December 2008

Building a strong foundation for a new economy

Created by Bethanie Walder on December 16, 2008

I’ve been thinking and talking a lot lately about the economy, economic stimulus ideas, and the seeming failure of a consumer economic model.  I found it interesting, then, to see a blog post by Robert Reich today that talked about the implications of Keynesian economics, deficit spending and opportunities to protect natural resources.  While I didn’t

Forest Service's Last Minute Effort to Finalize Guidance a Disappointment

Created by Sarah Peters on December 11, 2008
If you’re like me and you can’t keep up with all the last-minute policy changes by the Bush Administration, you might not have noticed a new announcement by the Forest Service this week.  Their latest shenanigans will leave us with a lopsided playing field when it comes to recreation.

Managing our national forests is no easy task.  At best it is a balancing act between myriad competing interests.  But in the final countdown to the end of the Bush Administration, any attempt at achieving true balance appears to have been abandoned by the Forest Service.  

National Coalition Announces Push to Create a Forest Watershed Restoration Corps

Created by Franklin Seal on December 10, 2008
Borrowing a page from history and one of the most popular New Deal programs, The National Watershed Restoration Initiative today proposed a program to create a $500 million Forest Watershed Restoration Corps within the National Forest Service.

Map of Restoration Firms

Created by Josh Hurd on December 8, 2008

This map shows the locations of firms that have done restoration work under contract for the federal government within the past few years. We obtained the data by exporting federal contract data from OMB Watch's FedSpending.org, imported that data into Excel, culled it a bit, and then Geocoded it using BatchGeocode.com.

Watershed Restoration as a Public Good

Created by Josh Hurd on December 2, 2008
Society often misunderstands watershed restoration as an activity with no product. This misunderstanding is predicable given the complex economic nature of restoration. Because of this, those supporting restoration must be able to articulate how restoration fits within our country’s economic framework. This blog post attempts to explain this.

Motorized Users Deny Vehicles Harm Wildlife

Created by Adam Rissien on December 2, 2008

The Helena Independent Record reported on the first meeting of the Divide Travel Plan, which was held this past Monday, Dec. 1st.  The Helena District of the Helena National Forest released a notice that day announcing their proposed action. Unfortunately, the Forest Service did not give the public any advance warning as the first meeting was the same day people received notice in the mail.