Dusty Trails

Travel

• Harry Reid, the New Public Lands Enemy No. 1
  I used this headline once before when writing about Mark Rey, former Bush Administration Undersecretary of Agriculture and boss of the Forest Service. Prior to Rey’s Reign of Terror, California Republican Congressmen Richard Pombo held the honor of being the biggest enemy of public lands. Voters booted him in 2006, but he’s back, running for Congress again t […]
• Salazar Says Feds Aren’t Poised for Western Monument ‘Land Grab’
  Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says talk of his department creating new national monuments in Montana and other Western states was just “brainstorming.” The issue became big news after after an internal memo about the subject was leaked last month, setting off alarms in many, if not all, Western congressional offices and certainly across the Rockies. Montana […]
• The North Fork of the Flathead: The Gem of the Continent
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• Vilsack Warms Up on Tester’s Bill
  Last December, during a congressional hearing on the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (NFJA), the Department of Agriculture’s testimony was anything but encouraging to Senator Jon Tester (D-MT). However, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack unrolled a new approach to this controversial bill on Saturday including clear support for its wilderness and timber infr […]
• A Changing of the Guard At Plum Creek
  When he retires from Plum Creek Timber Co. at the end of the month, Hank Ricklefs will feel much better about stepping down from his position as vice president of northern resources and manufacturing than he would have a year ago at this time. “It was absolute turmoil,” he said of 2009. “No one had a solid feeling for where the bottom was.” […]