Your National Forests Winter/Spring 2014

TREASURED LANDSCAPES | UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCES

WINTER–SPRING 2014

2013 FOREST POLLS

WHAT DO THE PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT OUR NATIONAL FORESTS?

F ORESTS’ IMPRINT ON A NATION VAST & VARIED Okanogan-Wenatchee

National Forest

O F F I C I A L M AGA Z I N E O F T H E N AT I O N A L F O R E S T F O U N DAT I O N

FORESTS NEED OUR HELP.

Reduce now; pay later.

57%

61% 58%

Regardless of which region they live in or how they vote, most Americans polled agree cutting funding to National Forests now won’t help the national budget crisis. But it will cost us in the long run.

FORESTS BRING US TOGETHER. 160 million visited a National Forest in 2012. More than half of all Americans polled have visited a National Forest in their lifetime.

122

4,148

SKI AREAS

MILES OF SCENIC RIVERS

1/3

57%

FORESTS SUSTAIN US. National Forests have a beneficial impact on our environment. But did you know they’re also good for our economy?

OR MORE OF OUR NATIONAL FORESTS COULD GO UP IN SMOKE.

August 2013 — With four months left in the year, the U.S. Forest Service already allocated more than $1.5 billion of annual budget to fire suppression, including $600 million borrowed from non-fire-related funds.

HOW BIG IS THE PROBLEM? 65 million-82 million National Forests acreage at a "high or very high" risk of fire and could benefit from restoration.

HIGH RISK

5x

The average size of wildfires has increased by a factor of five since the 1970s.

HUMANS CAUSE AN ESTIMATED 90% OF ALL WILDFIRES.

LIGHTNING STRIKES CAUSE JUST 10%.

S’more funding for our forests.

The majority of polled voters from across the political spectrum would support a small increase to their own taxes in order to provide additional funding to the U.S. Forest Service for restoration.

85%

13%

VS.

72%

SUPPORT

148,295

5,107

CAMPGROUNDS MILES OF HIKING TRAILS

BELIEVE THAT NATIONAL FORESTS SUPPORT OUR ECONOMY AND ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE.

2%

26%

OPPOSE

UNSURE

$13 billion

Chill thrill.

National Forests provide 4 seasons of recreational activities, in addition to supporting birdwatchers, photographers and hunters.

Amount National Forests contribute annually to our economy through visitor spending on trips, lodging, food and recreation.

$35 million per day

Amount of lost revenue if National Forests were to shut down.

FORESTS DEFINE US.

EQUAL IN SIZE TO THE STATE OF TEXAS.

1897

155

NATIONAL FORESTS

20

NATIONAL GRASSLANDS

1

NATIONAL TALLGRASS PRAIRIE

MORE THAN 4 OUT OF EVERY 5 VOTERS SURVEYED AGREE THAT CONSERVING OUR COUNTRY’S NATURAL RESOURCES IS PATRIOTIC.

TO HELP RESTORE OUR FORESTS, VISIT WWW.NATIONALFORESTS.ORG

The Organic Act creates the U.S. Forest Service to manage a growing National Forest System to “secure favorable water flows” and to “furnish a continuous supply of timber.”

Today

Clean water remains a major benefit of our National Forests, along with wildlife habitat, recreation, timber, wilderness and other uses.

Distinct from National Parks (though often adjacent), National Forests also preserve the amazing beauty and grandeur of America.

A bipartisan poll of 800 registered voters, conducted in partnership with research firms Public Opinion Strategies and FM3. Interviews conducted over both land lines and cell phones. Overall margin of error of + 3.46%; varies based on population for smaller subgroups.

FOF AD NEW AD FEATURING FOF WEB SITE

INSIDE THIS EDITION Photo © Jack Affleck

INTRODUCTIONS 4 Welcome

Our season of reflection

DEPARTMENTS

5 Volunteer Perspective A whirlwind of a summer

6 Forest News

Updates from our National Forests

8 Tree Spotlight

Saving the Whitebark pine

16 Field Reports

National Forest Foundation and partners in action

21 Conservation

Watershed health on our National Forests

24 Where in the Woods

Which National Forest is this?

25 Kids & Nature

Different types of snowflakes

26 Corporate Partners

Companies team up with NFF to be good stewards

30 Ski Conservation Fund

Partners make it easy to give back to your National Forests

33 Forest Perspectives

The arrival of the rope tow

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Unforgettable Experiences

THE FUTURE OF SKI RESORTS ON PUBLIC LANDS

Your National Forests magazine is printed on recycled paper with 30% post-consumer content. This magazine’s use of FSC® certified paper ensures the highest environmental and social standards have been followed in the wood sourcing, paper manufacturing and print production of this magazine. To learn more log on to www.fsc.org.

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National Forest Foundation Building 27, Suite 3 Fort Missoula Road Missoula, Montana 59804 406-542-2805

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www.nationalforests.org

ABOUT THE COVER PHOTO

© Greg Vaughn; www.GregVaughn.com Hikers looking across Washington Pass to Whistler Mountain in the OkanoganWenatchee National Forest, Cascade Mountains, Washington.

INSIDE THIS EDITION Illustration © David Downing / Old Town Creative; Photos © Dawn Fouts; Matthew Grimm

WHO’S VISITED OUR NATIONAL FORESTS IN THE LAST YEAR?

