Economy
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One of the biggest impacts resulting from logging our forests that is largely ignored by public land management agencies is the contribution that timber harvest makes to Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Increasingly it is clear that the greatest value of our public forests might be to end all thinning/logging and protect them as carbon…
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This editorial from Gary Burhue of the Oregon Farm Bureau was written in response to an earlier editorial I had written questioning the impoverishment of the Deschutes River by Ag water withdrawals. This editorial and a previous editorial from Coalition for the Deschutes leaves out critical information in an effort to defend the misuse of…
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With both Senator Daines and Congressman Gianforte sponsoring legislation to remove wilderness study designation for some Montana Forest Service and BLM lands, it behooves us to consider what is at stake. These lands are some of the finest wildlands left in the Nation. Protecting Montana’s wildlands is good for the ecology and economy of the…
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Many rural counties with sizeable amounts of federal lands within their jurisdictional boundaries depend on federal payments to support basic services like fire, police, schools, and the like. The main programs include the Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILT), Refuge Revenue Sharing, Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act (SRS). One of the…
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I recently attended a talk on biomass energy at the Bend City Club. The Bend City Club presentation on biomass was another example of a juggernaut premised on unexamined assumptions without question. At every step of the way there are assumptions that are given and accepted. However, if any of these assumptions is incorrect than…
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Washington state data used to represent Utah. Occasionally land grab groups produce reports intended to show how state management of lands is superior to management of our national public lands by the BLM, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, etc. About a week ago one such group in Utah, the Sutherland Institute, issued a report…
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Whatever you do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe For the first time, the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) was introduced into the Senate by Senator Whitehouse and has seven co-sponsors including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. The bill, S. 3022, would protect 23 million…
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July 15-17, 2016 is the date for the bash in West Yellowstone- The third annual Speak for Wolves is set to take place July 15-17, 2016 at the Historic Union Pacific Dining Lodge in West Yellowstone, Montana. This three-day family-friendly event will feature guest speakers, live music, food, poetry, film, dance and art by Virginie…