US Forest Service

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It Could Be Tough Days Ahead for the US Forest Service

There won't be any seasonal hiring as of now

(Newser) - "We just can't get the same work done with fewer employees," Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said in a September call. In that same call, he announced they'd have to. Backpacker reports the agency last month announced it would halt all seasonal hiring for the 2025...

College Students' Lake Trip Has Park Service Peeved

Thousands of students converged on California's Shasta Lake—and left heaps of trash behind

(Newser) - SFGate gets right to the point in a recent headline: "Thousands of college students trashed a California lake." About 3,000 of them, according to Debbie Carlisi of the US Forest Service's Shasta-Trinity National Forest, who says crews at Shasta Lake spent six hours scooping up...

Huge New Mexico Wildfire Was Sparked by ... Forest Service

Prescribed burns got out of control; latest report was a wildfire that almost burned Los Alamos

(Newser) - Sometimes it takes fire to fight fire, and sometimes it takes fire to make fire. The US Forest Service, in service of the former instead achieved the latter, and may as well have stayed home and left New Mexico alone last year. As the Santa Fe New Mexican reports, the...

Forest Service Chief Says Arrest of 'Burn Boss' Was 'Highly Inappropriate'

Oregon sheriff arrested federal employee after controlled burn went wrong

(Newser) - The head of the US Forest Service has denounced the arrest by an Oregon sheriff of a Forest Service employee after a planned burn in a national forest spread onto private land. Rick Snodgrass, the US Forest Service "burn boss," was arrested on Oct. 19 and transported to...

Culprit in NM's Biggest-Ever Fire: US Forest Service

Planned burns combined into massive forest fire

(Newser) - A massive New Mexico wildfire that has stampeded through more than 330 homes and nearly 500 square miles wasn't the result of a carelessly tossed cigarette ( or firework ), but rather the deliberate machinations of the United States Forest Service in an effort to, well, to avoid massive...

Orphaned Mountain Lion Turning Into a Success Story
Firefighters on Hike Made a
Sad Find. Now, a Happy Ending 
in case you missed it
Oct 11, 2020 1:30 PM CDT

Firefighters on Hike Made a Sad Find. Now, a Happy Ending

Orphaned mountain lion cub who could barely squeak now doing much better after rescue

(Newser) - She was just over 10 pounds when she was found—"semiconscious, extremely emaciated, dehydrated, weak," and with tremors, per the San Diego Humane Society. Now, the mountain lion cub discovered by two firefighters early last month is a healthier 22 pounds, much more active, and, as the Los ...

'Wizard Rock' Returned Weeks After It Vanished From Forest

1-ton boulder went missing from Arizona forest

(Newser) - A 1-ton boulder known as Wizard Rock disappeared from Prescott National Forest in Arizona and then "magically" reappeared weeks later. The United States Forest Service says visitors reported around two weeks ago that the well-known rock, a black boulder with white quartz running through it, had vanished from its...

Trump Wants to Build Roads in Biggest National Forest

Move would open up much of Alaska's Tongass to loggers

(Newser) - The Trump administration says it wants to lift the Bill Clinton-era "Roadless Rule" in a national forest bigger than West Virginia. The United States Forest Service said Tuesday that it would like to see an end to all restrictions on road building in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, a...

Expected Smoke, Surprise Flames at Gender-Reveal Party

Video shows start of Arizona's Sawmill Fire in 2017

(Newser) - Blue smoke indicating Dennis Dickey would be the father to a baby boy was briefly visible. But the flames erupting at the off-duty Border Patrol agent's gender-reveal party on state land in Green Valley, Ariz., quickly stole the focus, per the Arizona Daily Star . A man warned those gathered...

US Forest Service Chief Retires Amid Sex Misconduct Claims

Tony Tooke says it's best to 'make way for a new leader' after PBS investigation

(Newser) - After just six months on the job, the head of the US Forest Service is stepping down after a PBS probe revealed not only claims of sexual harassment and assault throughout the agency in general, but also accusations of misconduct against Tony Tooke himself, PBS reports. Tooke's retirement, which...