THOUGHTS ON WILDFIRE

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Voices from the Forest

2013 FOREST POLL

WINTER SPORTS ENTHUSIASTS

VALUE OF NATIONAL FORESTS

18

Treasured Landscapes

OKANOGAN-WENATCHEE NATIONAL FOREST

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Unforgettable Experiences

FORESTS' IMPRINT ON A NATION YOUR NATIONAL FORESTS

Official Magazine of the National Forest Foundation Editor-in-Chief Greg Peters Contributors Hannah Ettema, Ray A. Foote, Erica Keene, Zia Maumenee, Marlee Ostheimer, Greg Peters, William J. Possiel, Wes Swaffar Graphic Artist David Downing, Old Town Creative Communications, LLC © 2013 National Forest Foundation and Old Town Creative Communications, LLC. No unauthorized reproduction of this material is allowed.

President William J. Possiel Executive Vice President Mary Mitsos Executive Vice President Ray A. Foote Southern California Program Associate Edward Belden Director, Administration Sheree Bombard Director, Conservation Connect Karen DiBari Communications and Development Associate Hannah Ettema Controller Robin Hill Oregon Program Coordinator Lisa Leonard Director, Conservation Awards Adam Liljeblad

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Conservation Awards Associate Zia Maumenee Development Associate Marlee Osthiemer Director, Communications Greg Peters Administrative Assistant Emily Rosso Director, California Program Vance Russell Director, Colorado Program, Marcus Selig Membership Data Manager Deborah Snyder Ecosystem Services Program Manager Wes Swaffar Accountant Michelle Singer Pacific Northwest Development Manager Dayle Wallien

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WELCOME

The National Forest Foundation engages Americans in community-based and national programs that promote the health and public enjoyment of the 193-million-acre National Forest System, and administers private gifts of funds and land for the benefit of the National Forests.

Executive Committee

OUR SEASON OF REFLECTION

Vice Chairman, Craig R. Barrett CEO/Chairman of the Board, Intel Corporation, Retired (AZ) Vice Chairman, David Bell Creative Realities (NY)

By Bill Possiel, NFF President

When we look at the contemporary challenges in stewarding the incredibly diverse National Forest System, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the number of homes ~Michael E. Porter being built in adjacent communities, increasing impacts from a changing climate, expanding populations of invasive species, mortality from pests and disease, and catastrophic wildfire. That feeling, however, is quickly displaced by a feeling of wonder when we find time to take a walk in the woods, cast a fly at rising trout, or behold the breathtaking fall colors of America’s backyard.

The National Forest Foundation’s (NFF) Board of Directors had the opportunity to experience the spectacle of fall foliage on the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire this October. As we looked out the windows of our meeting rooms at such a historic unit of the National Forest System, we were reminded of the reason we do what we do. No other nation has anything that comes close to this remarkable natural legacy.

The staff and board of the NFF, our colleagues at the Forest Service, and hundreds of community-based organizations across the nation recognize the importance of this public estate and know that we must join forces to ensure its values and benefits persist.

So, as the NFF completes our Treasured Landscapes campaign in 2014, we are charting a course for 2015 and beyond through a strategic planning process. We are reflecting on what has worked and what has not worked, and reassessing our priorities to ensure the NFF adds significant value in our partnerships and maximizes its impact.

In the early stage of planning we recently completed a nationwide survey of voters revealing strong personal connections Americans have with the National Forests and recognition of the benefits these lands provide. Seven in 10 American voters from across the political spectrum agreed that one of the things the U.S. government does best is protect and preserve the country’s natural heritage through National Forests.

We reached out to our community-based partner organizations and asked them to evaluate how we work with them. We conducted an online survey through social media to better understand public interests, and we are involving Forest Service leadership in our planning process to assure that we have alignment with the agency that will enhance our work together.

As we respond to external factors and rethink our strategy, we invite you to let us know what you think about our approach—what you appreciate and support— and what we can do better. I hope that you will take a moment to email me at: bpossiel@nationalforests.org. We are inspired by the people we work with and the places we are working to protect, and grateful to those who get involved and amplify our impact.

“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”

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Chairman, John Hendricks Founder and Chairman, Discovery Communications, Inc. (MD)

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www.nationalforests.org

Treasurer, Bradley K. Johnson CAO, CFO, Recreational Equipment Incorporated, Retired (UT) Secretary, Timothy P. Schieffelin Senior Director, BNY Wealth Management (CT) Committee Member, Peter Foreman Sirius LP (IL) Committee Member, Thomas Tidwell Ex-Officio, Chief, U.S. Forest Service (DC) Board of Directors Mike Brown, Jr., General Partner, Bowery Capital (NY) Coleman Burke, President, Waterfront Properties (NY) Blaise Carrig, President—Mountain Division, Vail Resorts, Inc. (CO) Caroline Choi, Vice President, Integrated Planning & Regulatory Affairs, Southern California Edison (CA) Robert Cole, Partner, Collins Cockrel & Cole, P.C. (CO) Bart Eberwein, Executive Vice President, Hoffman Construction Company (OR) Robert Feitler, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Weyco Group, Inc. (IL) Barry Fingerhut, CEO/Owner, Certification Partners, LLC (AZ) Lee Fromson, Senior Vice President, Merchandising, Recreational Equipment Incorporated (WA) Roje S. Gootee, Co-Owner & Manager, Rush Creek Ranch, LLC (OR) Damien Huang, Senior Vice President, Merchandising, Eddie Bauer, Inc. (WA) Jeff Paro, CEO, InterMedia Outdoors (NY) Patricia Hayling Price, President, LiveWorkStrategize LLC (NY) Susan Schnabel, Managing Director, Credit-Suisse (CA) Mary Smart (NY) Chad Weiss, Managing Director, JOG Capital Inc. (WY) James Yardley Executive Vice President, El Paso Corporation, Retired (TX)

VOLUNTEER PERSPECTIVE

A WHIRLWIND OF A SUMMER

By Erica Keene Photos © Erica Keene

For the past several months, I have been lucky enough to be the NFF’s Youth Engagement Intern stationed on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (MBS). In this short time, I have gained tremendous experience and respect for outdoor youth programs by coordinating and implementing programs hosted by the MBS and NFF. In 2013, the MBS and NFF coordinated 22 events, ranging from one day to one week. Nearly all of these events had a hands-on stewardship component designed to get youth and the community engaged and invested in our National Forests.

