Posts in category “National Forests”

On a recent spring morning, more than 100 volunteers from the Alcoa Fastening Systems Carson Operations arrived at Vogel Flat Picnic Area on the Angeles National Forest for a Friends of the Forest day. Alcoa adopted the picnic area last fall and employees were eager to continue their work. Damaged in the 2009 Station Fire and subsequent debris flows, the picnic area required a variety of improvements and repairs. Despite the presence of half a dozen or so large and... (Read more…)

Originally published in SourDough Notes , Fall 2011. Written by Lezlie Murray, Visitor Services Director, Chugach National Forest It’s a rare thing, but every now and then a Forest Service interpreter creates a history program from the inside out, and “becomes” the person they are interpreting. Such a rare person is Peggy Burnette, who has tackled the difficult assignment of living-history interpretation and succeeded. Though Alaska Nellie made a name for herself in Southcentral Alaska... (Read more…)

In the Eastern United States, National Forests are almost myths. People have heard of National Forests, but they don’t really know where they are or how they work. Until not too long ago, I was one such person. Growing up in Michigan, my family went on maybe a dozen camping trips with our pop-up camper at state campgrounds. I had never camped in a tent in the middle of the wilderness. I never doubted that I could, I just never had the opportunity to prove it to myself. This... (Read more…)

Have you ever stood in a field of grasses towering over your head? Have you felt small in a wide open sea of grass? Soon the majestic prairie will once again provide a sense of awe for residents and visitors alike. Less than an hour from Chicago, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie offers visitors a chance to experience Illinois, and much of the Midwest, how it once was: tallgrass prairie. From Army to Prairie Beginning in 1940, the open space of Midewin became the... (Read more…)

Earlier this month winter finally made an appearance for much of the Western half of the country. As beautiful as the snow is on the mountains, it can quickly turn deadly. Avalanches rage throughout the backcountry of mountains throughout the west. This week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming a skier triggered an avalanche down Taylor Mountain. Luckily, no one was injured.  In Colorado, however, skiers were not so lucky. On Sunday two avalanches claimed the lives of two skiers at Vail... (Read more…)

Posted by Sharon Alton, GAIA Consulting Group, www.thegaiagroup.net , on behalf of  SunRiver Resort. Sunriver Resort  is surrounded by the Deschutes National Forest , a year round destination for skiing, hiking, fishing, biking, and enjoying the spectacular scenery. With this expanded backyard, Sunriver’s guests directly rely on the natural resources surrounding the resort each time they visit. The Forest Stewardship Fund provides a way for guests to give back... (Read more…)

Here in Montana, when you mention the East to a born-and-bred Montanan, it often conjures images of skyscrapers, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and throngs of people.  This isn’t the East I know.  My East is filled with spectacular wildlands, places where you can drive for ages on dirt roads, spend a day exploring backwoods waterfalls, and look out over an endless expanse of rolling, snow-covered hills, where there is a beautiful blur between the natural and the cultural, the... (Read more…)

Malheaur? Chattahoochee? Monongahela? Our nation’s National Forests have some of the most unusual names around. In this post we’ll take a look at the history of a few of them. Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia : Chattahoochee is thought to come from the Muskogean word meaning “rocks-marked,” possibly referring to the color granite outcroppings along the Chattahoochee River. Chugach National Forest, Alaska : Chugach is the name of a Native Alaska culture and people... (Read more…)

Less than an hour from downtown L.A., Angeles National Forest is truly a “backyard forest.” Within the San Gabriel Mountains, the forest includes nearly 700 miles of trails traversing mountains, canyons, forests and more. Much of the forest’s landscape is chaparral, shaped by a Mediterranean climate of mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers filled with hardy, drought tolerant species. Five wilderness areas offer visitors the chance to escape the congestion of the greater Los... (Read more…)

Vance Russell, the NFF Director of the California Program recently gave introductory remarks before a screening of the 2011 documentary film Green Fire at the University of California-Davis. The father of the National Wilderness System, wildlife management and ecological restoration, Aldo Leopold and his ideas still apply today in landscapes across the country. Below are Vance’s remarks before the film. I have a quote above my desk by Aldo Leopold that is relatively unknown:... (Read more…)