Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities

Forest access on federal lands is essential for recreation, timber management, firefighting and law enforcement. Unfortunately the federal government has continued its aggressive efforts to destroy or decommission thousands of miles of forest roads, jeopardizing forested communities and making it

The barred owl was first detected within the range of the northern spotted owl (NSO) in the 1970’s.  Researchers started to become concerned about the impacts the barred owl would have on the NSO in the 1980’s.  In 1989, the

Every year it’s estimated the average U.S. citizen uses the equivalent of a tree 100 feet tall, and 18 inches in diameter. We use 3.5 times more wood than we did in 1970. Yet, despite our leadership in the sustainable

“If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just

For more than 50 years, there has been a growing campaign against the beneficial use of natural resources.   The campaigners have several names:  preservationists, conservationists, radical environmentalists, and greens. I will use “greens,”  since it is rather inclusive and short. 

Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Commissioner Chris Brong of Skamania County, Washington reminds readers of the challenges of funding critical services in a forested county when most of the land base is controlled by the federal government. Here’s what

Fringe activists are predictably making hay over statements made by Sen. Jon Tester regarding the impact of litigation and the “analysis paralysis” driving federal forest management today.  They are making the most of their “gotcha” moment; one individual went so

Next year Washington State can continue to play a leading role in efforts to improve the health of our federally-owned forests while restoring economic opportunity to our rural forested communities.  Help can’t come soon enough, especially for county governments. As

With post-fire salvage and restoration efforts underway on Southwest Oregon private forests burned in the Douglas Complex fire, the State of Oregon is warning the Bureau of Land Management about hazards posed to forest workers from nearby federal lands.  A

Nearly 80 percent of Skamania County, Washington is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, along with three wilderness areas and the Mt. St. Helens National Monument. Environmental lawsuits and regulations meant to protect the forests have instead led to widespread