I spent four weeks, back-to-back, in the field with three different groups working on trails and learning about the environment. The first and fourth weeks, I worked with InterIm WILD (Wilderness Inner-city Leadership Development) in Skykomish, WA where twelve youth from Seattle’s International District and neighboring areas spent our first week building new trails, maintaining campgrounds and restoring a fire lookout. Watching them work as a team to move 400+ pound rocks was absolutely incredible.

Although many of the participants hadn’t met before spending the week together camping (many for the first time ever) they spent each day improving their cooperation, communication, and teamwork skills.

In Glacier, WA where we spent our fourth week, we experienced a unique subalpine environment while sprucing up heavily used picnic areas and cutting brush along trails newly opened to stock. It was in this spectacular setting that I watched these youth truly make the connection between their lives and the land on which we live.

It was incredible to watch these youth realize that they can impact these areas, even though the Forest is several hours from where they lead their daily lives.

During my second week on the trail I worked with the Student Conservation Association, spending four days building a connection trail from a popular campground right off the freeway to one of the most highly used trails on the MBS. This hard working crew dug more than 300 yards of well-built new trail in just four short days.

Left: Seattle Parks and Rec’s O2 program participants work a crosscut saw to remove a downed log on the Kelley Creek Trail.

Right: Youth from InterIm WILD use a rock net to move a rock into place on the trail.

Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Outdoor Opportunities (O2) program brought ten lively and hardworking youth out to Skykomish, WA for my third week on the trail. While some of these youth had been camping before, most had never worked on trails.

One participant remarked, “I never knew how hard people worked to build these trails for us and other hikers! I will always remember that when I go hiking now.”

The O2 crew worked on a difficult trail that has been in the making for several years. According to the professional trail worker who helped with the project, a professional trail crew would be lucky to get ten feet per person built in a day, while our crew averaged fifteen feet per person per day! The expression on their faces when they heard this was priceless. This group wrapped up the week building tent pads in one of the heavy use campgrounds and helping restore a fire lookout.

By the time I was through with my four weeks on the trail, I was not only exhausted, but extremely inspired by the youth. I watched young teens build connections and take ownership of their public lands, giving me hope that in the future they will continue to help protect the lands that are so important in our daily lives.

www.nationalforests.org

ERICA KEENE

Erica is the NFF's 2013-2014 Youth Engagement Intern.

When not out on week-long adventures, Erica enjoys hiking, camping, snowshoeing, skiing and trying out new and adventurous cooking recipes. Reach her at ekeene@nationalforests.org.

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FOREST NEWS

2014 MARKS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WILDERNESS ACT

Pecos Wilderness, Santa Fe National Forest

HANNAH ETTEMA

Hannah is the Communications and Development Associate at the NFF. When she’s not running the NFF’s Social Media program or lending her design skills to fellow staff, she’s out exploring Montana’s National Forests.

Reach her at hettema@nationalforests.org.

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SUPPORTING COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS FOR COMMUNITIES AND FORESTS Together, we can do more. This central idea to the NFF’s mission is why we’ve devoted so much effort helping hundreds of local conservation organizations build their capacity. By helping others work more effectively with the Forest Service and other partners, we help them not only do more, but also do it more efficiently (see Your National Forests Summer - Fall 2013, pgs 21-23).

In 2009, our efforts got a major boost from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service through the Community Capacity Land Stewardship (CCLS) Program. Managed in partnership between the NFF and the Forest Service, CCLS has awarded $1.3 million to 44 organizations, increasing the capacity of local collaboratives working for watershed restoration.

By working together, communities are able to invest in and advance a shared vision of long-term ecological, economic and social stability. Funding supports organizational and staff support, action plan development, community outreach, training related to facilitation and more.

First initiated in the Pacific Northwest Region and then expanded to the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, CCLS funding recently became available in California. In 2013, the NFF awarded $113,000 to five California based organizations, $128,280 to six organizations in Alaska, and more than $169,000 to nine organizations in Oregon and Washington. We are hopeful that the program will continue to expand throughout the country in the coming years.

www.nationalforests.org

Photo © A. Jackson Frishman / frishmanphoto.smugmug.com

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law. Written by the executive secretary of The Wilderness Society, Howard Zanhiser, the Wilderness Act took nine years, 65 rewrites, and 18 public hearings before it was finally passed.

Initially, 9.1 million acres were set aside, permanently protecting some of the wildest lands in the U.S. Often referred to as “capital W wilderness,” Wilderness Areas are protected from road building, resource extraction, and mechanized equipment use (including mountain biking and off-road-vehicle use). Camping, hunting, fishing and grazing are allowed in Wilderness Areas, although permits may be required. In the last 50 years, Congress, which has the sole authority to designate these lands, has created more than 100 million acres of Wilderness from Alaska to Florida.

