Please note that all
links to the news stories below were accurate and working at the
time of posting and archiving, however, the Guardian
has no control on the length of time that a respective news
source will continue to maintain any story in its own archives,
so be advised that you may encounter non-working links - Bill
McKee - Editor.
Bush
speeds up environment reviews A
new environmental battleground emerged Thursday
after President Bush signed an executive order
to streamline the environmental reviews of
high-priority transportation projects.
Environmentalists called it an assault on a
landmark 1969 law, while in Congress lawmakers
heard from administration officials who argued
that the reviews stall vital projects
Letter and Map to Residents & Forest Users
from USFS/West Fork Fire Management Officer re:
controlled prescribed fire in West Fork district
- dated : 19-Sep-2002 Burning period :
22-Sep-2002 to 30-Nov-2002 [the
FS person dropping by the letter and map
yesterday indicated that burning could start as
early as Monday, 23-Sep-2002, and would begin
with five burns of approximately 10 acres each.
The general area of the first planned burns is
near Salt Creek and Johnson Creek. The
rough map that the FS/WF provided appears to
indicate 14 sites and we're not sure which ones
are in the first group to be burned. For
clarification, we have requested further
information regarding acreage/location/method
and are hopeful that more detailed info will be
released. Our link to the scanned FS letter
& map requires that you have the freeware
Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the documents -
Ed.]
Fly
Much?
If not, you may want to reconsider - new safety
devices have been added
Friday
The local
overnight low temperature last night was +44F
and yesterday's afternoon high temp was +72F.
No precipitation was recorded in the last 24
hour period ending at 6AM at our location. Daily
local min-max temp & precip charts may
be seen on our PR Temp
& Precip Data page
U.S.
Failed to Act on Warnings in '98
of a Plane Attack The United
States intelligence community was told in 1998
that Arab terrorists were planning to fly a
bomb-laden plane into the World Trade Center,
but the F.B.I. and the Federal Aviation
Administration did not take the threat
seriously, a Congressional investigation into
the Sept. 11 attacks has found
"Fire
Rider" Loses First Senate Vote on
Tuesday Sept 17 Timber
Senators Refuse to Accept Defeat
Vow to Hold Revotes on Rider Within Days House
Receives New Bush Fire Bill - Vote Expected Soon
Both Would Eliminate All Environmental Laws
on Our National Forests
Report:
Bush streamlining forest-thinning process "Federal
land managers are preparing to streamline
President Bush's initiative to thin flammable
forests by excusing logging projects from
citizen appeals and, in some cases,
environmental reviews. The measures could give
logging efforts aimed at reducing wildfire
immunity from laws and regulations that
environmental groups often use to delay or
hinder logging, The Oregonian reported Thursday.
The new measures come as Congress appears
deadlocked over the presidential plan,
suggesting the administration wants to thin
millions of acres of overgrown Western forests
regardless of whether Congress acts ...The
Forest Service and land agencies in the Interior
Department are reviewing more than 1,500 past
thinning and other projects to justify a
categorical exclusion for upcoming thinning ...
A court threw out such an exclusion last year.
Rey said he is confident the new exclusions will
stand up to lawsuits environmental groups are
almost certain to file."
[the Administration and FS are even more
clueless in DC (no surprise) - Ed.]
Officials:
Elk must roam to avoid disease Brucellosis
will probably never be eradicated in and around
Yellowstone National Park until elk are given
more room to roam and eventually can escape
crowded conditions at Wyoming's elk feedgrounds,
wildlife officials said Wednesday
[Wow! 'Wildlife officials' discover the obvious,
how many 'wildlife officials' do you think it
took to figure this out? - Ed.]
Thursday
The local
overnight low temperature last night was +30F
and yesterday's afternoon high temp was +61F.
No precipitation was recorded in the last 24
hour period ending at 6AM at our location. Daily
local min-max temp & precip charts may
be seen on our PR Temp
& Precip Data page
"New information regarding dispersal
distances and disturbance effects suggest the
amount of dedicated old growth in the Forest
Plan may be inadequate,” the report said.
Therefore, the
Forest Service´s own scientific evidence
invalidates the use of the proxy on proxy
approach, wrote Appeals Court Judge Dorothy W.
Nelson.“The
Forest Service may not use the evaluation of
habitat alone as a proxy for population
monitoring of management indicator species.”
[ ...to reiterate our comment from another story
in yesterday's news about a cut in the Gallatin
Forest:
[here's
just another example of why the public doesn't
dare let the 'best and the brightest' in
the FS 'manage' the forests without the legal
appeal process ... what are we paying these FS
people for - can they do anything right?
