Archive: Jurisdictions: National Forests

PROPOSED NEW FOREST SERVICE PLANNING RULES DRASTICALLY REDUCE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

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National Forest System Land and Resource Management Planning; Proposed Rules (PDF, 990kB)

National Forest System Land and Resource Management Planning; Proposed Rules (HTML)

Analysis of Proposed Rules by The Wilderness Society

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Archived 11-May-2003
For more than thirty years the public has enjoyed its right to participate in the decision-making processes of the Forest Service. Here in Utah, citizens have used this vigorously, offering thousands of comments, pro and con, on hot-button issues - most especially on the periodic revisions of Forest Management Plans. These comments have clearly affected Forest Service decisions, as they should. Where should mineral exploration be allowed and where denied? What about grazing on federal lands? What ski development schemes are consistent with environmental preservation and which ones need to be pared down or denied? Where should ORV use and helicopter skiing be allowed and where should it be banned? In all of these contentious issues, citizen participation has been assured by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, known as "NEPA" - a sort of citizens' environmental bill of rights.

In December 2002, the Bush Administration, bowing apparently to pressure from the timber industry, issued new draft regulations that would drastically change all this so as to more-or-less eliminate public participation in the vitally important process of Forest Service planning. The proposed rules would exempt Forest Plans from the NEPA requirements for public commentary on a draft plan containing analysis of the environmental impacts of a number of possible alternatives thereby drastically reducing public participation in the process. If these bureaucratic regulations were to go into effect, Forest Plans would not be open to criticism or challenge but would be issued with no alternatives. As Gale Dick of Save Our Canyons said, "The plans laid down by the Forest Service would be 'Take it or leave it - with no way to leave it.' The Forest Service would be, in effect, thumbing its nose at Congress and assuming the role of infallibility."

The proposed planning rules would supposedly avoid the requirements of NEPA by making the Forest Plans themselves such flexible and adaptive documents that they would not be applicable to any specific project proposed for Forest Service Lands. Such non-specific Forest Plans, it is thought, would not trigger the NEPA Environmental Impact Study process. "These generic, 'adaptive' plans would be impotent documents. It would fill the requirement to have a plan without really having one", said Tom Hale, Executive Director of Save Our Canyons. "It opens the door wide to piecemeal planning and encourages the approval of unsound proposals."

The upshot of these proposed regulations would be to make the national forests much more vulnerable to logging, mining, ORV use, rampant ski-area-related real estate development, and other environmentally damaging activities.

This is a truly alarming move that regards our national forests as mere commodities with little or no regard for wildlife, ecosystems, watersheds or the people who rely on and enjoy these resources. It also exhibits contempt for the First Amendment that grants the citizens of this country, the owners of the national forests, the right "to petition the government for a redress of grievances".

Related Topics

Ashley National Forest
Dixie National Forest
Fishlake National Forest
Uinta National Forest
Wasatch-Cache National Forest

Related Web Sites

The web sites linked to below are not part of the Save Our Canyons web site.

USDA Forest Service National Headquarters
USDA Forest Service NEPA, NFMA and Appeals Homepage

Articles

(Op-Ed) A Misdirected Forest Strategy
The New York Times (free registration required) August 12, 2003.  President Bush visits an Arizona fire site to drum up support for his Healthy Forests initiative, a strategy which "has not improved with age"; while the plan increases US Forest Service funding, it somehow works out to increased potential for commercial logging on millions of forested acres--and weakened public comment and judicial review--while making all the wrong arguments.

Bush Tilts Forest Policy
The Salt Lake Tribune March 10, 2003.  Rebuffed by a divided Congress last fall, (the Bush) administration is now busy overturning Clinton-era protections with sweeping new agency rules -- changes that environmentalists charge will open the federal lands to much more aggressive logging.

To Save the Forest, the Trees Must Go
The New York Times (free registration required) December 15, 2002.  In the name of science, the United States Forest Service has proposed the experimental logging of half a million acres in two forests in the Sierra Nevada to see how it will affect the habitat of the California spotted owl and the ferocity of forest fires.

Easier Logging Rules in Works
The Salt Lake Tribune November 28, 2002.  The Bush administration is proposing less emphasis on wildlife preservation and other environmental concerns when deciding how much logging or recreation to allow in the 192 million acres of federal forests and grasslands.

Agency Proposes Relaxing Rules on Logging in National Forests
The New York Times (free registration required) November 27, 2002.  The Bush administration proposed today to give managers of the 155 national forests more discretion to approve logging and commercial activities with less evaluation of potential damage to the environment.

Politics Returns in Forest Fire Debate
The New York Times (free registration required) September 19, 2002.  Even on a day when a late-summer rain coats the arthritic woods, it is clear that Idaho Panhandle National Forest is sick.

Western Fire Plan Up in Smoke?
The Salt Lake Tribune September 5, 2002.  The much-ballyhooed National Fire Plan that Gov. Mike Leavitt helped craft through his principles of "en libra" -- Latin for, roughly, "coming to a balance" -- is scheduled for a "de-en libra-ing" today by Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah.

Disease Hits Firs and Redwoods, Posing Risk of Economic Damage
The New York Times (free registration required) September 5, 2002.  Douglas fir, one of the nation's most economically important timber species, and California's coast redwood are infected with the fast-spreading new disease known as sudden oak death syndrome, scientists reported yesterday.

Forest Thinning Challenged as Tactic to Control Fires
The New York Times (free registration required) August 27, 2002.  Even as President Bush urges increased thinning of national forests, some scientists caution that there is little evidence to show that thinning will prevent fires at the catastrophic scales seen in the West this summer.

Forest Plan May Prove Too Costly
The Salt Lake Tribune August 26, 2002.  President Bush's proposal to thin the nation's forests to prevent forest fires won cheers from fellow Republicans in timber country. But the high costs of thinning forests and the strong political opposition to both cutting old-growth trees and suspending environmental laws could prove formidable obstacles.

Wildfire costs could pinch other projects
Deseret News July 29, 2002.  Funds diverted by the Forest Service to fight wildfires could affect some Utah forest projects.

Forest Service Panel Will Study Fires and Thinning Policies
The Salt Lake Tribune July 12, 2002.  The Forest Service will form a special panel to investigate the fires raging across the West in hopes of finding consensus in the hot debate about forest-thinning programs.

