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 »
The battle over an obscure policy directive by Interior Secretary Salazar over BLM lands blew up this week, with Governor Otter testifying before the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, and Rep. Raul Labrador introducing his very first piece of legislation. The “wild lands” policy, announced in December, would simply have BLM consider wilderness values if and when it writes management plans for the properties more »
According to reporting by Rocky Barker of the Idaho Statesman, Rep. Mike Simpson has addressed each and every one of Governor Otter’s concerns with the proposed CIEDRA legislation for wilderness and recreation in central Idaho. Otter threw a monkywrench into the Congressional works just as the U.S. Senate held a long-awaited hearing several weeks ago. Notably, Simpson’s letter comes after the Idaho GOP convention and its right-tilting more »
We were pleased to have the opportunity to watch today’s live webcast of the U.S. Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests hearing today regarding the Boulder-White Cloud bill which would bring new wilderness to central Idaho. In a press release issued after the hearing, Idaho Conservation League noted that “the legislation will protect as wilderness 332,775 acres in the Boulder more »
Our friends at Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness are ramping up their efforts to get commitments for wilderness designation for some of North Idaho’s best landscape. The idea has been around for a long time, and we agree that it’s about time that we see some movement. Indeed, here in the KEA offices, we just came across an old fact sheet about Scotchman Peaks describing an early proposal. more »
At their excellent website, the Friends of the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness have an interesting and optimistic glass-half-full take on the recent convening of a “Panhandle Collaborative” to discuss lands and forestry issues in our northern region. The brainchild of Congressman Walt Minnick, the collaborative will attempt, maybe, to sort through the many issues with many stakeholders to come up with some way forward on wilderness, more »
