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The California Desert and Mountain Heritage Act, authored by U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, would create four new wilderness areas, expand six existing such areas and designate 31 miles of county streams as “wild and scenic rivers.”

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All National Park Service sites are participating in free admittance, which includes all sites operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service.

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Following up on recent threats to “take the gloves off” in the fight to protect the Flathead River from pollution, Montana Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester on Wednesday wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, asking them to petition the UN to add Waterton Glacier International Peace Park to the List of World Heritage in Danger.

More on this huge story here.

There is a good deal of misinformation in the hunting community that hikers and wildlife watchers don’t “paythere way”. Another example that eloquently refutes that myth.

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The record-breaking volunteer response to a storm that caused unprecedented damage at Mount Rainier National Park saved the park an estimated $1.2 million and expedited reopening certain areas, park officials say.

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RAPID CITY - The Forest Service plans to conduct two logging projects next year to thin ponderosa pine on about 60,000 acres of the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota and Wyoming.

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Under the Travel Management Rule, the forest service must officially designate those roads that are open to motorized vehicle use. All vehicles will be banned from travel on roads or trails not officially designated for vehicular use. People whose favorite routes to travel while hunting or camping follow unauthorized roads could be strongly impacted by the new plan. Many of the current unauthorized roads will likely not be included in the final plan.

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The report “Natural Dividends” by The Wilderness Society says the oil and gas industry accounts for less than 2 percent of the jobs and income in the Rocky Mountain states. The report recommends slowing the pace of natural gas drilling in the region, including Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, to ensure that the land, water and air quality aren’t damaged

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ALAMOGORDO — The first day of autumn has arrived, and the weather will eventually change and temperatures start to cool. You can still set up a tent and enjoy the last warm days of what was summer or take a scenic drive and observe the aspens changing colors.

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Forest Supervisor Steve Eubanks said cooler temperatures and wetter weather prompted his office to end an order that had prevented recreational users in the forest from having campfires in the backcountry.

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Similarly, the number of visitors to Yellowstone National Park in August continued to be well above last year’s figures, according to the Billings Gazette