Couple's efforts pay off
The Denver Post July 11, 2002.  Hayman spared home due to preventive steps

Report Claims Appeals Stalled Fire Control
The Salt Lake Tribune July 11, 2002.  Nearly half the projects designed to reduce fire risks in national forests since 2001 were stalled by appeals, usually by environmentalists seeking to stop logging, an internal Forest Service report says.

Prescribed-burn law under fire
The Denver Post July 9, 2002.  Three years ago, Gov. Bill Owens signed a law making it tougher to thin Colorado's national forests with fire.

Siren song of the forest stays strong
The Denver Post June 30, 2002.  Explosive growth being forecast for fire-prone counties despite risk

Idea of Fighting Fire With Fire Wins Converts
The New York Times (free registration required) June 30, 2002.  "That would scare anyone to death when the government says, `I'm here to burn down the forest, trust me,' " said Bob Foster, who owns the Lost Valley Guest Ranch near here, surrounded by Pike National Forest.

Era of the Big Fire Is Kindled at West's Doors
The New York Times (free registration required) June 23, 2002.  The fires came early this year to the West, chasing people out of valleys in Colorado, rousting animals from late slumber in Alaska, choking the sky with smoke in Arizona woods that have so little moisture they seem kiln-dried.

Forest Chief Slams Gridlock
The Salt Lake Tribune June 13, 2002.  The U.S. Forest Service is plagued by excessive analysis, cumbersome regulations and an overabundance of public involvement, the agency's chief says in a new report to Congress.

Scientists' Plea: Curb Logging
The Salt Lake Tribune April 17, 2002.  More than 200 scientists around the nation have asked President Bush to halt commercial logging on national forests and to begin restoring damaged habitat and native species.

Scientists Seek Logging Ban on U.S.-Owned Land
The New York Times (free registration required) April 16, 2002.  A letter signed by 221 scientists and sent to President Bush today calls for ending all logging on federally owned forests, arguing that the value of the timber produced was minuscule compared with the environmental damage caused by the harvests.

Timber Company Reduces Cutting of Old-Growth Trees
The New York Times (free registration required) March 27, 2002.  Boise, the giant timber company, has begun telling its employees and customers that it will no longer cut centuries-old trees in some undisturbed forests on public and private lands.

Nevada's Fight Over Trout May Be Headed to Court
The Salt Lake Tribune March 22, 2002.  Forest Service Supervisor Bob Vaught expects to end up in court regardless of what the agency decides in a lingering dispute over the threatened bull trout and the rebuilding of a road in a national forest in Nevada.

Idaho Conservationists Wary of Bush's 'Charter Forests' Budget Proposal
The Salt Lake Tribune February 18, 2002.  President Bush's budget proposal to create "charter forests" has several years to go before it catches up with Idaho's efforts to some national forest management away from the federal government.

Accord reached over Bitterroot logging
Deseret News February 10, 2002.  The U.S. Forest Service and environmentalists have reached a compromise that will allow at least some logging of burned timber in Montana's Bitterroot National Forest, but about one-third of what the Forest Service wanted.

Forest Service and Environmentalists Settle Logging Dispute
The New York Times (free registration required) February 8, 2002.  After nearly three days of court-ordered negotiations, the United States Forest Service agreed to reduce substantially the size of a timber sale on large tracts of the Bitterroot National Forest that burned in wildfires in 2000.

Invaders Reshape the American Landscape
The New York Times (free registration required) February 5, 2002.  Dr. Don Goheen, a plant pathologist with the United States Forest Service in Medford, Ore., who works with Port Orford cedars, echoed the comments of others, saying: "These introduced diseases are bad news. We're run ragged by them."

Is Logging Bane or Balm? Plan Stirs Debate
The New York Times (free registration required) January 29, 2002.  ...in its struggle to cut and sell trees burned in the enormous fires of the summer of 2000, the United States Forest Service finds itself trying to convince environmentalists that careful logging is not only benign, but critical to the forests' recovery and protection.

Judge halts plan to log Montana burn area
Deseret News January 8, 2002.  A federal judge issued a court order barring the U.S. Forest Service from logging thousands of acres of burned timber from a national forest in Montana, saying the agency had violated its own rules in approving the plan.

Forest Service chief revising 3 policies
Deseret News December 30, 2001.  He says changes needed to clear up confusion.

Status of Clinton's forest policies
Deseret News December 30, 2001.  A look at the status of three major policies governing national forests, approved by the Clinton administration in its final months

Judge Blocks Salvage Logging
The Salt Lake Tribune December 19, 2002.  A federal judge Tuesday temporarily blocked the U.S. Forest Service from logging a fire-stricken Montana forest, after environmentalists filed a suit earlier in the day accusing the Bush administration of breaking the law in approving the project.

Forest-user fees ruled improper
Deseret News December 12, 2001.  A federal judge has ruled the U.S. Forest Service had no authority to collect users' fees at trailheads, pullouts and other sites around the Northwest from 1996 until November of this year.

Plan to Salvage Burned Forest Brings Controversy
The New York Times (free registration required) December 9, 2001.  ...efforts by the United States Forest Service to hasten the process to salvage more than 46,000 acres of that burned timber for wood products and to protect the forest have sparked controversy.

Escalante Mill Faces Closure
The Salt Lake Tribune December 9, 2001.  A key factor is foreign exchange rates. Even though sawmills outside the United States are often less efficient, domestic mills cannot process raw logs at a cost low enough to level out the U.S. dollar's high value overseas.

Logging Plan for West's Burned Forests Incites a Debate
The New York Times (free registration required) July 22, 2001.  The Forest Service, which manages most of the forest land in the valley, is considering letting loggers harvest as many as 73,000 acres of blackened trees that are standing like a ghost forest on the burned hillsides.

Westerners Move Toward Learning to Live With Wildfires
The Salt Lake Tribune July 4, 2001.  Images of last summer's wildfires -- the worst in 50 years -- have not stopped the steady migration of retirees and commuters into the woods of the West.

Ex-Timber Lobbyist Named to USDA Post
The Salt Lake Tribune June 22, 2001.  A former top lobbyist for the timber industry was nominated by President Bush on Thursday to an Agriculture Department post overseeing the Forest Service and land conservation programs.

Pro, Cons Of Privatizing Federal Land
The Salt Lake Tribune June 5, 2001.  ..opposing views were expressed over the weekend by Darrel Knuffke of The Wilderness Society and Terry Anderson of the Political Economy Research Center (PERC) at the Outdoor Writers Association of America conference here.

