National Forest Legal News Blog

The Missoulian has this report from the University of Montana's Public Lands conference.  Accepting the climate change mantra, professors and managers discussed how increasing temperatures could increase the incest infestations plaguing the National Forests. Others suggest that the Forest Service needs more monitoring of conditions and additional data.  The best question by far was:

"Can public land law really function as a Swiss Army knife," with individual blades for urban sprawl, job demands, species loss, climatic change and scientific incompleteness, UM law professor Ray Cross asked at the end of the gathering. Conference speakers were split, he said, with some believing policy could handle those challenges and others arguing that political tradeoffs, budget constraints and natural change would overwhelm any paper solution.

Of course, environmentalists are reluctant to admit that the square peg of more rules, regulations, and prohibitions does not fit the round hole of local conditions.