Old Packwood Ranger Station

http://www.columbian.com/article/20090424/NEWS02/704249948

"According to the newspaper article published in the Columbian and the Seattle P-I, the old Packwood Ranger Station in Gifford Pinchot National Forest is being sold after a 45-day waiting period. I first learned of this Ranger station in the 1980s while reading Tatoosh--female fire lookout, Martha Hardy's account of life atop Tatoosh Mountain watching for forest fires and enduring the loneliness inherent in that job. Like all old ranger stations, Packwood will be remembered as a part of Forest history; and this one as a part of the history of Gifford Pinchot NF, Mount Rainier, Tatoosh, and Packwood Ranger District.--aggie castronuevo johann"

Invasive Species: Pepperweed

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/news/2009/04/pepperweed.shtml

This invasive plant is native to Europe and southwestern Asia. Accidently introduced around 1900 through a shipment of sugar beets, the plant is aggressively spreading throughout the west, including California.--aggie castronuevo

Santa Teresa Archaeological Field School

http://www.alamogordonews.com/news/ci_12094144

This is an interesting project, not only because it is behind a Tyson Chicken Factory (oh my, the jokes!), but it is being excavated from within a building which formerly housed an old museum.

--aggie castronuevo johann

Oldest Stone Blades Uncovered

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/402/2

"Paleoanthropologists working in Africa have discovered stone blades more than a half-million years old. That pushes the date of the earliest known blades back a remarkable 150,000 years and raises a question: What human ancestor made them?..."

R3 Lincoln National Forest: Perk_Grindstone Stewardship Project

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/lincoln/news/Perk_Grindstone_III_DEIS_Response_to_comments_05_06_08.pdf


The objective of Perk-Grindstone is to restore fire-adapted forest systems to structural characteristics that would reduce large-size crown fires to more manageable surface fires. See link for DEIS Response released by the Forest Service May 2008.

Storing Carbon in Forests

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v458/n7235/full/458151a.html

"Planting, conserving and managing forests are key for attaining long-term mitigation of greenhouse gases, yet the land-use and forestry sector barely features in the Kyoto Protocol. In Climate Change and Forests, some 50 experts analyse the forestry-based discussions within climate-change negotiations, and offer technical and political reasons for why the Kyoto Protocol handles forestry in such a cumbersome way..."

http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_11883566

"Lincoln Forest to benefit from recovery package funding

WASHINGTON ­ U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall said the Forest Service will soon release nearly $5 million in federal funding for two projects aimed at improving national forests in New Mexico.
Congress set aside $650 million in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to improve national forest lands and another $500 million for wild fire management.
The U.S. Forest Service has approved two projects, one in the Santa Fe National Forest and another in the Lincoln National Forest. "

Parks and Wildlife get stimulus

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/parks_and_wildlife_get_stimulus/C41/L41/

"The press release included the following examples:
$375 million for restoration of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, the nation’s largest recreational fishery.
$280 million for the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service for refuge operations and maintenance and $165 million for resource management.
$230 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s operations, research and facilities.
$500 million for USDA Forest Service wildland fire management efforts.
$27.5 billion investment in highway infrastructure includes set asides for park roads, parkways, forest highways and refuge roads.
$290 million for the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s watershed and flood prevention operations.
$125 million for the Bureau of Land Management for projects including abandoned mine and well site remediation, road and trail maintenance, watershed improvement and high priority habitat restoration. "

Fire, Wildland Funding included in approved stimulus plan

http://www.firerescue1.com/legislation-funding/articles/453790-Fire-station-wildland-funding-included-in-approved-stimulus-plan/

"WASHINGTON — Hundreds of million of dollars are earmarked for fire stations and wildland management in the $787 billion stimulus plan approved by Congress Friday. "

Obama will shift Forest Service Policy

http://news.opb.org/article/4230-obama-administration-will-shift-forest-service-policy/


"The stimulus bill that passed the House last week directed more than a billion dollars to the U.S. Forest Service.
Portland Democrat Ron Wyden wants to keep Forest Service funding in the Senate stimulus bill too.
And Monday, the Obama administration signaled it wants a bigger budget for the Forest Service.
Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey reports."

Will the Stimulus put jobs in our Woods?

"Neither U.S. Forest Service nor the U.S. Bureau of Land Management local officials know how much money will be available for the agencies or what the restrictions will be on how it could be spent.
"But a recovery of jobs in local communities would be a priority," predicted Patty Burel, spokeswoman for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. Jim Whittington, her counterpart at the BLM's Medford District, concurred."

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090212/NEWS/902120320

Walden Headed for Southern Oregon

http://www.kmed.com/pages/landing/?WALDEN-HEADED-FOR-SOUTHERN-OREGON=1&blockID=39700&feedID=133

"Highlighting the schedule is a meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18 with Region 6 Forest Service Supervisor Mary Wagner (who oversees forest service land in Oregon and Washington) and state BLM Director Ed Sheppard to learn the agencies’ plans to begin forest health projects with the funds they are expected to receive in the federal stimulus package that the House expects to vote on tomorrow. Any stimulus package should aim to create jobs quickly, so Rep. Walden is interested to hear about how they plan to get Oregonians back working in the woods quickly with the new funds. "