Forest protection rules blocked
Federal judge issues 2 injunctions

San Francisco Chronicle June 4, 2001.  A federal judge in Idaho blocked the U.S. Forest Service yesterday from implementing rules banning road building, mining and other development in 58 million acres of national forest, angering environmentalists and bringing cheers from the timber industry.

Forest chief seeks broader ranger role
Deseret News May 21, 2001.  New U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth, a former Utahn, wants to give local rangers more power and limit "top-down" directives from Washington.

Wyoming Sues to Block Roadless Forest Initiative`
The Salt Lake Tribune May 19, 2001.  The state filed a lawsuit Friday to thwart a pending policy that would prevent road construction in a third of the nation's national forests.

Grooming the Forests With Flames, Managing wildfires is part of Forest Service's new policy
The Salt Lake Tribune May 19, 2001.  The National Forest Service has modified its forest plans to include the option to "manage" Utah wildfires rather than simply fight them.

Wildfire Expert Has Radical Solution to West's Problem: Let It Burn
The Salt Lake Tribune May 17, 2001.  Pyne argues that contrary to the goals of timber companies and suburban developers, fire is an environmental necessity.

Administration Remains Silent On Ruling Reversing Road Ban
The Salt Lake Tribune May 16, 2001.  Forest Service chief Dale Bosworth said Tuesday he doesn't know whether the Justice Department will appeal an Idaho judge's decision to block a sweeping road-building ban on a third of the national forest lands.

Fire Crews Preparing for Hot Season
The Salt Lake Tribune May 12, 2001.  The summer solstice is more than a month away, but fire crews already are gearing up to battle seasonal wildfires throughout Utah.

The West Is Culling Forests That Fueled Fires of the Past
The New York Times (free registration required) May 12, 2001.  With memories of last year's wildfires still vivid across the West, men and women armed with chain saws and an infusion of taxpayer money are now racing against further conflagration by cutting down millions of the trees that surround towns like this one.

Judge blocks rule restricting roads in many national forests
Deseret News May 11, 2001.  2 Utah congressmen hail delay of Clinton 'roadless' regulation

Federal Judge Blocks Road Ban in Forests
The Salt Lake Tribune May 11, 2001.  A federal judge in Idaho blocked a ban on road building in a third of America's national forests, saying the Clinton administration rule needed to be amended or it would cause "irreparable harm."

Judge Bars New Forest Rules, Citing Potential Local Harm
The New York Times (free registration required) May 11, 2001.  A federal judge in Idaho blocked the Clinton administration's forest-protection plan today, saying that if the rules went into effect as scheduled on Saturday, they could cause "irreparable long-term harm" to local communities.

Forest Service Outlines Wilderness Plans
The Salt Lake Tribune May 9, 2001.  It's time to speak up now.

Clinton-Era Roadless Rule Will Take Effect This Weekend
The Salt Lake Tribune May 9, 2001.  Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth assured members of a Senate committee Tuesday that a sweeping ban on road-building on a third of the nation's forests will take effect Saturday, even as the administration works to revise the rule.

Forest Information
The Salt Lake Tribune May 9, 2001.  

2 sides find fault with plan for roads
Deseret News May 5, 2001.  Environmentalists and the timber industry - on opposite sides of a sweeping Clinton-era road ban in many national forests - both found fault with a Bush plan announced Friday to maintain the protections while a revision is crafted.

Clinton's Forest-Roads Ban Intact Until Further Notice
The Salt Lake Tribune May 5, 2001.  The Bush administration will leave in place a sweeping ban on roads and logging in about a third of the national forests, but will begin changing the rule next month so local forest managers have more control over how its restrictions are applied, the White House announced Friday.

Utah Environmentalists Unhappy With Decision
The Salt Lake Tribune May 5, 2001.  "Local control is a Bush administration code word for handing America's last pristine areas over to industry," said Wayne Hoskisson, Sierra Club's Utah Chapter public lands chair.

Forests won't get new roads
Deseret News May 4, 2001.  The Bush administration will keep in place a ban on road-building in much of the nation's federal forest lands while it revises the regulations to give more say to local officials on forest maintenance.

Bush Will Modify Ban on New Roads in Federal Lands
The New York Times (free registration required) May 4, 2001.  The White House will put in place Clinton administration regulations intended to protect national forests from development but will allow those rules to be amended case by case, senior administration officials said today.

Bush Facing Decision on Forests
The Salt Lake Tribune May 2, 2001.  At issue is an important environmental question: what to do about the Clinton administration's proposal to declare 58.5 million acres of roadless national forests off limits to timber and mining companies.

Utahns in U.S. House Tackling Clinton Roadless Rule
The Salt Lake Tribune May 2, 2001.  Utahns have been among those weighing in on the roadless-rule controversy in Washington.

White House Considering Plan to Void Clinton Rule on Forests
The New York Times (free registration required) May 2, 2001.  The White House is considering a move to delay indefinitely a Clinton administration plan to put a third of national forest land off limits to new development, officials said today.

Clinton Rules on Ecosystem to Get Review, Forest Service report says regulations were impossible to put in place successfully
The Salt Lake Tribune April 28, 2001.  Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman has agreed to review Clinton-era regulations that directed forest managers to put ecosystem health above all other concerns.

GOP Wants Roadless Rule Rolled Back
The Salt Lake Tribune April 27, 2001.  Western Republicans are urging President Bush to revise the Clinton administration's ban on road building in national forests so decisions are made on a forest-by-forest basis.

Utah to Sue On Logging, Road Bans
The Salt Lake Tribune April 20, 2001.  After three years of planning, 600 public hearings and more than a million and a half comments, the U.S. Forest Service enacted a rule prohibiting road building and commercial logging on 58 million acres of public land.

Ex-Utah Land Manager Is Named Forest Service Boss
The Salt Lake Tribune April 13, 2001.  Dale Bosworth will guide the controversial agency through a period of long-range planning that will affect the use of public lands for decades to come.

In Fires' Afterglow, Nature Runs Its Course
The New York Times (free registration required) April 10, 2001.  "Human efforts to mitigate exacerbate the impacts," he said. "The worst is salvage logging. Roading intercepts the flow of water, roads blow out and wash into the stream, and wood is important over 20 years as it washes into the stream."

