In The Crapper

Outhouse Interior, originally uploaded by Wally_Wabbit.

I have heard stories about snakes in out houses. I never really believed a snake would come out of the pit and bite me in the ass. But I never thought someone might be down there.

PORTLAND — When Gary Moody pleaded no contest to trespassing in 2005 for hiding in a pit toilet on White Mountain National Forest property in New Hampshire, a judge urged him to seek help for whatever had driven him to climb down there.

According to a new complaint, Moody didn't get the message.

The 49-year-old Pittston man is charged again – this time in federal court – with climbing into a pit toilet in the White Mountain National Forest.

The guy has problems. But hey, he never took pictures or video. Not very entrepreneurial, I am sure there is a market for that crap on the internet.

Smokey The Bear

Smokey the Bear Sign, originally uploaded by Neato Coolville.

Happy 65th Birthday Smokey!

August 9th is officially Smokey Bear's, or Smokey the Bear's, birthday. Today, he turns 65 years old.

Back in the early forties, the United States Forest Service used Disney characters to educate the public about the importance of fire safety. However, these characters were only on loan from Walt Disney, so in 1944, a new symbol was needed. Smokey the Bear was born.

No Mr Big

No mater how much they spend, the growing will continue.

The U.S. Forest Service pulled twice as many marijuana plants from the San Bernardino National Forest this year compared to 2007 because it had twice as much money, a special agent in charge of eradicating marijuana said.

Special Agent in Charge Ron Pugh, who oversees law enforcement in California forests for the U.S. Forest Service, said his targets are the chiefs of the drug organizations.

He says arresting them is the best way to decrease the amount of marijuana planted. Finding fewer plants next year would be a good measure of success, Pugh said.

"We want to get to the Mr. Big who is profiting from this," Pugh said. "Until we get to that we are just chasing the farmers."

They are not going to catch the guy who bank rolls the operation. The farmers as Pugh calls them will not tell if they know. And most likely they do not. It would be a death penalty for them. If you want to stop them from growing on public land legalize it. Tax it. Regulate it. Prohibition has not worked for the last 70 plus years. The time has come to change this failed policy.

Go Jon!

Montana Senator Jon Tester is trying to get to the bottom of a fishy land deal in Montana.

HELENA n U.S. Sen. Jon Tester asked congressional investigators Tuesday to examine closed-door road negotiations between the U.S. Forest Service and Plum Creek Timber Co.

The Montana Democrat also asked Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer to postpone making any changes to Plum Creek’s federal road easements until the investigation is complete.
“My hope is just to find out what the heck is going on,” Tester said [...]
For the past two years, Tester said, the company has been negotiating behind closed doors with federal officials to expand the uses allowed under its road easements, which previously dealt only with logging. The proposed new easements would give Plum Creek the right to drive across public land for commercial, industrial or residential development, and according to Tester and several western Montana officials, would open up numerous tracts of land to real estate development.

Plum Creek wants to get what they can before the Bush leaves office.

Get Your Smokey On!

Smokey the Bear is back. Backpacker Magazine's Ted Alvarez fondly remembers the old Smokey the Bear campaigns.

Most of us remember growing up with Saturday-morning PSAs featuring Smokey the Bear, the gentle cartoon bruin in a U.S. Forest Service hat, kindly reminding us of his famous credo: "Only you can prevent forest fires." That ad spot, Thundercats, and a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch pretty much encapsulates my childhood.

Remember only you can prevent forest fires.

What A Jerk

Congressman Henry Brown(R-SC) Finally paid his fine for burning US Forest Service land.

Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a watchdog group that has tracked the case, said the government spent more than $100,000 in staff time to collect less than $5,000.

Good News

The Forest Service has to go back to the 2001 rules for logging. In 2004 Bush and company decided if they cut down all the trees, it would prevent forest fires.

Greg Loarie [attorney, Earthjustice]: "At its core, Sierra Forest Legacy v. Rey (incorrectly titled CBD v. Rey) challenges the 2004 Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (also known as the "2004 Framework"), which establishes management direction for all 11 national forests in the Sierra Nevada. The 2004 Framework replaced the original "2001 Framework," which set forth a balanced approach for conserving species and reducing the risk of wildfire and was widely regarded as the new gold standard for ecosystem-based forest management. The 2004 Framework abandoned the 2001 Framework's carefully crafted standards, and called for a drastic increase in logging of large, fire-resilient trees throughout the Sierra.

When it adopted the 2004 Framework, the Forest Service acknowledged that logging large trees does not reduce the risk of wildfire, but it claimed that such logging was necessary to finance the removal of smaller trees and brush. Quite literally, the 2004 Framework lost sight of the forest for the trees. Our clients argued, and the Ninth Circuit agreed, that the Forest Service's failure to consider any alternative options for financing fuel reduction activities violated the National Environmental Policy Act. Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit enjoined the Forest Service from carrying out aspects of three logging projects - totaling 12,000 acres - in the northern Sierra Nevada that implement the 2004 Framework and would be inconsistent with the 2001 Framework.

I lived in the Sierra's for a couple of years. All the mills are closed. The locals always blamed the the environmentalists for the closed mills. There was always silence when you pointed out that the mills closed because the trees were cut down.

Something like 99% of the old growth forests are gone. The logging companies had their share. I think the American public is entitled to look at the rest.

American Historic Sites At Risk

The US Forest Service is not doing enough to protect historic sites in the forests.

DENVER - National forests have at least 325,000 historic sites hiding among their trees, and most of them are at risk because of a lack of money at the Forest Service, according to a national preservation group.

"Thousands of significant landscapes, structures and sites - places that record important chapters in America's story - are in danger of being lost forever," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The group released its 52-page national report Thursday in Denver.

Moe cited Chimney Rock Pueblo as a great example of historic sites on Forest Service land. The ruins between Durango and Pagosa Springs mark the northernmost outpost of the Chaco Canyon civilization.

The Forest Service and local volunteers from the Chimney Rock Interpretive Association have cooperated to preserve the pueblo. But the Forest Service needs a full-time person to work at the site, Moe said.

"The Forest Service shouldn't have to depend on the kindness of strangers to preserve historic sites," he said.

But other sites don't enjoy the same high profile. Of the 325,000 known historic sites on national forest lands, only 2,000 are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And archaeologists have surveyed only about one-fifth of America's national forests, according to the report.

Some of the country's densest concentrations of historic sites lie on public lands in the Four Corners region, said Barbara Pahl, director of the National Trust's regional office. It takes a trained archaeologist to identify many of the sites, she said.

The Forest Service's top official for historic preservation agreed with much of the report.

"We've had many successes in our heritage program. We haven't had enough," said Joel Holtrop, the deputy chief of the national-forest system.

The report recommends add-ing $15 million for historic preservation to the Forest Service's budget, slightly more than doubling current spending.

But the Forest service under Bush is more interested in cutting down the forests than preseving them.