Rather than this being a case of 'analysis
paralysis' (the FS Chief's now chronic
complaint) it's just plain ol'
incompetence on the part of the FS people
preparing and making the decision about the
project. The FS Chief should retire these
so-called 'decision-makers' now! (although it
would be more appropriate to send them to jail
for the wanton destruction of our national
forests). The FS seems to be shot through with
incompetent and unfit 'decision-makers' in
many 'resource manager' positions because the
really good people of conscience left the agency
years ago when the FS began its transformation
into a tool of the extractive industries (i.e.,
timber & mining) while at the same time
itself becoming just another wasteful bloated
bureaucracy. So what seems to be left
today in the FS is a generation of resource
'decision-makers' who have percolated to the top
decision-making positions by being willing to do
anything to the nation's forests and/or for
themselves, rather than preserving and
protecting the nation's forests.
USFS 'resource management' - where incompetence
never takes a vacation ... and is never
corrected, just promoted. The FS
Chief and the Prez correctly understand they
must throw out rules, regulations, and public
scrutiny of FS 'management' because their FS
'resource managers' are so thoroughly
incompetent and hopeless. - Ed.]
California State's
largest timber company sued over Humboldt Bay
sawmill
An environmental group is suing the state's
largest private landowner, charging that the
giant timber company is hurting the oyster
population in Humboldt Bay.The Garberville-based
Ecological Rights Foundation alleges Sierra
Pacific Industries is releasing carcinogenic
dioxins into the bay from a sawmill
Wednesday
The local
overnight low temperature last night was +45F
and yesterday's afternoon high temp was +64F.
0.25" of rain was recorded in the last 24
hour period ending at 6AM at our location. Daily
local min-max temp & precip charts may
be seen on our PR Temp
& Precip Data page
17-Sep-2002
Montana
Forests Rise Anew From Gray Ash [better
give this news gently to Montana's governess,
the FS, and the wood products folks who seemed
quite upset that they didn't get a chance to cut
down every last stick of timber that was touched
by recent fires - Ed.]
Forest
chief asks for mutual agreement Bosworth
wants environmentalists, industry to pick sites
[Is the Boz wising up a little ? This might just
be how to get the few truly necessary projects
identified and done - Ed.]
whereas ... this is an example of how not
to get a project done and is more representative
of business as usual at the FS Appeals
court blocks Gallatin logging "The
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the
federal government must do more environmental
studies before the so-called Darroch-Eagle
timber sale near Yellowstone National Park can
proceed ... The appeals court, based in San
Francisco, said the government
approved the logging plan although it violates
local rules limiting the amount of miles of
logging roads
... Also, the court said the
government did not adequately review the plight
of grizzlies, which are listed as threatened
under the Endangered Species Act... Environmental studies said grizzlies
would be displaced by logging in the area. But
the government did not take into account the
effects of a nearby sheep grazing area on the
bears ... Environmental group Bear Creek Council
said the government should have analyzed whether
displaced bears would migrate into sheep fields,
which puts bears in jeopardy of being killed by
sheep owners ..."
[here's just another example of why the public
doesn't dare let the 'best and the brightest'
in the FS 'manage' the forests without the legal
appeal process ... what are we paying these FS
people for - can they do anything right?
Rather than this being a case of 'analysis
paralysis' (the FS Chief's now chronic
complaint) it's just plain ol'
incompetence on the part of the FS people
preparing and making the decision about the
project. The FS Chief should retire these
so-called 'decision-makers' now! (although it
would be more appropriate to send them to jail
for the wanton destruction of our national
forests). The FS seems to be shot through with
incompetent and unfit 'decision-makers' in
many 'resource manager' positions because the
really good people of conscience left the agency
years ago when the FS began its transformation
into a tool of the extractive industries (i.e.,
timber & mining) while at the same time
itself becoming just another wasteful bloated
bureaucracy. So what seems to be left
today in the FS is a generation of resource
'decision-makers' who have percolated to the top
decision-making positions by being willing to do
anything to the nation's forests and/or for
themselves, rather than preserving and
protecting the nation's forests. - Ed.]
Grant
brings forest easement near completion 140,000
acres would be protected under conservation
agreement [just because the words 'protected'
and 'conservation' are used doesn't mean that
it's so ... this is a case in point - millions
more taxpayer dollars to Plum Creek Timber - the
company that has probably done more damage to
Montana's forests than any other in the last 100
years. This is a waste of public money that
would best be spent on most any other project.
