Technically this isn’t a good picture, but I think it represents many things. To me, it says “home”. When you hit the national forest boundary, you know you are automatically in wilder country than you were before. Even if it’s one of the more developed national forests, odds are it’s still much wilder than wherever you just came from. Even if you camp next to your car and just look at the woods and creeks, it’s still a superior outdoor experience than most. Notice how dark it is. There is no light pollution except for my car lights. This was along a bouncy dirt road that I was travelling at about 2AM, trying to get to a campground I had never been to before. I was exploring new ground, but I also had a feeling of returning.
This particular campground was in the “Crazy Mountains”. As I drove, large boulders and the trunks of stately pines lined the side of the dirt road. The air gradually became cooler, and the wind more apparent between the old pines. Eventually I got to my campsite at around 3AM, pulled into the spot and slept in the car, too tired to set up camp for the night. The next morning I woke to the view of towering snowcapped peaks, douglas fir, spruce and lodgepole pine. It was late fall in the mountains, with winter just a few days away.
I don’t think there is a spot in the world where more grizzlies are killed by trains. As development encroaches on the Glacier ecosystem, this will have a more negative impact on the grizzly populations.
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The collision occurred early Monday along Whitefish Lake, said Tim Manley, a bear management specialist with the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks
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A quick show of hands: How many people think western Pennsylvania has too many trees and not enough hotels?
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Washington’s heritage of vast timberland is being subdivided
You have only to drive to South Bend, Wash., for confirmation of a major trend reported this week in the Tacoma News Tribune: “Hundreds of thousands of acres of Western Washington forests are being converted to home sites, hobby farms and commercial developments.”
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“This will improve habitat for big game, primarily for mule deer, as well as for the sharp-tailed grouse, the Brewer’s sparrow, the Vesper sparrow” and other shrub land creatures, said Stephen Blatt, wildlife biologist for the Wasatch-Cache National Forest
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It’s that time of year again, when big, glossy female skwalas are on the water, laying their eggs.
“The males don’t have fully developed wings, so what you usually see are the females,” said fishing guide Jason Coates.
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On Tuesday, he shared the lessons learned from Gash Creek with several hundred fire management professionals gathered at Missoula’s Holiday Inn Parkside for the annual Northern Rockies Geographic Area Incident Management Teams Meeting.
Timber groups are very happy about this plan. Since the orignal roadless rule is now in place, it will clash and possibly be blocked.
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Idaho’s 69-page plan has split the environmentalist community, with some saying departure from a national roadless regime leaves federal territory vulnerable to logging and drilling.
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National Forests and Grasslands in Texas Forest Supervisor Fred Salinas is proposing to restrict the use of motorized vehicles to designated roads, trails and areas on the Angelina, Davy Crockett, and Sabine National Forests, and is asking for public comments on the proposal
