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From: "Rick Horton"
Date: Mon Jan 3, 2005 12:05:30 PM US/Central
Subject: Boise Cascade Land Sale
MN Grouse Enthusiasts:
Boise Cascade has announced the sale of 2.2 million acres of timberland, including 208,000 acres in northern Minnesota, to Forest Capital Partners LLC. We have contacted Forest Capital Partners to initiate discussions regarding the needs of ruffed grouse and woodcock, and expect to meet with them shortly after the local management team is in place.
Rick Horton
Ruffed Grouse Society
RUFFED GROUSE SOCIETY PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release 23 December 2004
NEW REGULATIONS AID FOREST PROTECTION BY CUTTING RED TAPE
On Wednesday, December 22nd, the US Forest Service released long-anticipated regulations that will guide land and resource management on the 191-million acre National Forest System."These new regulations shift the emphasis from producing paperwork to protecting forest health and forest wildlife," according to Dan Dessecker, Senior Wildlife Biologist for the Ruffed Grouse Society.
The regulations released yesterday replace others first drafted in 1982. The old regulations are broadly recognized as a significant cause of the "analysis paralysis" that has plagued the Forest Service in recent years.
A Government Accounting Office report found that under the old regulations, the Forest Service spends more than $250 Million each year preparing 20,000 environmental documents. According to the Forest Service, approximately 50 cents of every fire reduction dollar goes toward process and analysis, rather than on-the-ground fire fighting.
"The new regulations are a significant step toward returning common sense to the management of our National Forests," says Dessecker, "These improvements are long overdue."
For more information, please contact:
Dan Dessecker
Senior Wildlife Biologist
Ruffed Grouse Society
PO Box 2
Rice Lake, WI 54868
715-234-8302
(rgsdess@chibardun.net)
RGS Members and Supporters:
The Ruffed Grouse Society has filed a formal appeal of the Chippewa and Superior National Forest Plan decisions handed down last August. This has been a long and often tedious process, but we had hoped that our thoughtful input would help strengthen the Plans and benefit Minnesota's sportsmen and women. Unfortunately, the Plans reduced game population and habitat without due consideration of the impact of those actions upon those of us that enjoy crisp Autumn days afield.
The basis of this appeal is that the Society feels that the Forest Service (1) made a pre-decisional decision to reduce aspen forests and young forests in the region without public input, (2) developed a narrow range of alternatives to reflect this a priori decision, (3) based much of the analysis upon the Range of Natural Variability (RNV) despite cautions about its inherent flaws by numerous publics including RGS, as well as the Services own Green Team, (4), did not consider the wildlife population goals of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and (5) failed to adequately address the socio-economic considerations of reducing game populations.
It will be quite a while before this process is complete. In the meantime the Forest Service implements all new projects under the new plan. There are currently two projects underway. The Public Scoping phase was completed on the Dunka Project - Superior National Forest, Kawishiwi Ranger District. It will follow the Plan and move the forest towards more conifers and old growth, at the expense of aspen. The Scoping period is closed for the Round Island resource Management project on the Blackduck District of the Chippewa. I am less concerned about that project as we have a good working relationship with Tracy Beck, the District Ranger. I trust that he will take our concerns seriously in his decisions.
Contact me if you would like to read our appeal in full and I will send it to you.
Happy Holiday Season.
Rick Horton
Ruffed Grouse Society
218-327-2524