Roadless Forest Plan Survives Challenge
The Salt Lake Tribune April 6, 2001.  A federal judge said Thursday the U.S. Forest Service violated public disclosure requirements before approving a Clinton administration plan to put 58 million acres of roadless forest land nationwide off-limits to logging.

Urging Bush to Resist Pressure, Forest Chief Resigns
The New York Times (free registration required) March 28, 2001.  In a letter of resignation, the chief of the Forest Service urged the Bush administration today to "withstand political pressure" and leave in place rules that would bar road building across some 60 million acres of federally owned land.

Clinton's Forest Service Chief to Step Down
The Salt Lake Tribune March 28, 2001.  Forest Service chief Mike Dombeck, a proponent of a sweeping land-use plan the Bush administration may now be trying to undo, announced Tuesday he is stepping down after 25 years of federal service.

Official Unsure of Rebuilding Nevada Road
The Salt Lake Tribune March 22, 2001.  The federal official who might have more say than anyone about whether Elko County rebuilds a washed out road in a national forest remains skeptical it can be done.

Agencies Block Clinton's Salmon Protection Plan
The Salt Lake Tribune March 22, 2001.  Two federal agencies have blocked a last-minute move by the Clinton administration to help Pacific salmon east of the Cascades, as President Bush continues trying to chip away at his predecessor's environmental legacy.

Environmentalists Question Move To Delay Roadless Forest Hearing
The Salt Lake Tribune March 17, 2001.  The Bush administration asked a federal court Friday to postpone a hearing on former President Clinton's ban on road-building and logging in a third of the nation's federal forestland.

Forest Rules Postponed Again by Bush
The New York Times (free registration required) March 17, 2001.  The Bush administration signaled today that it might consider a settlement that could significantly scale back the effect of Clinton administration rules putting a third of the national forests off limits to development.

Forest Service: Road-Building Ban Won't Hinder Fire Prevention Efforts
The Salt Lake Tribune March 15, 2001.  The Clinton administration's road-building ban on vast tracts of national forests will not interfere with efforts to reduce fire risks, a Forest Service official said Wednesday.

Group Says Deal Hurts Bull Trout
The Salt Lake Tribune March 13, 2001.  Trout Unlimited leaders say the Forest Service is negotiating away federally mandated protection of the threatened bull trout in a deal that could allow Elko County to rebuild a controversial road in a national forest.

Forest Service Under Fire Over Ski-Resort Deal
The Salt Lake Tribune February 27, 2001.  The U.S. Forest Service, criticized in recent years for bowing to the ski industry in Colorado and Utah, now is under attack in Wyoming over a deal that would give a Colorado businessman title to 120 acres of the Targhee National Forest.

Environmentalists Critical of Partnerships Between Companies, Fed Land Managers
The Salt Lake Tribune February 1, 2001 "When the Forest Service partners with Leave No Trace, and Leave No Trace partners with Subaru, there is a presumed relationship between the Forest Service and Subaru," says Scott Silver of Oregon-based Wild Wilderness..  

Agency Reassesses Impact of Timber Policy
The New York Times (free registration required) January 10, 2001.  A new policy banning the cutting of old- growth trees in the national forests would affect no more than 20 percent of the timber harvest scheduled for auction across the country in the coming year, Forest Service officials said today.

In Challenge to Bush, Forest Chief Bars Logging of the Oldest Trees
The New York Times (free registration required) January 9, 2001.  In a clear challenge to the incoming Bush administration, the head of the Forest Service issued a policy today barring the cutting of old-growth timber on public lands.

Forest Closures Affect 4 Million Acres in Utah; Hansen Calls Plan 'Reckless'
The Salt Lake Tribune January 6, 2001.  President Clinton declared nearly a third of the country's federal forest land off-limits to most logging, including some 4 million acres in Utah.

Hansen vows a lands fight
Deseret News January 4, 2001.  Rep. Jim Hansen, who was expected to be named Thursday as chairman of the House Resources Committee, says he wants to use that post to turn back many Clinton administration actions on public lands.

Foundations Give $10M to Influence Roadless Policy
The Salt Lake Tribune January 3, 2001.  A dozen foundations have given nearly $10 million to environmental groups seeking to influence President Clinton's proposals for protecting roadless areas, the Oregonian reported Tuesday.

Tours Help Visitors Connect With Forest
The Salt Lake Tribune January 2, 2001.  Volunteers wearing bright yellow Tour With a Ranger jackets can be seen each weekend at Alta, Snowbird and Brighton offering 1:30 p.m. tours on beginner runs that explain such things as tree identification.

Fire season left a costly aftermath
Deseret News January 1, 2001.  Agencies will spend millions to fight erosion and replant forests

Firefighting wastes millions, critics say
Deseret News December 17, 2000.  The nation's wildfire program wastes millions on ineffective techniques designed to calm the public's nerves, according to a review of federal firefighting strategies by a taxpayer watchdog group.

A Hot Concept: Fighting Fire With Fire
The Salt Lake Tribune December 17, 2000.  Fight fire with fire. It's an old saying that has become central to the new thinking about Western wildfires.

U.S. boosts wildfire funding
Deseret News December 9, 2000.  With a pot of new money from Congress after a record season of wildfires, the U.S. Forest Service is hiring extra firefighters and boosting prescribed burns and thinning operations to prevent future blazes.

Extra Funding Helps the Forest Service Beef Up Its Ranks
The Salt Lake Tribune December 8, 2000.  With a pot of new money from Congress after a record season of wildfires, the U.S. Forest Service is hiring extra firefighters and boosting prescribed burns and thinning operations to prevent future blazes.

No Tree Permits In Several BLM (sic) Areas This Year
The Salt Lake Tribune November 30, 2000.  The Logan, Ogden and Salt Lake ranger districts of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest will not offer tree permits again this year.

Feds Trim Species List For Loggers
The Salt Lake Tribune November 22, 2000.  The federal government has revised guidelines for protecting rare plants and animals that are part of the Northwest's old-growth forests, clearing the way for increased logging.

GOP Says Roadless PlanMay Mar Forest Health
The Salt Lake Tribune November 21, 2000.  Foresters who want to build roads in roadless areas to prevent wildfires and bug infestations would be unable to do so under President Clinton's roadless plan, Republicans said Monday, citing a General Accounting Office report.