Read carefully and see what 'other sources' of
funding are involved here. - Ed.]
Tuesday
The local
overnight low temperature last night was +48F
and yesterday's afternoon high temp was +74F.
Precipitation (rain) started early this morning
at about 430AM and is continuing. Daily local
min-max temp & precip charts may be
seen on our PR Temp
& Precip Data page
Southern
timber glut could mean lower prices for tree
farmers [the
economic nail needed to force this 'industry' to
right-size (drastically downsize), eliminate any
'need' to commercially log national forests, and
eventually get off the federal dole - Ed.]
Ranching
for ecology The
usual alternative to working ranches - dividing
the properties into 35-acre ranchettes or even
smaller fragments for exurban subdivisions - can
inflict more damage on landscapes than does
livestock
Monday
The local
overnight low temperature last night was +38F
and yesterday's afternoon high temp was a warm
+87F. No precipitation was recorded
during the last 24 hour period ending at 6AM.
Daily local min-max temp & precip
charts may be seen on our PR
Temp & Precip Data page
Fly
Much (why?) Global
737 warning issued Airlines
across the world have been warned to check their
Boeing 737s for a potentially faulty part that
could make the planes hard to control
Saturday
The local
overnight low temperature last night was +33F
and yesterday's afternoon high temp was +79F.
No precipitation was recorded during the last 24
hour period ending at 6AM. Daily local min-max
temp & precip charts may be seen on
our PR Temp &
Precip Data page
12-Sep-2002
USFS
urges repeal of '93 appeals law Congress
should repeal the 1993 law that forces the U.S.
Forest Service to accept citizen appeals of all
land-management decisions, Chief Forester Dale
Bosworth said Wednesday
[Boz the
whiner is at it again - retire that guy and get
someone who can actually do the job (like
Dombeck, for example) and drastically pare down
this inept and incompetent bloated bureaucracy
while purging it's current generation of unfit
"resource managers" who have brought
the forests to their present condition - Ed.]
Wyoming
commission seeks dual designation for wolves The state
Game and Fish Commission voted to seek a dual
class designation for the gray wolf that would
include a trophy game designation for the animal
in some forest wilderness areas and a predator
classification in the rest of the state
Forest
resource committee projects approved [Surprise!
Committee handpicked by FS makes it's
recommendations, and as might be expected, the
FS has 'approved'. This kind of 'citizen input'
is OK with the FS (just don't be giving them
those nasty appeals on timber cutting projects)
- Ed.]
Thursday
The local
overnight low temperature last night was +35F
and yesterday's afternoon high temp was +80F.
No precipitation was recorded during the last 24
hour period ending at 6AM. Daily local min-max
temp & precip charts may be seen on
our PR Temp &
Precip Data page
News
Archives
In order to keep the news page loading time short, we
regularly archive the stories appearing on this page. You can see other News,
Links, & Commentary stories by selecting the appropriate
available archive period in the table below.
In accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in the stories above is
distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit
research and educational purposes only.
About
the Painted Rocks Guardian's News, Links, & Commentary Section
It is
a daily look at environmentally related stories from around the country,
many of which are illustrative of the high level of incompetence (and
worse) existing within most of the government entities currently charged
with administering our nation's parks, forests, other public lands,
waterways, and airsheds. As you read these news stories from many
different sources, you will note that almost all environmental
protection/preservation efforts and programs to save our nation's public
treasures originate from private environmental organizations, often
times via court order, and NOT through the respective governmental
agencies with primary administration responsibilities. Most of these
governmental entities (e.g., the Forest Service) have become top heavy
with many levels of career bureaucrats who, instead of protecting and
preserving the nation's priceless resources, are 'busy' catering to
consumptive/extractive industry interests in the course of administering
politically designed social welfare employment programs and wealth
redistributionist grant programs. While the current system is almost
hopelessly corrupt at many levels, it is being increasingly understood
as such by the general public. Increased general public awareness of the
problem is necessary to trigger environmentally informed political
actions that will eventually save the nation's public treasures.
Effective solutions to the current situation will most likely involve
the deconstruction of several bureaucratic agencies as they exist today
with a functional redesign that will shift major policy development and
administrative direction authority into the hands of environmental
groups/organizations (as contrasted with agency hand-picked and selected
'citizen groups' dominated by consumptionists) and out of the hands of
self-interested bureaucrats and extractive industry interests.
- Bill McKee - Editor.
