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Today is the deadline for public comment on Montana's Lolo National Forest management plan. Advocates say the input will shape how the land is used for decades, but others say it could go further. This is the first time the Lolo management plan has been revised since the late 1980s, said Montana Wildlife Federation board member and retired U.S. ...
Crews have been ramping up wildfire resilience projects to thin out brush and dead wood in California's giant sequoia groves, clearing twice as many acres in 2023 compared with 2022. The Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition is trying to avoid a repeat of the disastrous mega-fires of 2020 and 2021 - which killed about 20% of large mature trees in their native Sierra Nevada range. Joanna Nelson, Ph.D. ...
The Bureau of Land Management has proposed expanding the public land available for solar power production in 11 states, including Montana. The BLM's Western Solar Plan builds on a version first released in 2012 and focuses on harnessing the potential in Western and Plains states most amenable to solar production. Nick Fitzmaurice, energy transition engineer for the Montana Environmental Information Center, said the expanded plan reflects the country's growing demand for solar energy. ...
As spring slowly emerges in Central Oregon, camping gear is dusted off and hikers give their boots a fresh coat of lanolin. But a new ritual for local hikers also
The remote landscape of southeastern Oregon is receiving additional protections. The Bureau of Land Management has finalized its resource management plan for the southeast corner of the state and it includes protections for parts of the Owyhee and Malheur Rivers and canyon lands in the region. Michael O'Casey, deputy director of forest policy and Northwest programs for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, said it's an exciting announcement, which will protect sensitive landscape from activities like surface development and road building. ...