Others skeptical edicts will survive court suits, possible Bush presidency
The Salt Lake Tribune November 19, 2000.  With President Clinton's roadless plan nearly final, the administration has one more proposal that could forever leave his imprint on national forests -- a rule making it tougher for foresters to add to the 380,000-mile road system in national forests.

Clinton Approves State-Federal Forest Health Partnership
The Salt Lake Tribune October 13, 2000.  President Clinton this week approved a measure that commits the federal government to a 10-year collaborative effort with the states to improve forest health and prevent wildfires.

Coaltion Seeks Plan For Healing Forests
The Salt Lake Tribune September 26, 2000.  With the embers of this year's wildfires still smoldering across the West, the warring factions that have fought for decades over what to do with America's public lands have finally agreed on one thing: The forests are sick.

Wildfire-Burned Guvs Change Views on Forests
The Salt Lake Tribune September 9, 2000.  Western governors, some of whom have criticized the Clinton administration in the wake of this year's huge wildfires, reached a meeting of the minds Monday with the president's top two natural-resources advisers.

Plan Proposed for Forest Recreation
The Salt Lake Tribune September 23, 2000.  The Clinton administration proposed a national forest recreation plan Friday that would spend hundreds of millions for upgrades, would overhaul fees and would create aggressive partnering with local governments and private interests. The proposal "really defines where the U.S. Forest Service is going in the next decade," said Michael Dombeck, the agency's chief.

Revised Report Says Wildfires' Link To Logging Cannot Be Determined
The Salt Lake Tribune September 23, 2000.  Congressional researchers who last month found little or no relationship between this summer's massive wildfires and the decline in timber harvests now say the possibility of a link "cannot be determined from the available data."

Feds Told to Study Fire Impact Before Finishing Land Plan
The Salt Lake Tribune September 22, 2000.  Federal officials drafting a massive land-use plan covering 63 million acres in four states must report to Congress on the impact of this summer's fires before completing the plan, under an amendment approved by a House-Senate conference committee on Thursday.

Western leaders support fire plan
Deseret News September 19, 2000.  Overlooking differences for now, six Western governors strongly endorsed Clinton administration proposals for fighting wildfires and preventing future devastating blazes.

GOP blaming Clinton for wildfire problems
Deseret News September 16, 2000.  With one of the West's worst wildfire seasons coming to a close, Republican senators turned up the political heat on the Clinton administration, blaming its timber policies for the destruction of millions of acres of forests.

Clinton Administration Looks to Thin Additional 455,000 Acres of Federal Lands Next Year
The Salt Lake Tribune September 16, 2000.  The Clinton administration wants to clear brush and trees on another 455,000 acres of federal lands next year, a 33 percent increase over what agencies planned before this summer's brutal wildfires, officials said Friday.

GOP Skeptical of Wildfire Plan
The Salt Lake Tribune September 14, 2000.  Congressional Republicans on Wednesday faulted President Clinton's wildfire prevention plan as too vague and questioned whether the administration will carry it out.

Group Seeks Less Fire Risk
The Salt Lake Tribune September 11, 2000.  The Flagstaff project aims to restore the forest's ecosystem by thinning dense thickets of trees, regrowing meadows that slow fires and reintroducing low-level blazes to burn off fuels.

Clinton is seeking $1.6 billion for wildfire prevention
Deseret News September 10, 2000.  As wildfires rage in nine states, President Clinton said Saturday he will ask Congress for $1.6 billion to pay for getting rid of forest underbrush to reduce the risk of fires.

Clinton Seeks $1.6B to Thin U.S. Forests, Undergrowth fed summer fires, he says
The Salt Lake Tribune September 10, 2000.  President Clinton proposed spending about $1.6 billion to help communities recover from the forest fires that have scorched the West this summer and to thin millions of acres of federal forests in hopes of preventing future blazes.

Feds' policies fed fires, leaders say
Deseret News September 2, 2000.  Four Republican governors, including Utah's Mike Leavitt, want to convene an emergency meeting of the Western Governors Association to confront Clinton administration officials about this summer's wildfires and related federal forest management policies.

Man, nature abet wildfires
Deseret News August 27, 2000.  Smokey Bear effort is linked to tree density

Shovel brigade honors Leavitt for roads fight
Deseret News August 26, 2000.  Gov. Mike Leavitt will be able to move a little more dirt on his ranch thanks to a Nevada group formed to fight the federal government on land issues.

Governor Given Shovel by Nevada Road Protesters
The Salt Lake Tribune August 26, 2000.  A group of Nevadans on Friday awarded Gov. Mike Leavitt the "Golden Shovel Award" for his efforts to keep roads open on federal lands in Utah.

Forest Service Wants Trees Removed to Cut Risk
The Salt Lake Tribune August 23, 2000.  The Forest Service wants to boost efforts to remove small trees and brush near Western communities in response to wildfires raging this summer, agency officials said Tuesday.

Forest Service to Limit Access to Disputed Road
The Salt Lake Tribune August 18, 2000.  Upping the ante in a fight over property rights, the Forest Service intends to cut off vehicle access to a dirt road in remote Elko County and undo the work of residents who reopened part of the road near Jarbidge on the Fourth of July.

Attacks on land managers down after a 5-year rise
Deseret News August 11, 2000.  Attacks against federal land managers dropped sharply last year after rising steadily since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, according to a nonprofit group.

Feds Sue Shovel Brigade Over July 4 Rally
The Salt Lake Tribune August 11, 2000.  The federal government has sued a citizens group for trespassing in its Independence Day rally intended to assert local rights on a washed-out dirt road along a remote stream that is home to the threatened bull trout.

Wildfires Spark Suit By 6 Utah Counties
The Salt Lake Tribune August 9, 2000.  The U.S. Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service could face a lawsuit alleging they violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to take measures to protect animals from widespread wildfires.

Forest Service under fire
Deseret News August 9, 2000.  Timber groups have borrowed a tactic from environmentalists - suing the federal government for not protecting endangered species.

Leavitt Attacks Forest Service Proposal
The Salt Lake Tribune July 21, 2000.  Gov. Mike Leavitt has launched a scathing attack against the Forest Service's proposal to ban new roads in roadless areas of national forests.

Activists for Roadless Forests Converge on Utah
The Salt Lake Tribune July 18, 2000.  Hoping President Clinton will stop to smell the grass roots, environmentalists Monday celebrated their biggest-ever public-comment campaign by disgorging nearly a million postcards and letters on the doorstep of the U.S. Forest Service's offices at the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building.