To help raise awareness for Wilderness and to commemorate this Golden Anniversary, a coalition of agencies, organizations, academic institutions and others has come together to celebrate.

Called “Wilderness50,” the group is planning celebratory events, projects and educational opportunities across the country culminating in the National Wilderness Conference to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico in October of 2014.

The NFF will be featuring National Forest Wilderness throughout 2014, including unique stories, beautiful images, and fascinating histories on our website, our blog, in social media and in the next issue of Your National Forests.

In the meantime, learn more about the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act at www.wilderness50th.org.

FOREST NEWS

2013 WILDFIRE RECAP At the end of September, just over four million acres of public lands had burned during the 2013 wildfire season, less than half of last year. Despite fewer fires and fewer burned acres, this year brought both major tragedy and more evidence that accumulated “fuel loads” in our National Forests have made fire season increasingly erratic and costly.

Photo © Mike McMillan / USFS

RIM FIRE

On August 17, an illegal fire caused by a hunter on the Stanislaus National Forest went out of control and burned more than 250,000 acres of the Forest and the backcountry of Yosemite National Park. The Rim Fire, named for the Rim of the World vista on the Stanislaus National Forest, destroyed 11 residences, three commercial buildings and 98 outbuildings, but thankfully caused no fatalities. The fire was the third largest in California’s history and the largest on record in the Sierra Nevada.

WEST FORK COMPLEX

Three lightning-caused fires, collectively called West Fork Complex, burned nearly 110,000 acres in Southwestern Colorado during June and July. Thousands of firefighters worked to prevent the fires from burning populated areas along highway corridors.

Most of the complex burned in the Weminuche Wilderness Area on the San Juan and Rio Grande National Forests.

YARNELL HILL FIRE

The now infamous Yarnell Hill Fire was ignited by lightning on June 28 near Yarnell, Arizona, northwest of Phoenix. Two days later, 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots of the Prescott Fire Department were overrun and killed by the fire. A sudden thunderstorm arrived, changing the wind’s direction as the Hotshots built a line of defense for a subdivision below the fire. This tragedy marked the highest wildland firefighter death toll since 1933. Two weeks later, the 8,500-acre fire was contained.

Fire fighters work to control the California Rim Fire.

Opposite: Pecos Wilderness in the Santa Fe National Forest and Carson National Forest of New Mexico.

ACCUMULATING FUELS AND EXTENDED DROUGHT

According to scientists, the big fires of the past few years represent the future of wildfires. Climate change is causing warmer temperatures and changes in precipitation, leading to larger and more severe wildfires. In Arizona, the average ten-year temperature has risen 2.3 degrees in the last thirty years, while 2013 was California’s driest year on record. Some climate models show the temperatures for portions of the West will increase by more than 10 degrees in the future.

Most of the West had been subjected to decades of fire suppression, leaving significant amounts of fuel ready to dry out and burn. As temperatures continue to rise and drought conditions become the norm, this over-abundance of fuel becomes drier and more available for fires to burn big and hot.

While 2013 saw the fewest number of fires in the past decade, the tragedy in Yarnell illustrates that even though a fire season may have fewer fires, the toll they take can be truly catastrophic.

Learn more about wildfires and American’s attitudes about them at nationalforests.org/poll/wildfire and nationalforests.org/blog.

WILDFIRE RECOVERY FUND

The NFF has a Wildfire Recovery Fund that supports the healthy recovery of National Forests affected by wildfire. You can direct your donation to a specific state or to where it’s needed most. Visit nationalforests.org/wildfire to learn more and donate today.

www.nationalforests.org

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TREE SPOTLIGHT

WEATHERING THE STORM WHITEBARK PINE

By Hannah Ettema

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But the Clark’s Nutcrackers aren’t the only species to rely on whitebark pine, nor the only species to help them out. Squirrels also store the pinecones in middens, breaking up the cones and releasing the seeds. Bears then raid the middens consuming the nutritious seeds as primary source of pre-hibernation food. Some seeds simply pass through the bears and are deposited with a healthy mound of natural fertilizer far from their original location, improving genetic diversity and allowing the whitebark to “move” farther than it ever could on its own. Without whitebark pine trees, many alpine ecosystems would not thrive.

Since whitebark pines dominate the high alpine community, they play a pivotal role in the hydrology of the drainages over which they preside. Growing on the wide ridges of mountains, the trees act as a snow fence, accumulating high elevation snow.

Over the long alpine winter, these piles can be substantial. Because they take longer to melt in the spring, the piles extend stream flow periods throughout the entire watershed.

Unfortunately, this crucial species faces many threats. White pine blister rust, a fungal disease from Europe, has infected many whitebark stands across its range. Fortunately, a small number of trees have a genetic resistance to the disease, so public agencies like the U.S. Forest Service have been harvesting rust-resistant cones in the hopes of growing rust-resistant trees. Additionally, warming temperatures caused by climate change have allowed the ever-present mountain pine beetle to colonize the high elevation zones where whitebark live. Trees already suffering from blister

www.nationalforests.org

Photo © Craig Moore / GlacierWorld.com

It’s easy to forget just how connected everything is in nature. We may joke about the “circle of life” and the “food chain,” but these simple concepts couldn’t be more applicable to the whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and the small bird on which it depends. Without the Clark’s Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) the whitebark pine would struggle to reproduce.

