When it comes to salmon recovery, removing dams grabs the headlines, and when it comes to forest health, wildfire and thinning projects are in the spotlight. But there is an intersection between these issues that’s equally important, if not yet considered front-page news: reclaiming forest roads. That’s because decaying, unmanaged, under-maintained roads are a top threat to endangered salmon and clean drinking water for thousands of communities, as well as elk, grizzly bears and other wildlife that depend on large blocks of intact habitat to survive.
Articles
New Partnerships Bring Funding and Restoration to National Forest Watersheds
By Bethanie Walder in Spring Equinox 2008, Volume 13 # 12007 Annual Report
By Bethanie Walder in Spring Equinox 2008, Volume 13 # 1Bringing home the bacon… That short phrase pretty much sums up Wildlands CPR’s most significant successes last year. Through two campaigns, we helped secure $73 million for federal and state agencies for public lands watershed restoration (to be spent mostly in 2008)! To accomplish this and our other work, we expanded significantly — increasing our staff from six to ten people and engaging in more work on-the-ground.
Restoration Program
Visionary Mammals
By Ellen Meloy in Spring Equinox 2008, Volume 13 # 1
Editor’s note: Ellen Meloy was a writer, artist and naturalist. Her books include Raven’s Exile: A Season on the Green River, The Last Cheater’s Waltz: Beauty and Violence in the Desert Southwest, and Eating Stone: Imagination and the Loss of the Wild. She was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for The Anthropology of Turquoise Meditations on Landscape, Art & Spirit (2003).
Ellen gave us permission to reprint this essay in The Road-RIPorter before her unfortunate and sudden death in November 2004, at the age of 57. She lived in Bluff, Utah.
The Forest Restoration Act of 2008
By Bethanie Walder in Spring Equinox 2008, Volume 13 # 1This seemingly innocuous title is attached to House Bill 5263 and its companion, Senate Bill 2593, both introduced in February, 2008. While the bills (hereafter called “the Restoration Act” or “the Act”) have not attracted much media attention, those of us who work on forest and restoration issues have taken notice. The Restoration Act may be a step in the right direction, as it enables the Forest Service and BLM to prioritize collaborative, science-based restoration projects at a landscape level (50,000 acre or greater).
Organizational Spotlight on Friends of the Inyo with Paul McFarland, Executive Director
By Cathrine Walters Adams in Spring Equinox 2008, Volume 13 # 1
Spring 2008 Program Updates
By Wildlands CPR Staff in Spring Equinox 2008, Volume 13 # 1Restoration Program
Around the Office
By Bethanie Walder in Spring Equinox 2008, Volume 13 # 1It’s been a fantastic winter for skiing in Missoula, making it hard for many of us to get into the office at regular hours. That said, we’ve still accomplished a great deal this winter, and have lots on tap for 2008.
So sad to see you go
Thrillcraft
By Wildlands CPR in Winter Solstice 2007, Volume 12 #4The Foundation for Deep Ecology has released a new book, Thrillcraft: The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation. Edited by George Wuerthner, this shocking book is packed with more than 100 powerful, color photographs and two dozen insightful essays. Wildlands CPR Executive Director Bethanie Walder and Board member David Havlick both contributed essays to the book. The book covers off-road vehicle culture, environmental impacts caused by off-road vehicles, policy decisions that have led to such rampant abuse, suggestions for reform, and inspiring success stories.
Closed Roads: Open for Business?
By Bethanie Walder in Winter Solstice 2007, Volume 12 #4Here in the U.S., and pretty broadly throughout the western world, people have become accustomed to the concept that “no means no.” While this slogan was created by activists working to end violence against women, and especially date rape, the meaning can and should apply to other things as well.
The Hydra Returns
By By David Lien in Autumn Equinox 2007, Volume 12 #3I had the opportunity to meet with Colorado’s Representative Doug Lamborn recently, along with stakeholders from other groups supporting the proposed Browns Canyon Wilderness Area in Chaffee County, near Salida. It’s encouraging that Representative Lamborn took it upon himself to initiate this meeting, and he said we made “a strong case” for Browns Canyon, but he also met with representatives from groups opposed to the new wilderness area.