Mountain of comments backs roadless land
Deseret News July 17, 2000.  Environmentalists from around the country rallied at the Salt Lake Federal Building Monday to present 700,000 comments to the U.S. Forest Service in support of protecting roadless land in national forests.

Federal Land Swaps Cost Public Millions, Study Says
The Salt Lake Tribune July 14, 2000.  The federal government has lost millions of dollars from land exchanges, often buying land for more than it is worth and giving up land for less than its market value, congressional auditors reported Wednesday.

Environmentalists Not Hot on Clinton's Roadless Plan
The Salt Lake Tribune July 12, 2000.  As Senate Republicans prepare to try to stop President Clinton's plan to place 43 million acres of federal forests off limits to development, environmentalists Tuesday reminded Clinton that they don't like the plan either.

Feds to Determine Whether Shovel Brigade Broke the Law
The Salt Lake Tribune July 6, 2000.  Federal law officers accompanied government biologists to northeastern Nevada on Wednesday to assess whether a citizen revolt on a dirt road in a national forest harmed a threatened fish in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Activists Lay Claim to Contested Nevada Road
The Salt Lake Tribune July 5, 2000.  Hundreds of people joined together on Independence Day to hoist a huge boulder they dubbed the "Liberty Rock" and lay claim to a remote dirt road in defiance of the U.S. Forest Service.

Protesters lay claim to Nevada road
Deseret News July 4, 2000.  Hundreds of people from around the West and as far away as Rhode Island traveled to this remote outpost over the Independence Day holiday to lay claim to a dirt road and rally against federal control of natural resources.

Leaders Urge Shovel Brigade Protesters to Use Restraint
The Salt Lake Tribune July 1, 2000.  Nevada's top two Republican elected officials have urged restraint at next week's citizens' rally aimed at reclaiming a remote dirt road in Elko County.

Judge's Refusal to Stop Road Protest Gives Nevada Shovel Brigade a Boost
The Salt Lake Tribune June 30, 2000.  Plans for a Fourth of July protest over federal control of rural lands gathered momentum Thursday after a judge here refused to stop a rally in rugged northern Nevada.

Environmentalists, Off-Roaders 'Agree': They Don't Like New Forest Plan
The Salt Lake Tribune June 27, 2000.  Off-highway vehicle users claim President Clinton's plan to preserve much of the remaining 60 million acres of U.S. Forest Service roadless areas will rob them of their right to access public lands. Environmentalists maintain the proposal currently being debated in public hearings throughout the nation, including some this week in Utah, does not do enough to protect wild places.

Songs, cheers, jeers for forest plan
Deseret News June 21, 2000.  Nothing near a consensus at hearing on Clinton proposal

Compromise Outlined for Disputed Nevada Road
The Salt Lake Tribune June 23, 2000.  A tentative agreement in the dispute over the South Canyon Road would allow reopening of the dirt trail that leads to the Jarbidge wilderness, but under federal supervision rather than county.

Deal Is Reached for Jarbidge Road, But Hostility Remains
The Salt Lake Tribune June 22, 2000.  U.S. Forest Service and Elko County leaders have reached a tentative agreement that leaves both sides unhappy in their dispute over a closed dirt road that leads to the Jarbidge wilderness.

Activists, Kennecott Debate Road Ban at Hearing
The Salt Lake Tribune June 21, 2000.  In the first hour of Utah's first major public hearing on President Clinton's forest conservation plan, environmentalists ruled the floor -- with one huge exception: Kennecott Minerals Co.

Judge Upholds Off-Road Vehicle Ban
The Salt Lake Tribune June 13, 2000.  The judge in the case disagreed that the Forest Service should have done a formal environmental impact statement. She agreed with defendants that the agency did not have an obligation to look harder at the impacts of camping and grazing on the mountain lakes and fish. The silt choking the lakes appeared to come largely from the dirt tracks worn by ORVs, she concluded.

Hearing Planned on Rule for Roadless Areas
The Salt Lake Tribune June 11, 2000.  A public hearing is planned for June 20 on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the U.S. Forest Services Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Review: Nevada Downplays Extinction Risk to Bull Trout
The Salt Lake Tribune June 8, 2000.  Independent scientists say the threatened bull trout faces a greater risk of extinction in Nevada than state wildlife officials have maintained.

Forest Service Plan Does Not Live Up to Clinton Directive
The Salt Lake Tribune June 4, 2000.  Commentary by Susan Ash

Bush Wants Cooperation, Not Federal Orders for Land Conservation
The Salt Lake Tribune June 2, 2000.  George W. Bush proposed more money and a change in philosophy for land conservation Thursday, urging cooperation instead of orders flowing from a "Washington-centered mindset."

Governors Want Next President To Reorganize Resource Agencies
The Salt Lake Tribune June 2, 2000.  Western governors on both sides of the political fence say the country's next president should seriously consider combining federal natural resource agencies under one roof.

Gore vows to protect forests
Deseret News May 31, 2000.  Wading into one of the nation's most contentious environmental debates, Vice President Al Gore pledged Tuesday to prohibit logging and road building on 43 million acres of undeveloped national forests.

More recreation fees likely
Ogden Standard-Examiner (free registration required) May 26, 2000.  The deputy chief of the national forest system says user fees are the wave of the future as the U.S. Forest Service struggles to meet an ever-rising demand for recreation.

Hurdles Remain for Clinton Forest-Protection Plan
The Salt Lake Tribune May 21, 2000.  Now that President Clinton has made his sweeping proposal to protect 43 million acres of roadless national forests, the focus shifts to three other arenas -- the public, Congress and the courts.

Wasatch-Cache Plans Roadless-Area Meetings
The Salt Lake Tribune May 21, 2000.  The Wasatch-Cache National Forest has scheduled two public meetings to discuss its draft plan for roadless-area conservation.

Roadless plan gives forests breathing time
Ogden Standard-Examiner (free registration required) May 19, 2000.  Administration's proposal to ban road construction leaves some important decisions for future land managers

Forest Service's 'Ecological Rule' Questioned
The Salt Lake Tribune May 12, 2000.  The Forest Service lacks legal authority to implement a sweeping rule that would make forest health the top priority in managing forests, the agency's former top legal adviser said.

Forest Service to Ban Roads on 43M Acres
The Salt Lake Tribune May 10, 2000.  More than a fifth of the land inside America's national forests would be off-limits to road building or road reconstruction under a draft rule unveiled Tuesday by the head of the U.S. Forest Service.

