Currently browsing… Forest Service

  • Conservation Featured

    Forest Service oil and gas rulemaking is a public land fire sale

    Oil and gas leases on public lands continue to be offered for fire-sale prices, oftentimes in conflict with fish, wildlife and public land users. In fact, millions of acres of public land offered for oil and gas leases are being let go for as little as $1.50 per acre. This speculative leasing is creating mounds of unnecessary analysis and paperwork, diverting public land managers from other priorities…

  • From the President Conservation

    Fixing what ails our western forests and communities

    The haze over the early morning sun spurred a call from a friend. “Did you see the moon this morning? It’s wild!” It wasn’t the moon, but it was wild. Wildfires 3,000 miles away shrouded the sun in smoke.   The light smoke in Washington, D.C., signaled devastation in the West. In California, for example, at least 26 people have perished from wildfire, and more than 7,000 structures were destroyed. In…

  • Advocacy Climate Change Conservation Featured Fishing

    The importance of quality partnerships

    Across the country, Trout Unlimited takes pride in its long-standing partnership with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). In many western states, enormous national forests containing many vital watersheds and trout streams are in desperate need of restoration to help prevent catastrophic wildfires and to protect those aquatic resources. The existing partnerships frame those challenges and opportunities.  In Arizona,…

  • Advocacy Conservation Fishing

    Management matters

    By Garrett Hanks Wolf Creek pass in the San Juan mountains of Colorado serves as the tipping point between the westward San Juan basin, home to the recently rediscovered San Juan cutthroat trout, and the Rio Grande cutthroat’s namesake river to the east.  Unlike trout, bear, mule deer and other wildlife are unhindered by the ridgeline; their tracks freely cross the divide. Look north and you’ll notice the burn scar from the West Fork fire of 2013. Setting off south along the Continental Divide Trail, you quickly…