June 23, 2010

The following articles are culled
from a daily posting of news stories on our
homepage.

	Featured Story: Road kill in the Serengeti? A large part of the wildebeest migration takes place within the vast Serengeti NP in Tanzania, and there are reports that the Tanzanian government is preparing to build a major road through the park: through designated wilderness area, through the migration route.
	News: Watershed policy to end "killing fields" on the Sitkoh (AK) Restoration is an old practice on the Tongass that has a new priority in the Obama administration’s Dept. of Agriculture. Robert Woolsey looks at how work on the Sitkoh River may signal an important and growing role for watershed restoration in forest policy. Read Part II here.
	News: Perdue signs bill to outlaw riding ORV's in stream beds (GA) Riding off-road vehicles in stream beds is going to be against the law in Georgia now that Gov. Sonny Perdue signed legislation Friday long sought by environmentalists, property owners and safety advocates.
	News: Deadly weekend for Florida panthers as cars kill three (FL) Three Florida panthers killed by cars on three consecutive days last weekend have pushed the total of road deaths for the state animal to the point where it is on pace to top last year's record of 17.
	News: ATV riders still losing battle for open space (NJ) Years ago New Jersey banned ATVs from parks, forests, utility power line routes and roads. After the ban was largely ignored, a state enforcement crackdown in 2002 led to summonses as well as confrontations between property owners, park police and ATV riders.
	Opinion: Congress must fully fund work on NF roads, trails (CA) National forests provide some of the best fishing and hunting opportunities. This is not surprising, given that these public lands are the source and filter for many of our rivers, and feature important habitat for fish and wildlife.
	Opinion: Underground green economy employing millions There's a new economy springing up around the country -- but it's operating almost entirely in secret. It's called "the restoration economy" and it's remaking America's landscape while putting millions of people to work.
	Opinion: Don't let reckless off-roaders ruin the summer It's Memorial Day weekend-the first fling for outdoor summer recreation. Unfortunately, there's a growing chance, especially on western public lands, that irresponsible ORV riders will ruin our weekend.
	Opinion: Forest Service program revitalizes watersheds, jolts local economies (CO) Every year, more and more of the forest’s streams and rivers — which help supply drinking water to many Coloradans — face increasing danger from thousands of miles of unmaintained and eroding roads.
	Resource: 2008-09 Road Accomplishment Reports Now Available For the past several years, Wildlands CPR has been posting the Forest Service’s annual Road Accomplishment Reports that show how many miles of roads are maintained, improved, or decommissioned in any given year and on any given forest, and which funds were used to pay for the work.
	Resource: ATV trails, wilderness roads hastening grizzly decline, report says (Canada) An extensive network of roadways and ATV trails carved deep into critical grizzly-bear habitat in Alberta is hastening the decline of the carnivores, whose population is already perilously close to collapse in the province. Read the full report here.