New-road ban urged for forests
Deseret News May 9, 2000.  The Clinton administration on Tuesday was to propose banning road building in 43 million acres of roadless federal forests while letting local foresters decide whether to bar activities such as logging, mining and off-road-vehicle use.

Idaho Republican warns of new Sagebrush Rebellion
Deseret News April 26, 2000.  Craig says Clinton is trying to punish the rural West

Fire retardant may be killing fish and frogs
Deseret News April 11, 2000.  Product used on wildfires is toxic as it decomposes

Nader: Logging Should Be Banned In National Forests
The Salt Lake Tribune April 8, 2000.  Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader says the government should halt all logging on national forests and other federal lands.

Cabin Owners Protest Rising Fees for Houses On Forest Service Land
The Salt Lake Tribune March 24, 2000.  David Mead's patch of paradise is a rustic cabin his family built 25 years ago atop a steep slope in the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho.

Threatened lynx's habitat in Utah
Deseret News March 22, 2000.  The Canada lynx may not be Utah's biggest wildcat, but it is proving to be the most elusive.

Idaho Coalition Asks Specifics on No-Roads Area
The Salt Lake Tribune March 18, 2000.  A coalition of mountain counties, a timber products company and a rancher say the Clinton administration has left out the specifics about the more than 8 million acres of federal forest in Idaho it wants to preserve as roadless areas.

GOP: Memo Shows Forest Initiative Bias
The Salt Lake Tribune March 14, 2000.  A leaked draft memo shows the Forest Service was eager to enlist two environmental groups to help carry out President Clinton's plan to ban development in 50 million acres or more of roadless national forests, a House subcommittee chairwoman said Monday.

Western Guvs Urge Clinton to Use Caution on Forest Road Bans
The Salt Lake Tribune March 4, 2000.  Eleven Western governors have signed a letter urging President Clinton to be cautious about banning new roads on 50 million acres of national forest land.

Future forest roads face stricter standard
Deseret News March 3, 2000.  Advocates would have to demonstrate a 'compelling need'

Forest Service to Slow Pace of Road Building
The Salt Lake Tribune March 3, 2000.  The era of building roads in the national forests is not coming to a complete halt, but the Clinton administration is planting a firm foot on the brakes.

Leavitt Leads Governors in Asking Clinton for More Input on Roadless Forest Tracts
The Salt Lake Tribune February 29, 2000.  Western governors on Monday urged President Clinton to listen to their concerns about environmental plans such as his proposal to protect up to 50 million roadless acres in national forests.

EPA REJECTS PARK SERVICE SNOWMOBILE PLANS
Environment News Service February 24, 2000.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rejected all of the options listed in the National Park Service's (NPS) draft environmental impact statement on winter use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

Plan Would Limit Colorado Ski Areas
The Salt Lake Tribune February 24, 2000.  A proposal to restrict ski area growth and off-road vehicle use in the busiest national forest in the Rockies would create a "tree museum" accessible only to the hardiest athletes, critics told a Senate panel Wednesday.

GOP Senators Assail Clinton Forest-Protection Plan
The Salt Lake Tribune February 23, 2000.  In one of their strongest assaults yet on President Clinton's forest protection effort, GOP senators said Tuesday the initiative violates federal laws and was crafted secretly with the help of environmental special interests.

Forest Service upholds Targhee road closures
Deseret News February 21, 2000.  The U.S. Forest Service has upheld a plan that will permanently close 830 miles of roads on the Targhee National Forest to benefit wildlife, streams and the agency's budget.

Bull Trout and Bulldozers: A War in the West
The Salt Lake Tribune February 20, 2000.  What started as a homegrown dispute over a washed-out road has become a rallying point for rural Westerners who feel hemmed in by environmental regulations. It's also a source of worry for Forest Service workers, who fear the inflamed rhetoric may inspire violence against them.

Clinton Proposes Earmarking Forest Funds for New Program
The Salt Lake Tribune February 5, 2000.  President Clinton on Monday will propose eliminating four national forest trust funds and instead earmark the funds' $300 million to a single, new program aimed at restoring national forests and hiring rural workers, officials said.

1,000 protest roads policy in Nevada
Deseret News February 4, 2000.  Nearly 1,000 disgruntled Westerners paraded through town with 10,000 shovels recently to protest federal environmental policy and lend support to residents feuding with the U.S. Forest Service over a washed-out road.

10,000 Shovels Raised in Protest Of Forest Service
The Salt Lake Tribune January 30, 2000.  Hundreds of disgruntled Westerners paraded through town with 10,000 shovels Saturday to protest federal environmental policy and lend support to residents feuding with the U.S. Forest Service over a washed-out road.

Forest Service Readies Plan for Managing Roads
The Salt Lake Tribune January 26, 2000.  U.S. Forest Service chief Michael Dombeck said Tuesday a long-awaited study on managing 380,000 miles of national forest roads is nearing completion, and suggested that scaling back the roadway network is one of the likely options.

Forest Service Proposes Fee To Process Special-Use Permits
The Salt Lake Tribune January 19, 2000.  The Forest Service wants companies holding Special-Use Permits to foot the bill to have their permit applications processed and reviewed.

Sawmill Owner Seeks 10,000 Shovels for Disputed Road
The Salt Lake Tribune January 5, 2000.  A Montana sawmill owner is organizing a campaign to gather 10,000 shovels from across the West for Nevada citizens to rebuild a road in a growing dispute with the Forest Service over a threatened fish.

'Roadless' proposal falls short, critics say
Deseret News December 25, 1999.  Plan irks county, those who rely on forest livelihoods

Group Says Utah Forests Threatened
The Salt Lake Tribune December 21, 1999.  All of America's national forests -- including the six in Utah -- are threatened by "environmentally insensitive" timber sales and other human intrusions, according to a Washington, D.C.-based conservation group.

Will rhetoric against feds turn violent in S. Utah?
Deseret News December 5, 1999.  Federal employees watch their backs as locals heat up

Loggers Sue U.S. to Counteract 'Tree Worship'
The Salt Lake Tribune December 5, 1999.  Fed up and fearful for their livelihoods, the loggers are suing not only the Forest Service but also two environmental groups that have tied up timber sales in northern Minnesota's two national forests.