Whitebark pines grow throughout the Northern Rockies of the United States, the Southern Rockies of Canada, and in the Cascades and Sierras. Thriving in harsh and rocky areas, they can be found at tree line in subalpine regions, often exposed to high winds and weather. In optimal conditions, whitebark pine can grow to 60 feet, but atop a mountain, it’s not unusual to see much shorter, gnarled looking trees growing close to the ground.

Small, dark purple cones distinguish whitebark pine from similar species. Compact and tough, the cones are adapted to survive in the harsh conditions by being covered with thick scales that protect vulnerable seeds. However, unlike most pinecones, the whitebark’s do not open upon drying, instead requiring the scales to break apart before the seeds are released.

Fortunately for the whitebark, the Clark’s Nutcracker is a ready and willing assistant—the birds crack the cones to harvest the large, nutritious seeds, which they then bury in caches to retrieve later. A single Clark’s Nutcracker can hide anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 seeds in a year. Thanks to these caches, many of which go unretrieved, whitebark pine seedlings have an improved chance at life.

TREE SPOTLIGHT

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Planting whitebark pines is expensive and difficult. First, scientists try to identify blister-rust resistant trees high up on mountain ridges and sub-alpine zones. Cones from these trees are collected and transported long distances to professional or government greenhouses. Once there, each seedling takes two years of careful nurturing before it can be pulled and prepped to be transported back to the high-elevation habitat where it thrives—often requiring planters to hike miles carrying the heavy, delicate seedlings. Finally, the seedlings are planted and left to fate.

Despite this enormous effort, reforestation initiatives do exist. The NFF is working with the U.S. Forest Service to plant whitebarks on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest as part of our Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign (nationalforests.org/treasured). A group called TreeFight (treefight.org) is working to protect and restore whitebark pines in Wyoming and Colorado, and the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation has a host of resources and opportunities to help (whitebarkfound.org).

Photos © Craig Moore / GlacierWorld.com; Bryant Olsen / flickr.com

rust are especially susceptible to the relatively new threat of pine beetles, exacerbating an already serious issue.

Decades of wildfire suppression have affected the whitebark pine too. Infrequent, low-level wildfire cycles historically helped remove fire-intolerant species such as subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce from competing with whitebark seedlings.

Absent fire, these trees grow faster and better than whitebark pines, ultimately converting whitebark forests to fir and spruce forests. As well, fire helped remove older whitebark pines that are more susceptible to beetle and white pine blister rust, thus slowing the spread of each.

True survivors, whitebark pines live where few dare go. Withstanding brutal natural forces, this critical species supports birds, squirrels, insects and even grizzly bears. But new threats could irrevocably damage the species’ ability to continue. The whitebark and those forest residents that depend on it, need our active protection and restoration efforts. Together, we can help this incredible tree thrive and maintain its critical role in the circle of life.

Planning for your future can make a big difference for theirs

Including the National Forest Foundation in your estate plan is a simple way to make a lasting gift to the waters, wildlife habitats and wild places treasured by you and your loved ones, and can have profound financial benefits for you as well.

The NFF established the National Forest Legacy Society to recognize those generous individuals who have designated a planned gift on behalf of America’s National Forests.

To request more information about the National Forest Legacy Society, please contact:

Deborah Snyder: 406-830-3355 dsnyder@nationalforests.org nationalforests.org/plannedgiving

www.nationalforests.org

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UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCES

A NATIONAL PASTIME ON OUR NATIONAL FORESTS

BY GREG PETERS • PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK AFFLECK

ON A WARM NOVEMBER DAY IN 2011,

President Obama signed the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act. The Act clarifies and expands the types of activities ski resorts located on National Forests can offer guests during summer months. Resorts, ever-hungry for additional revenue, had long desired that Congress and the agency update the permitting process so they could offer summertime activities that would fill hotel rooms, restaurants and bars.

The bill passed both the Senate and the House in a bipartisan fashion, one of few bills in the past several years to get such broad support. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell commented, “The National Forests have always been some of America’s greatest playgrounds. It is exciting that our ski areas will now be able to offer more recreational opportunities and economic benefits.”

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Americans love outdoor recreation as recent studies clearly illustrate. According to the Outdoor Industry Association, we spend nearly $650 billion on our favorite outdoors sports and adventures each year—more than we spend on utilities, gasoline, motor vehicles, or pharmaceuticals. From rock climbing to stand-up paddle boarding, a new wave of outdoor sports is drawing hundreds of millions to our public lands. Few outdoor sports, however, have attracted such a devoted following as downhill skiing and snowboarding. While the industry is not as strong as it once was, it remains one of the primary reasons Americans head outside to play in the winter. And because so much skiing takes place on National Forests, it has long played a critical role in introducing Americans to these amazing public lands.

www.nationalforests.org

UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCES

BOOM TIMES

Skiing is an ancient pastime—or at least an ancient way of navigating through winter. As a pastime, it’s really only a couple hundred of years old. Although evidence of skiing dates back to 2000 BC, recreational skiing has its roots in Scandinavia, where both technique and equipment were “perfected” during the 1800s.

Scandinavians introduced it to the U.S., initially through Nordic skiing and ski jumping in the Midwest. As the sport took root there, gold rush era miners in California and the Rockies began racing each other down the snowy mountains that surrounded their makeshift communities. Using closely guarded, secret recipes for ski-wax, these fearless miners reached speeds of 60 mph or The 1970s and 1980s saw the last more in their pursuit of mine camp glory. push of new resorts, but the number has Ski resorts began springing up across the country in the 1910s and plateaued and even declined slightly.

