Facts on Fire

Facts on Fire

Do facts matter at all? Last week, during a cabinet meeting, President Trump lambasted California officials for leaving the state’s forest “a mess.” He said that “California ought to get its act together and clean up their forests.” He accused them of leaving “old...
Visitation Limits Announced for Hanging Lake

Visitation Limits Announced for Hanging Lake

One of the primary attractions on the most visited national forest in the country will be subjected to a quota system beginning next spring, Forest Service officials announced earlier this month. Hanging Lake, turquoise-tinted and fed by waterfalls, is accessed by a...
Christiansen Named Forest Service Chief

Christiansen Named Forest Service Chief

The word “interim” can be removed from her title. Vicki Christiansen, who has served as interim chief of the Forest Service since March, was sworn in as the agency’s permanent chief during a ceremony this morning in Washington, D.C. Christiansen, who served as state...
Whither Roadless in Alaska?

Whither Roadless in Alaska?

They are wilderness areas without a capital “W.” They are “inventoried roadless areas,” governed by a rule adopted in the waning days of the Clinton administration designed to preserve the last remaining stretches of national forests that roads had not yet pierced....
Plan Would Limit Target Shooting in Colorado

Plan Would Limit Target Shooting in Colorado

A draft decision released yesterday would prohibit recreational target shooting on 225,574 acres on the Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests in Colorado. The report follows a five-year process in which Forest Service officials worked with representatives from...
Judge: Forest Service Must Reconsider Elk-Feeding Program

Judge: Forest Service Must Reconsider Elk-Feeding Program

Forest Service officials in Wyoming must reexamine their decision to let state wildlife officials feed elk on the Bridger-Teton National Forest in the wintertime, according to a federal judge’s ruling. U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal ruled on Friday that...
Operation Goat Lift Begins

Operation Goat Lift Begins

An operation to remove non-native mountain goats from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state gets under way today. More than 700 goats live in the Olympic Mountains, descended from a handful released there by hunters nearly a century ago. Their numbers are...