Representative Says 'Sagebrush Rebellion' to Be Expected in Nevada
The Salt Lake Tribune November 30, 1999.  The Sagebrush Rebellion is alive and well in Nevada, where animosity toward the federal government should be expected because the feds control nearly 90 percent of the land, Rep. Jim Gibbons said Monday.

U.S. subsidies prop up cattle grazing in West
Deseret News November 28, 1999.  Do funds reward the rich and promote damage to the land?

Debt-saddled small farmers losing their homes on the range
Deseret News November 28, 1999.  Big corporations and millionaires own more cattle than anyone else on the federal lands of the West.

Rapid Rise in ATV Use Gives Forest, Wildlife Officials Headaches
The Salt Lake Tribune November 22, 1999.  State big-game managers chopped the number of deer hunters in half six years ago by limiting license sales, but it probably doesn't seem like it to the deer. Illegal use of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) is scarring public land during hunting seasons and giving forest officials heartburn.

S.L. Meeting Not One for the Road
The Salt Lake Tribune November 19, 1999.  President Clinton's largest land-preservation proposal to date enjoyed an evening of wild support this week in Salt Lake City.

Forest Chief Hears Fears of Nevada Staff
The Salt Lake Tribune November 19, 1999.  Forest Service workers appealed to Chief Mike Dombeck on Thursday to come experience for himself the politically charged, "toxic atmosphere" in Nevada that prompted their supervisor's resignation.

Forest Service to Discuss Clinton's Roadless-Area Initiative
The Salt Lake Tribune November 17, 1999.  The U.S. Forest Service this week began a series of 10 public "scoping meetings" around the country on President Clinton's call for permanent protection of the nation's remaining roadless areas.

Lawmaker Suggests States Control Forests
The Salt Lake Tribune November 16, 1999.  An Idaho congresswoman says the Forest Service's mismanagement of a washed-out road in a Nevada trout habitat revived her belief that states should control national forests because the federal agency is "too broken to fix."

Leaders liken bull trout rebellion in Nevada to Boston Tea Party
Ogden Standard-Examiner (free registration required) November 14, 1999.  Comparing their cause to the Boston Tea Party, leaders of a rebellion against federal protection of a threatened fish urged Congress on Saturday to recognize local control of a road they say was theirs before the government established a national forest.

Righting for Utah's Forest
Mountain Times Weekly November 11, 1999.  A year-old environmental group battles timber sales in the Uintas - and elsewhere.

Cook's bill aims to roll back Forest Service fees on cabins
Deseret News November 11, 1999.  Rep. Merrill Cook, R-Utah, says the U.S. Forest Service is trying to force private cabin owners out of forests by raising the land lease fees they pay.

Forest Official Quits to Protest Over 'Fed-Bashing' in Nevada
The Salt Lake Tribune November 10, 1999.  A Forest Service supervisor who resigned in protest of an "anti-federal fervor" in Nevada says public land managers in the state fear for their safety and conservation advocates are afraid to speak out.

Forest Service leader resigns her position
Ogden Standard-Examiner (free registration required) November 9, 1999.  The sudden resignation of a Forest Service supervisor charged with care of Nevada's national forests was met with empathy and concern by her boss.

Demos Defend Clinton Ban on Forest Roads
The Salt Lake Tribune November 4, 1999.  House Democrats on Wednesday defended President Clinton's proposal to ban new roads on more than 40 million acres of national forest land, saying they would cost too much and pollute waterways.

Senators Blast Clinton's Forest Plan
The Salt Lake Tribune November 3, 1999.  Western Republican senators -- including Orrin Hatch of Utah -- criticized President Clinton's proposal to protect 50 million acres of roadless forests as a scam to prohibit logging or recreation by anyone but hikers.

Forest Service Plans Aspen-Tree Rescue, But critics say it's just an excuse to sell timber
The Salt Lake Tribune October 25, 1999.  

Restorative Timber Projects Around the State
The Salt Lake Tribune October 25, 1999.  Several of Utah's national forests are planning projects intended, at least in part, to "restore" the forests.

Clinton Seeks to Close Millions of Acres of Forest
The Salt Lake Tribune October 14, 1999.  President Clinton on Wednesday unveiled an ambitious initiative that could keep roads, logging and mining out of more than 55 million acres of roadless areas in national forests.

Clinton Safeguards 40 Million Roadless Acres
Environment News Service October 13, 1999.  President Bill Clinton has directed the U.S. Forest Service to develop regulations that will permanently protect some 40 million acres of roadless National Forest lands.

Clinton's new Utah shock
Deseret News October 13, 1999.  Wilds order unwelcome news to GOP.

Clinton Set to Protect Forests
The Salt Lake Tribune October 13, 1999.  Seeking to leave a lasting environmental legacy, President Clinton will designate as much as two-thirds of America's remaining road-free federal forests as permanently off-limits to logging, mining and other development.

ORV rumble
Deseret News October 10, 1999.  Do the vehicles promote access, or are they noisy, smelly despoilers of public land?

Elko Protest Fizzles: Court Throws Up Roadblock
The Salt Lake Tribune October 10, 1999.  They were supposed to be 1,000 strong, residents of Elko County and their sympathizers, wielding picks and shovels in protest to reopen a road the U.S. Forest Service took away from them.

Judge Blocks Plan to Patch Mountain Road
The Salt Lake Tribune October 9, 1999.  A federal judge has blocked a citizens' group from rebuilding a remote mountain road, a project that state and local officials feared might lead to violence.

Road Protest May Spark a Big Debate
The Salt Lake Tribune October 6, 1999.  On Saturday and Sunday, an estimated 500 people armed with picks and shovels plan to march into the Humboldt National Forest to rebuild a 1.5-mile road the U.S. Forest Service recently obliterated for ecological reasons.

Judge Buzzcuts Timber Sales on American Forests
Environment News Service October 5, 1999.  A small grassroots environmental group has won a court ruling that shuts down timber sales on an estimated 110,000 acres of U.S. National Forests across the country.

Forests' Health Gets Top Priority
The Salt Lake Tribune October 1, 1999.  Forest health would top all other Forest Service priorities under a proposed overhaul of rules for governing 191 million acres of federal forests.

Newly Carved Forest 'Road' Will Be a Trail Again
The Salt Lake Tribune October 1, 1999.  A Dixie National Forest ranger this week was ordered to restore a horseback and hiking trail that his crews recently widened to accommodate all-terrain vehicles (ATVs).