YOSEMITE VILLAGE, Calif. — Even in this bucolic wonderland, where sheer granite walls frame one of the most stunning views on Earth, justice must be served.
After all, tourists run stop signs. Park employees get rowdy. Some people even get busted for “BUI” — bicycling under the influence of alcohol
August 31, 2007
California: Yellowstone’s counterpart
California: Exposing public lands to city kids in hopes of creating a bond
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Jorge Castaneda kneels on a rocky ledge with a map of the Sierra Nevada spread before him.
“There aren’t street names,” the 18-year-old says only half-jokingly to the guides about to take him on his first backpacking trip. “How are we supposed to read these maps?”
Utah: Fee increase planned for Flaming Gorge
Washington: Not a place to lose your nerve - or your grip
It’s almost 4,000 feet of elevation gain over 6.7 miles by trail — it feels like 10 — and you must cross a steep section of a glacier and several snowfields before climbing three wooden ladders and rope up the final cliff. Your heart races a bit on that glacier, because a slip likely would be fatal. And you climb those ladders with a death grip.
Montana: Rock Creek west of Lake Como closed due to fire
The Bell Lake Fire, which started on the Nez Perce National Forest, has burned over the divide onto the Bitterroot National Forest in the upper reaches of the Rock Creek drainage, and is currently 300 acres in size. Fire weather warnings are in place for Thursday and Friday for strong and gusty winds that can cause quick fire growth in the area
Wyoming: Jackson may lose National Forest headquarters
Rural sprawl has priced the USFS out of Jackson. Everyone wants to move to “paradise”. Trouble is, when everyone else does, it’s no longer the place it was.
The proposal would relocate 45 full-time Bridger-Teton National Forest employees to Alpine, about 35 miles southwest of Jackson, according to a memo dated Aug. 24 from the Intermountain Region of the U.S. Forest Service. The memo noted the high cost of housing in Jackson Hole, where the median home sale price is more than $1.1 million.
August 30, 2007
Idaho: Off-Road vehicles threaten largest recommended wilderness in lower 48 (action alert)
Nestled in remote East-Central Idaho, the Salmon-Challis National Forest contains some of Idaho’s wildest and most pristine gems. Idaho’s largest peak, Mt. Borah, rises to more than 12,600 feet. Portions of the Boulder-White Cloud Mountains and many recommended wilderness areas are also present in this spectacular basin and range country. The Forest is also home for bighorn sheep, salmon, steelhead, and sage-grouse.
The Salmon-Challis National Forest is beginning a process to designate specific roads, trails, and areas for use by dirt bikes, ATVs, and other off-road vehicles. The Forest Service has warned that unmanaged off-road vehicle use is one of the top four threats facing public lands due to its impact on the land, water, wildlife, ecosystem functionality, and other forest recreationists.
Montana: Stage II fire restrictions still in effect
Missoula — Fire officials would like to remind the public that the West-Central Montana area is still under Stage II Fire Restrictions. Several factors support that restrictions should remain in place, such as the extremely dry vegetation, the expected increase of outdoor activities for Labor Day weekend, and the season opening for bow hunters.
Washington: Grazing Rules changing landscape
There’s no doubt that cows are harmful to native fish and plants. But what’s worse than cows? Subdivisions. The more ranchers that go out of business, the more that sell their land for rural subdivisions. There has to be a key balance somewhere. We can always repair cow damage. Good luck removing a subdivision and all it brings.
This may be a controversial view to some who read this website, but over the past few years observing the national forests and “wildland interfaces” of this country, I have come to believe that the temporary(yes, and some times long lasting) damage caused by non-sprawl items in rural industry are a lesser evil than rural subdivision sprawl and unchecked development. That said, I applaud this move to keep the Wildlife Refuge free of cattle. But how will we handle any potential sell off of ranches in this area which would contribute to rural sprawl and development? Grizzlies, wolves and wolverines do better amongst cows than they do amongst trophy homes, garages full of ATV’s, snowmobiles and condo developments. There has to be a fall back plan.
“At some point you have to have the courage to stand up and say this is a national wildlife refuge,” said Don Tryon, with Friends of Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge, one of two conservation organizations involved in the lawsuit. “Cows are harmful to native fish and plants. It doesn’t matter what kind of phony science you cook up.”
Arizona: Forest Service’s “less for more” strategy is wrong
Some of the proposed cost-cutting suggestions are sensible and probably won’t be noticed by most visitors. But reducing services, especially after increasing fees or imposing fees where previously there were none, is politically unpalatable, especially from a government agency that has been subsidizing the logging, mining and livestock industries for many years.