You are viewing news tagged as 'forests'

Judge blocks Utah law that would prevent BLM, Forest Service from enforcing state rules

May 17, 2013

A state law that would have prevented some federal officials from enforcing state laws anywhere in Utah was temporarily blocked yesterday by a federal judge.

Under the law sponsored by state Rep. Mike Noel (R), federal employees would have faced a $1,000 fine and six months in jail for...

Controversial Tongass land-swap bill up for review

May 15, 2013

A controversial bill to allow an Alaska Native corporation to acquire roughly 70,000 acres of the Tongass National Forest primarily for logging goes before a House Natural Resources panel Thursday.

H.R. 740 by Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) would allow...

USFS to add uncertified military planes to firefighting fleet

May 15, 2013

The U.S. Forest Service won’t cut any funds from its retardant-bombing fleet this fire season, but it will enter the fray with a lot of planes that aren’t certified to fight wildfires.

On Monday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the agency will look to the U.S. military to...

Limited federal funds may mean cuts to local firefighting programs

May 14, 2013

Lance Okeson at the Boise Fire Dispatch office had a surprise visit from the secretaries of the U.S. Agriculture and Interior departments Monday, and they came with bad news.

Okeson is in charge of the fuels program for the Bureau of Land Management's Boise District. Agriculture Secretary...

Devils Tower prescribed burn ignites wildfire

May 13, 2013

Fire officials got more than they bargained for Wednesday afternoon when a prescribed burn at Devils Tower National Monument ignited a wildfire.

The original, 300-acre planned fire burned Tuesday and was being mopped up ahead of schedule on Wednesday. It succumbed to late-afternoon high...

Carbon milestone a reminder of things to come

May 13, 2013

The Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide levels passed an ominous milestone yesterday when a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observatory on the Big Island in Hawaii registered 400 parts per million for the first time.

It's a concentration of CO2 that has not existed in the...

BLM pressed in committee on fire, sage grouse and grazing

May 10, 2013

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who holds the reins in the House over Interior Department spending, urged the Bureau of Land Management yesterday to boost its focus on wildfire management as a means of protecting the imperiled sage grouse.

Republicans like Simpson have long called on the...

USFS add bigger, faster planes to wildfire fleet

May 8, 2013

The U.S. Forest Service announced that heading into wildfire season it has selected contractors to provide seven air tankers that fly faster and drop a larger volume of fire retardant than other planes in its firefighting fleet.

The agency will spend nearly $160 million over five years...

Bipartisan bill would help preserve watershed in Colo. national forest

April 29, 2013

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) are joining forces on a bipartisan effort to help protect a pristine watershed inside the San Juan National Forest.

Bennet yesterday introduced the "Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act of 2013," S. 841, which would designate...

Yellowstone wildfire plans aim for more flexibility

April 29, 2013

Park are getting new guidelines that rely more on experience and judgment and less on set rules.

With recent approval from the Intermountain Region of the National Park Service, the rewrite will allow firefighters to adopt an approach that emphasizes flexibility.

The OK from Park...

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