1920s. According to the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), by 1930 five ski resorts operated from California to Massachusetts.

A NATURAL CONNECTION: The next decade saw fifty resorts open, including Sun Valley, SKIING AND NATIONAL FORESTS Alta, and Stowe. Over the next three decades, the ski industry Skiing in America is intrinsically and historically tied to our exploded, 82 resorts opened from 1940-1960, with an additional National Forests. The sport’s introduction in America predates 107 opening in the 1960s. The 1970s (47) and 1980s (23) saw the Forest Service’s creation by a couple of decades, and its impact the last push of new resorts, but the number has plateaued and on our forests and surrounding communities is undeniable. While even declined slightly. In the last two decades, fewer than tworecent Forest Service Visitor Use Monitoring Surveys show that dozen resorts have opened. hiking and walking are the most common primary reasons for visiting a National Forest (17%), downhill skiing is a close second ENVIRONMENTAL CRITICISM (14%). The agency touts the roughly 25 million visits a year that Significant backlash from the environmental community has skiers make to our National Forests—just under half of the 57 exacerbated the industry’s struggle in the last couple of decades. million visits made to all ski areas in 2012. These National Forest While ski resorts on National Forests have a combined footprint skiers pump three billion dollars into the economy each winter and of about 188,000 acres, or about 1/10th of a percent of the National sustain 65,000 full or part-time jobs.

Forest System, the consequences of concentrating so many One hundred and twenty two ski resorts operate on National visitors in relatively small areas are real and significant. Habitat Forests, primarily located in the West. The list includes some of the fragmentation, water use, waste disposal, greenhouse gas pollution, most iconic resorts in the country like Vail, Aspen, Snowbird, and and sprawling development are just some of the issues raised by Mammoth as well as some Mom and Pop areas. Years of industry conservationists over the years. This is especially true in places consolidation have concentrated ownership of many American ski like the White River National Forest in Colorado, which contains resorts to a handful of powerful companies, which have to navigate twelve ski resorts on National Forests, including world-renowned the whims of winter weather, a tough business climate, fierce Vail and Aspen. Beginning in the 1990s, high-profile arsons and competition, and significant pushback from environmentalists to other civil disobedience brought national attention to the industry’s stay profitable each season. general operations and expansion plans.

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UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCES

SPECIAL USE, CONFUSING PROCESS

Resorts and the NSAA have responded by developing the Before the 2011 Act passed, ski area operations were governed Sustainable Slopes Initiative, implementing water saving measures, by the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act. This 1986 law providing public transportation to the ski hill, and more. Voluntary updated the confusing and cumbersome manner in which the programs like the NSAA-led “Climate Challenge Program” help agency permitted resorts since the 1940s, and helped slow the resorts reduce their greenhouse gas decline in new resort emissions. According to the NSAA’s development (Congress National Forest skiers pump three billion dollars president, Michael Berry, “Ski areas are generally supported ski proactive on the issue of climate change. area expansion and new into the economy each winter and sustain 65,000 They take steps in their own operations resort development to full or part-time jobs. to reduce their carbon emissions promote public health and and recognize the benefits of uniting increase revenues from with other business interests in getting attention on this issue in public lands). Ultimately market forces and other factors like Washington.” Many resorts have also partnered with groups to create increasing environmental awareness affected the industry’s ability innovative programs, like the NFF’s Ski Conservation Fund (pages and desire to expand, despite the 1986 law.

30-31), that restore public lands surrounding many ski resorts.

The 2011 Act expands the uses ski areas can offer to guests. Prior Most agree that these initiatives have made a real difference, but the to 2011, most resort permits allowed winter sports only—skiing, industry still faces criticism, and extensive litigation, especially when snowboarding, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and their it wants to expand operations on public lands. cousins—sledding, ice-skating and the like.

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THE FOREST SERVICE INTERPRETED THE LAW AS FOLLOWS:

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The [Act] expanded the Ski Area Permit Act to allow approval of additional seasonal or year-round recreation activities, including summer recreational activities where the ski area's developed infrastructure could accommodate an increasing demand for year-round recreation.

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The revised law includes such activities as zip lines, mountain bike terrain parks and trails, disc golf courses, and ropes courses, which are generally natural resource based and encourage outdoor recreation and the enjoyment of nature. These types of activities fit well with the agency's mission in support of outdoor natural resource-based recreation settings and experiences, in contrast to theme or amusement parks where different customer expectations are accommodated.

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UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCES

A DOWNHILL TREND

Overall, the ski industry is stagnant. Baby boomers who drove the sport’s growth in the 1960s and 70s are visiting less often.

Snowboarding’s popularity is waning, and young people aren’t hitting the slopes as much as they used to. Hundred-dollar tickets, transportation difficulties, shifting leisure pursuits, and a changing climate are often cited as key factors. In the 2012-2013 season, the NSAA recorded 56.9 million skier and snowboarder visits to U.S resorts—three million less than 2006/2007’s peak of 60 million.

According to the NSAA, the total number of resorts operating in the U.S. has also dropped—from 546 in 1992 to 477 in 2012.

The industry is responding with host of programs aimed at getting young kids on skis and boards. In Colorado, a state with perhaps the most to lose from a declining ski industry, all fifth graders can ski for free if enrolled in a special program. While this deal pulls about 14,000 young Coloradans to the slopes each year (about 20% of all fifth graders in the state), a joint program that provides discounts to sixth graders retains only about 30% of the participants the following year. This spells trouble not only for Colorado, which relies heavily on skiing’s economic benefits, but also for developing a new generation of stewards for our public lands.

