Wildlife Habitat
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After almost every forest fire, there is a push for salvage logging based on the idea that the forest is destroyed, so some of its former value needs to be captured. Folks who have watched salvage logging know that instead, the practice often introduces weed seeds, actually sets back forest regrowth and loses money too.…
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Potlatch has joined a growing trend toward access fees. It is the largest private land owner in Idaho, with almost all of its land in the Idaho Panhandle and in North Central Idaho. There is also a continuing battle over US Forest Service, BLM, and other public land management agencies charging access fees. Story in…
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This is another article about the effect natural gas development is having on elk in the country SE of Jackson, WY. This story is through the eyes of outfitters in the Upper Green River Basin. Article “elk or energy.” It’s from today’s Jackson Hole News and Guide.
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Montana is famous for its great fishing streams and many undammed rivers. They attract newcomers to live on their banks, but then, as rivers do, comes a flood. Riprap often follows to the great detriment of the stream. Here is a long feature article on the practice. It is especially a problem on the Yellowstone…
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Idaho’s Senior US Senator Larry Craig chairs the Senate subcommitte that has hearings on CIEDRA and the Owyhee Initiative today. CIEDRA has already passed the House of Representatives where notorious Richard Pombo chairs the committee. His pound of flesh was insistence that the very beneficial buyout of East Fork of the Salmon River ranchers be…
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Here is a detailed alert from the Wyoming Wilderness Association on your comments on the Bridger-Teton Forest Plan’s desired future conditions. Public comment is being accepted until September 30. Ralph Maughan
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About a month ago, the Western Watersheds Project and other groups won an injunction from Idaho federal district court judge Lynn Winmill on the BLM’s new grazing regulations. The victory enjoined the public participation party of the new regulations (new regs greatly restricted meaningful public input on grazing). Now the second shoe has dropped, with…
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There was a gathering of climate experts this week in Helena, MT. The effects of global warming in Montana were described with more and greater wildfires being just one of the most obvious. There has been a furious debate in recent years whether the increase in forest fires is due to bad forest practices, not…