We hope you are well during the pandemic. While the fire season has impacted the Nez Perce and Clearwater National Forests, other national forests are having a much more severe fire season so far. Undoubtedly, local Forest Service personnel have been called elsewhere. Yet, even amid the pandemic and fires, the Forest Service is busy developing proposals to spend money expected from the Great American Outdoors Act.
While the Forest Service has not formally notified the public on a comment period, the agency has informally set a comment deadline of Sunday, September 13. While not a formal comment under the National Environmental Policy Act, it is important for the Forest Service to hear from the public, especially on something it isn’t considering but should: PURCHASING THE UPPER LOCHSA CHECKERBOARD TO RETURN TO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP. To read more and comment, click here.
Currently the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is considering expanding its bait rules from wolves so trappers may bait all furbearers, which means predators like cougars and could incidentally catch rare species like wolverines. To read about this rule and comment by the September 23 deadline, click here.