It’s far too early to tell if the new Act will help resorts maintain profitability. The Forest Service projects that expanded activities will bring an additional 600,000 people to resorts, adding 600 or more full and part-time jobs and infusing $40 million into local communities. The agency recently completed a public comment period that solicited input on what types of activities would be permitted under the new law. Zip-lines, mountain bike trails, and disc golf are new activities resorts may offer, while swimming pools, tennis courts, and traditional golf courses are not on the list. This law only covers the public lands on which resorts operate, not the private land that often sits at the base of many resorts.

A CONNECTION WORTH EXPANDING

Whatever the industry’s outlook, whatever your views on the sustainability of ski resorts, and regardless of whether you’re a skier, a snowboarder, or an in-the-lodge-hot-chocolate-sipper, there is no denying that winter sports have introduced millions to the National Forest System. Perhaps more than any other activity, skiing and snowboarding have lured the masses to the forested slopes that make up much of our public lands estate. For many of those skiers and boarders, the view at the top of a ski resort—sprawling ridgelines and snowcapped peaks that extend in almost every direction—is their first and often, most powerful, connection to the incredible beauty and vastness of our National Forest System. And those connections are well worth expanding.

GREG PETERS

Greg Peters is the NFF's Director of Communications.

When not lost in a mountain of paper at his desk, Greg enjoys skiing, hiking, canoeing and getting home after dark. Reach him at gpeters@nationalforests.org.

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UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCES Tahoe National Forest

89% OF AMERICANS BELIEVE THAT THE ROLE NATIONAL FORESTS PLAY IN

PROVIDING DRINKING WATER IS IMPORTANT.

FORESTS’ IMPRINT ON A NATION

By Ray A. Foote

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levels of support for stronger funding for the National Forests.

Eighty-one percent of those surveyed believe that National Forest funding should be maintained despite federal budget problems, and 72 percent would even agree to a small tax increase to maintain and restore these public tracts. In an era of fiscal constraints and contentious priorities, these findings again place the Forests above the short-term political fray, consistent with their founding a century ago when President Theodore Roosevelt wrote “It must not be forgotten that the forest reserves [predecessors to National Forests] belong to all the people.”

Since their creation, the National Forests have been held up as a crucial component in broader ecological and social issues. “No trees, no water” is commonly cited as shorthand for the critical role the forests play, and Americans understand and value that deeply.

The same poll, seeking to illuminate specific benefits National Forests provide, revealed striking majorities on a range of issues: forests produce clean drinking water (89% said important); remove pollution from the air (85%); provide children with the opportunity to explore nature (82%). Economically, the Forests matter as well: $13 billion ripples through local economies annually as a result of visiting Americans. Given that 80% of Americans engage in outdoor recreation, and that satisfaction rates for National Forest visits are extremely high, this shouldn’t be too surprising.

www.nationalforests.org

Photo © Matthew Grimm

National Forests occupy a curious place in our nation’s psyche.

Few people can rattle off a half-dozen by name, but most can tell you memorable things about the Forest nearest them. Or they can reel off stories of a family vacation or the perfect afternoon of casting into a cold stream without attributing the memory specifically to a National Forest.

My “backyard forest” growing up was the Kisatchie National Forest in central Louisiana, and specifically the “Red Dirt” area.

The Forest Service describes it as “some of the most unusually steep and rugged terrain to be found in Louisiana;” what I remember are the ravines, pines, and chromatic soil. Even if the name is prosaic, it is dead-on accurate, and I am sure my mother quietly cringed at the hopeless laundry situation following every Red Dirt adventure.

That soil left its bright imprint during every hike, Scout campout, or troop tree-planting day as we lugged our sturdy dibble sticks and canvas sacks of spindly seedlings.

Little did I understand that the far deeper imprint was on my appreciation for these places and the need to care for them.

Millions of others discover—and rediscover—this as they spend precious time in their own backyard forest. Americans’ deep bonds with National Forests were clear in the NFF’s July 2013 national poll measuring the electorate’s attitudes toward such public lands.

Perhaps most notable among the findings were the very high

UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCES Photos © Flickr Creative Commons

Bayou Red Bluff on the Kisatchie National Forest in Lousiana.

81%

TOTAL AGREE

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STRONGLY AGREE

FOR MORE RESULTS, PLEASE SEE PAGE 28 AND VISIT NATIONALFORESTS.ORG/POLL

81%

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FUNDING FOR NATIONAL FORESTS SHOULD NOT BE CUT.

DISAGREE 18% TOTAL

Pride of a specific place flows, too, from national pride. When asked whether they agree that conserving America’s land, air, and water is “patriotic,” 83 percent of voters agreed, and 70 percent agreed that one of the things our government does best is protect and preserve America’s heritage through National Forests. I remember well my father’s frequent mentions of how important the National Forests are to our country. A practical and patriotic man, he admired the productivity and accessibility of these places. I knew he took special pride in the Kisatchie, perhaps in part because it was a place he turned loose six rambunctious boys.

However, trends today could spell trouble for the broad, longterm support required to keep our public lands heritage relevant.

