on land management issues. Controversy surfaced after Beaverhead County Commissioner Donna Sevalstad recently questioned a draft planning document for the Gravelly Landscape that proponents hoped would give local residents a voice in management decisions for federal and state lands. "I don't feel that the county has been on equal ground through this whole process," Sevalstad said. But federal officials said the only difference between this process and previous planning efforts is that in this case the public has been involved in the pre-scoping process. Before the project is complete, the agency must go through a separate process that includes public participation. Montana Standard 5/6/98 (FS) Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center Opens: On Tuesday, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center in Great Falls, MT, opened its doors to visitors. The center, a tribute to Capts. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's determination to explore and record the face of the continent, features their Great Portage around the fifth falls that threatened to stop their passage to the Northwest. Jane Weber, center director, reports 507 visitors on the first day. The center's opening happily coincides with an intense interest in the Lewis and Clark expedition: Stephen Ambrose's Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling biography of Lewis and Clark and Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan's Lewis and Clark documentary earlier this year. Great Falls Tribune 5/6/98 (FS), Missoulian 4/30/98 Violation of Clean Water Act Charged: The American Wildlands and the Pacific Rivers Council filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana, charging Lolo National Forest's (MT) Cool Bear Timber Sale violates the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The complaint also alleges that the sale does not comply with State water quality standards for Fishtrap Creek and seeks an injunction until the State develops a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the creek and the Forest Service complies with it and other laws. This is the first suit filed against the Forest Service challenging the provisions of the Clean Water Act dealing with TMDL. Under the Clean Water Act, the State of Montana must adopt a TMDL for water quality-limited streams such as Fishtrap. The plaintiffs have asked the court to grant a permanent injunction against timber harvest activities, including offering or awarding the sale, until it complies with the law. (FS) Grizzly Reintroduction: Three-quarters of the over 24,000 commentors on a draft environmental impact statement on the reintroduction of the grizzly bear to the Bitterroots favored the bears return, said Laird Robinson, public outreach coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service. The preferred alternative in the DEIS would designate the bears as an experimental nonessential population and could be shot in self-defense or if they were caught attacking livestock. A 15-member citizen panel would be given broad power to manage the reintroduction, subject to override by the Interior Secretary. Of the 294 people who testified at seven public hearings in Idaho and Montana, 157 spoke in favor of reintroduction, while 103 spoke against. With the public comments analyzed, Robinson and colleagues will now write a final environmental impact statement and select one preferred alternative, possibly by next January. The Post-Register 4/28/98; Associated Press 4/28/98 (FS) Feds Finalize Crown Butte Proposal: A controversial gold mine proposed near Yellowstone National Park, stopped from development two years ago, has been appraised at nearly $70 million, the Clinton administration announced Thursday. The assessment of the mine site is essential to completing an agreement reached in 1996 between the mining firm and the federal government, under which Crown Butte Mines Inc. was offered $65 million to halt its underground mining plans. The White House said the buyout should occur this summer. The mining firm will only receive the $65 million promised, $22.5 million of which is earmarked for pollution cleanup at the site. Missoulian 5/1/98 (FS) And More...
May 1998
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