Frat Members Blamed for Trees Felled in National Forest

It allegedly happened during Pi Kappa Alpha initiation ceremony

(Newser) - Fraternity members from the California State University's Chico campus are facing federal criminal charges after they allegedly cut down dozens of trees in Lassen National Forest during a camping trip as part of a pledge-initiation ritual, CBS San Francisco reports. Per the Los Angeles Times , at least 32 trees...

Forest Cop on Bike Died After Surprising Grizzly

He had no time to brake, investigation finds

(Newser) - A federal report on the tragic death of Forest Service officer Brad Treat is out and the message is clear: Beware of what could be around the corner when you're mountain biking. The 38-year-old officer was mauled to death by a grizzly bear he surprised while mountain biking with...

Oops: Forest Service Ripped Up Sacred 'Trail of Tears'

Employees didn't have permission for construction on Native American site

(Newser) - The US Forest Service has ripped up a portion of the Trail of Tears in the Appalachian Mountains, reopening wounds for Native Americans who consider sacred the land where thousands of their ancestors died during their forced migration westward. Manmade trenches and berms were discovered last summer, but details about...

2 Charged With Stealing From Firefighters Battling Calif. Blaze

The suspects' own shoe prints helped bust them

(Newser) - What better way to thank the firefighters risking their lives to put out a forest fire in your community than by robbing them blind? Such is the case for US Forest Service firefighters as they arrived at a landfill Wednesday morning outside of Clearlake, Calif., ready to start working to...

Officials: Plague Found at Lake Tahoe Campground

Flea from chipmunk confirmed to have disease

(Newser) - A scenic campground near the shores of Lake Tahoe is now plastered with warning signs after the US Forest Service announced a flea from a yellow chipmunk there tested positive for plague , the Reno Gazette-Journal reports. The Forest Service's Lake Tahoe division, as well as officials from El Dorado...

Women Confront Ugly Realities in America's Most Beautiful Places

Sexual harassment and worse inside the country's park services

(Newser) - The Huffington Post has a harrowing look at the "troubling history of hostility toward women" within the National Park Service, US Forest Service, and state parks and wildlife departments. That history, which continues to this day, includes rape jokes, up-skirt photos, threats of sexual assault, and revenge against any...

Aggressive Goats Get Idaho Trail Closed

It seems they expect food from humans

(Newser) - The US Forest Service has temporarily closed a northern Idaho hiking trail over concerns about aggressive mountain goats after one animal bit a hiker and others reportedly tried to head-butt or charge visitors. Scotchman Peak Trail, which leads to the summit of Bonner County's tallest mountain, was closed Friday,...

Nestle Permit to Bottle Water in California Expired in 1988

Desert Sun newspaper investigation finds little state oversight

(Newser) - The water shortage in California has people cutting down on shower times and keeping usage to a minimum—which has led activists to rail against Nestle Waters, accused of profiting off its water-bottling operations at the expense of the environment, Newsweek reports. Backing up these claims is an investigation by...

How a State With Little Rain Suffered a Huge Mudslide

Mt. Shasta lacked the snow that would have protected glacier from sun

(Newser) - The US Forest Service thinks it knows what caused the boulder-filled mudslide that surged down Northern California's Mt. Shasta on Saturday: the Golden State’s extreme drought conditions . According to the LA Times , scientists think water gushed down from the Konwakiton Glacier, causing a mudslide that picked up increasing...

Anti-Wildfire Project Tabled Over Rare Frogs

Forest Service project may hurt endangered species

(Newser) - US officials are balancing forest-fire risk against the need to preserve an endangered species near Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevadas, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reports. Per a stipulation signed by a judge last week, the US Forest Service will delay its tree-thinning project there until it consults with the...

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