The Associated Press reports (via
Environmental News Network) that
the U.S. Forest Service will no longer submit long-term management plans for national forests to a formal environmental impact review because "15-year plans have no effect on the environment, making the impact statements unnecessary." The conclusion is based on changes to forest planning rules made last year, as well as a past Supreme Court ruling that says a plan is merely a statement of intent and does not cause anything to happen. (Your government at work, folks.)
While specific logging projects will no longer be part of the long-term management plan and will still be subject to a formal environmental impact review, decisions on which forest zones will be subject to logging, off-road vehicle use, and back-country recreation will be included in the unreviewed long-term plan.
The
Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, Kansas) picks up an article from the Associated Press on creating accessibility to federal, state, and municipal parkland. Although laws guaranteeing access have been on the books for almost two decades, the provisions have been implemented in a patchwork manner. While most public land includes wheelchair-accessible restrooms, designated handicapped parking spots, and a few paved trails,
facilities that allow disabled visitors to have a deeper experience with nature are few and far between. However, the AP points to Dillon Park, in New York's central Adirondacks, as a notable exception. The 200-acre park includes gravel paths, accessible lean-tos, and hearths stocked with firewood. Of course, it is also privately owned.
That, according to the
New York Times, is the prescrition of Dr. Ronald H. Wakimoto, a professor of forestry at the University of Montana, for fighting forest fires in national parks. Two new studies from the National Forest Service find that
thinning forests without burning the underlying brush and deadwood left over from those thinning efforts may increase fire damage rather than reduce it. However, the
Times notes that thinning is not effective--with or without prescribed fires--unless it is done consistently. The paper points to Dr. Don C. Erman, emeritus professor of ecology at the University of California, who calls thinning "a treadmill you have to be on all the time." Prescribed fire may extend the period between thinnings, he says, but not by much.
The Living Memorials Project, run by the USDA Forest Service and capably overseen by
Matthew Arnn, ASLA, is having an exhibit of the program's work at the NPS Federal Hall National Memorial, 26 Wall Street, NY, NY, from October 6-27. For those not familiar with the Living Memorials Project, it catalogues, supports, and helps create spaces "used, or re-appropriated by people as they employ the landscape to memorialize individuals, places, and events." The exhibit, which will feature 12 such spaces created in response to 9/11, is being organized by Parsons The New School For Design, The Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School, and the USDA Forest Service.
For landscape architects looking to do some pro-bono work and build the professions through community work--particularly working with high school kids--the Living Memorials Project is something to check out. Landscape architects will often work directly with a community to set up the living memorial and guide it from conception to completion.
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