Blog Archives for Bethanie Walder

By Bethanie Walder - February 26, 2010    Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell spent some time on Capitol Hill this week explaining the Forest Service’s proposed 2011 budget with Congressional appropriators and oversight committees.   The new budget proposes to pool numerous existing line items into one large “Integrated Resource Restoration” (IRR) program.  The idea is that this would enable the agency to move forward more effectively toward all restoration objectives, including watershed restoration.

By Bethanie Walder - February 23, 2010   New Study Points to Off-Road Vehicle Activity as Primary Source of Air Pollution at Nipomo Mesa, California The San Luis Obispo Air Control Board released a study yesterday (Feb 22) on the impacts of off-road vehicle use at the Oceano Dunes and the resultant air pollution at the nearby Nipomo Mesa.  The study was initially slated for release in December 2009, but was postponed until this week.

By Bethanie Walder - February 11, 2010    Eastmans’ Hunting Journal recently posted a poll to their readers about ATV violations and penalties.  While it’s not a scientific poll, and they didn’t list how many people responded to the poll, the hunters who did respond overwhelmingly supported stronger penalties for ATV violations.  The results were released in the February/March 2010 issue of the journal. Here are just a few of the quotes from respondents that Eastmans highlighted:

By Bethanie Walder - February 2, 2010   The President’s budget was just released, and with it came increased attention to restoration within the Forest Service, unfortunately that was coupled with what appears to be a decrease in focus on the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative.   After a cursory view, it also seems that the increased attention on restoration continues a long-running trend within the Forest Service of creating new euphemisms for the old habit of logging.

By Bethanie Walder - January 20, 2010    Maybe it’s because I live in Montana and the small town of Libby has been declared a federal superfund site due to asbestos contamination from a nearby vermiculite mine.  With extremely disturbing stories about the Libby, MT asbestos situation a mainstay of state and even national news for practically a decade, Montanans tend to take asbestos seriously.  And one of the prime questions about Libby relates to responsibility…  when did the W.R.

By Bethanie Walder - December 22, 2009    I was intrigued and pleased to see an article in the Spokane, WA Spokesman-Review the other day highlighting potential snowmobile closures as a result of illegal activity.  Since beginning to research off-road vehicle enforcement issues nearly 5 years ago, Wildlands CPR is always on the lookout for off-road vehicle enforcement changes that impose real consequences for bad behavior.  In our Six Strategies for Success Enforcement Report, f

By Bethanie Walder - December 21, 2009    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Dec. 21, 2009 Future gets brighter for state's aging national forest roads OLYMPIA - Congress and the Obama administration are responding with on-the-ground results in response to appeals by a coalition of conservation groups and the state Departments of Ecology and Fish & Wildlife. Federal action is now occurring to repair and reclaim crumbling national forest roads in Washington state that have been harming endangered salmon and clean water.

By Bethanie Walder - December 9, 2009    On October 30, Congress appropriated $90 million for the Forest Service Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative.  The funds are used to protect and restore clean water by reclaiming unneeded roads and fixing the roads we do need.  We just received the 2010 regional allocations, and added them into a chart showing how they compare to the 2008 ($40 million) and 2009 ($50 million) allocations:

By Bethanie Walder - November 16, 2009    We don’t often think about rampant ORV use being a problem in Africa, and perhaps it isn't.  That said, I was surprised by the antipathy exhibited by random onlookers when an off-road vehicle rider gets his machine stuck on a beach near Lagos, Nigeria.  This very short essay, What the Ocean Hears, chronicles a photographer’s day at the beach, perhaps a tourist, perhaps not.  The essay relates several interesting encounters, including one about a poorly driven off-road vehicle.  Mention of the

By Bethanie Walder - November 6, 2009    On Friday, October 30, President Obama signed the Department of Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010.  The bill provides funding for public lands management across the country, including the national forests.  While there are many great provisions included in this act, Wildlands CPR is thrilled that the Act includes $90 million in funding for the Forest Service Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative for 2010.  This is equivalent to the total amount allocated to Legacy Roads and Trails in 2008/2009 combined.