KEA’s comments on the draft Idaho Panhandle National Forest Plan are due on Monday. The fairly lengthy comments are still being finalized, but the first paragraph will go something like this: As a general matter, we are glad that the Forest Service has finally developed a new draft forest plan, but we are disappointed. We believe that it is not sufficiently protective of watersheds, wildlife more »
The great folks at Friends of the Clearwater gave a great presentation last week at the Iron Horse. As promised, here are some of their suggestions for comments on the draft plan for the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. Our local forest abuts the great forests of the wild Clearwater along the St. Joe divide. From FOC: The plan for the diverse 2.5 million-acre Idaho Panhandle more »
When we look at our National Forests, we conservationists necessarily take the long view. Our region has made a lot of mistakes in forest management over the years, and we continue to pay the price. Wildlife has been lost, habitat fragmented, and watersheds trashed. Moreover, as federal forest funding dwindles to a trickle, restoring wildlife habitat watershed health becomes impossibly challenging. So what becomes clear more »
If there’s one thing we notice in the KEA office, it is that the days on the calendar keep flying at us. Every day is a new challenge. In the brief respite afforded by a slightly less frantic holiday week, here is a compilation of things we’ll be watching as the new year unfolds. 1. Dike Road Trees — At some point in 2012, we’re more »
On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives will hold a hearing on at least one bill to address the expiration of the Secure Rural Schools Act (SRS), which supplies rural counties with federal cash to counterbalance declining forest products revenues. As it turns out, the federal government is out of money. The imminent end of SRS is of some serious concern to North Idaho counties more »
Today, KEA filed comments on the draft Forest Planning Rule, proposed by the U.S. Forest Service to govern how forest plans are drafted and, ultimately, how forests are managed into the future. The current rule has been in effect since 1982, and since then, all subsequent efforts to revise the rule have failed. Our comments are less extensive and less technical, but they track the more »
In a letter dated March 4th, the district managers for both the Coeur d’Alene and Boise districts of the BLM rejected the proposed land exchange that would have transferred some 9000 acres of North Idaho BLM property to M3, in exchange for some 11,000 acres of M3 lands in the Boise foothills. M3, an Arizona-based development company with an interest in a large development proposal more »
In yet another attempt to update regulations for planning on National Forests, today, the U.S. Forest Service released a draft planning rule for public comment. The current regulations for forest planning date back to 1982. Attempts at revision have been delayed, scuttled, or struck down by courts. The new rule would apply nationally to some 155 National Forests, including our own Idaho Panhandle National Forest. more »
We just sent our letter off to the U.S. Forest Service calling for a winter closure of a road on 4th of July Pass so that quiet ski and snowshoe hiking can continue without motorized disruptions. We submitted a letter to support a Special Use Permit proposal from Panhandle Nordic Ski Club which calls for the Forest Service to close roads 614 and 918 to more »
We sent a version of this post to our friends and members earlier this week, and we thought we’d share our thoughts on 2010 here as well. We’ve had a pretty good year at KEA. As this end-of-year letter is being written, the Kootenai County Commissioners are finally completing work on the long-awaited comprehensive plan. As you know, KEA has been involved at every step more »
