Forest Service

A federal plan to reorganize, cut and consolidate various offices within the U.S. Department of Agriculture will have devastating economic impacts on Missoula County, officials warned this week.

The proposal calls for cutting 2,600 USDA jobs in DC and expanding the department’s footprint in five regional hubs: North Carolina; Indiana, Missouri, Colorado and Utah.

The loss of life and property, and the damage to natural resources caused by the Big Burn did help save the U.S. Forest Service. Until that time, many detractors in Washington D.C. had called for cancellation of the "experiment." The debate over how best to prevent these summertime natural disasters, however, has continued for more than 100 years, and counting

My good friend Jack Puckett turned 98 years old last month. He is such a great storyteller.

Fish, Wildlife & Parks is once again poised to log a portion of the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area.

Jack Puckett is a good friend of mine, and as I mentioned back in 2018, a great storyteller. He turned 97 this year. Recently, Jack told more of his stories to the Missoula Senior Forum and I had a chance to record the presentation, from which I will share today.

Mike Bader writes, "Rules of the road? It’s hard to take the official Motor Vehicle Use Maps at face value if National Forests disregard it when it suits them. It has the same unpleasant odor of the Forest Service Holland Lake fiasco."

The Northern Region of the U.S. Forest Service is using new authority and funding to propose logging projects across seven national forests in Montana and Idaho, but some see it as another way to shortcut public involvement.

The Lolo National Forest is proposing a large treatment project north of Seeley Lake, but a new federal process will limit public comment to initial scoping only.

Mike Garrity writes, "For decades the Forest Service has gotten away with calling hundreds, if not thousands, of roads on national forests “closed” when they’re not."