Forest Service

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."

Holland Lake Lodge dates back to 1925, when the Forest Service issued a permit for a summer resort to include “a main building 40 by 60 feet in size, and a number of cabins for individual use,” according to press reports at the time.

Locals are pressuring the U.S. Forest Service to assign the responsibility of reviewing a Holland Lake Lodge permit to someone other than the Flathead National Forest supervisor.

U.S. Forest Service rules once protected large old-growth trees from timber projects. Recent court cases, including this latest one, have pushed back on changes to those rules.

he Lolo National Forest is moving forward with logging and prescribed burns in the Petty Creek drainage, although public comment prompted some parts of the project to be reduced.

Jacole Johnson writes, "You’ve created a movement of folks who will fight to ensure the public land at Holland Lake can be enjoyed by generations of Montanans to come."

Oregon’s Tillamook Forest Center had a chilly but chipper start to its grand reopening on St. Patrick’s Day after a 3-year hiatus spurred by the pandemic.

By Jim Harmon/Missoula Current A Missoula Current reader recently asked, “Has there ever been a story about the Blue Mountain Trailhead south of Missoula? We hike there a lot and know that it was part of a ranch and then the Army? Used it for a range?” ...