Notably, the frequency and extent of time spent by young people outdoors is waning. The Children & Nature Network is compiling rapidly growing research on how play and recreation have moved indoors. For example, they point to the average of 50+ hours per week that children and youth spend on electronic devices, leaving precious little time for outdoor exploration. Eighty-two percent of NFF poll respondents ranked "kids not spending enough time outdoors or in nature" as a problem, making this issue the highest among conservation related concerns addressed in our poll.

Yet, National Forests and other natural areas offer timeless ways to reverse this. In his brief essay “Pines Above the Snow,” Aldo Leopold captured the simple but powerful tie we can each form with the land.

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Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel. By virtue of this curious loophole in the rules, any clodhopper may say: Let there be a tree—and there will be one. ~Aldo Leopold

”

Polls show it in numbers, and personal experience imprints it deep in our psyche: National Forests enhance our quality of life and hold us together as a people with a proud, shared heritage. What the numbers don’t say specifically, but demonstrate collectively, is that places of beauty, of fresh air, of wildness restore us individually and as a nation. From the simple act of slipping a seedling into a narrow slot of earth to the vast idea of 193 million acres held in trust for future generations, we have inherited a precious opportunity and accepted an ongoing responsibility.

www.nationalforests.org

RAY A. FOOTE

Ray is an Executive Vice President at the National Forest Foundation. He is still trying to get the red dirt out of his clothes. Reach him at rfoote@nationalforests.org.

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FIELD REPORTS

PROTECTING POLLINATORS THROUGH RESTORATION Monarch butterflies that follow a late fall migratory route from the northern US and southern Canada thousands of miles to Mexico are some of nature’s hardiest travelers. Along the way, they sip nectar from wild and domestic plants, making stopover habitat essential to their survival and to their role as pollinators.

Common milkweed, beebalm, and black-eyed Susan are among the plant species that provide food and respite to the monarch as they make this long journey southward. But invasive plants threaten to choke out these important native species, requiring restoration that benefits not just monarchs but also bees, bats, and other indigenous species too.

To help these amazing pollinators, the Superior Watershed Partnership recruited volunteers to improve monarch habitat on

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two sites along the shorelines of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan in the Hiawatha National Forest late this spring. The crews removed non-native plants including burdock, spotted knapweed, and Canada thistle prior to planting natives that will help monarchs and other species survive. The native plants were raised in the Hiawatha National Forest Greenhouse in Marquette, Michigan and transported to the restoration sites for the volunteers to plant.

To help with future restoration efforts, the volunteers also collected seeds from native plants, replenishing the nursery’s seed stock for subsequent years.

Thanks to these restoration efforts, the delicate black and orange butterflies will be better off next year as they make the epic journey from Mexico to Michigan and back again.

www.nationalforests.org

Photo © David Gomez Photography / istockphoto.com

Partner: The Superior Watershed Partnership, Hiawatha National Forest

FIELD REPORTS Photo © Phil Hawkins Photography / philhawkinsphoto.com

Shane Krogen

RESTORING WATERSHEDS AND UTILIZING YOUNG-GROWTH Partner: Sitka Conservation Society, Tongass National Forest

Declining timber harvests and watershed health issues stemming from decades of clear-cutting have forced civic leaders in Southeast Alaska communities to find new approaches for economic development, while simultaneously building support for restoring watersheds and protecting salmon. In 2011, the Juneau Economic Development Council’s Southeast Cluster Initiative identified two action items that could meet the traditionally opposing goals of improving local economies and protecting watershed health.

Trees on the Tongass National Forest grow a little too well in areas that were clear cut decades ago, choking out other forest plants and creating unhealthy watershed conditions. But without a legitimate market to sell this young-growth wood, there is little economic incentive to harvest. So the Sitka Conservation Society partnered with Initiative leaders and, through a grant from the NFF, brought local students and community members together to experiment with building techniques that turned the young-growth timber into beautiful furniture and other value-added products.

The project culminated with the publication of Alaskan Grown: A Guide to Tongass Young-Growth Timber and its Uses, produced in conjunction with youth at Sitka High School and the Sitka Conservation Society. The book shares the details of young-growth projects throughout the Tongass National Forest and features two hands-on wood-building projects that demonstrate the results of young-growth wood properties as finished furniture products.

Community engagement significantly increased the reputation of Sitka Conservation Society as an organization that is willing to look at both conservation goals and sustainable community development. This support through partnerships and collaborative problem solving has broken down barriers in the small community of Sitka, aiding local economies and helping prioritize restoration efforts in the future.

Learn more and check out an online edition of the book at sitkawild.org/2013/01/guide-to-tongass-young-growth-timber

BY ZIA MAUMENEE

Zia is the Conservation Awards Associate at the NFF. When not in the office, Zia enjoys hiking and playing on the local National Forests with her husband, two young sons, and dog. Reach her at zmaumenee@nationalforests.org.

TRAGEDY AT HIGH SIERRA TRAIL CREW Partner: High Sierra Trail Crew, Sequoia, Sierra, Inyo, Stanislaus National Forests

Strong relationships with our network of partners are essential to the NFF’s ability to accomplish its mission of restoring our National Forests. These local conservation organizations provide the boots on the ground that restore watersheds, improve trails, organize volunteers and generally make our National Forests healthier. Over the years, we get to know the folks who lead these groups and see the incredible enthusiasm they bring to their jobs.

Shane Krogen was one of these tireless leaders who inspired us with his dedication, commitment, and love of National Forests. A winner of the U.S. Forest Service’s Regional Forester’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 2012 and the Chief ’s Award in 2011, Shane was a true citizen steward of the People’s Land—our National Forests.

His organization, the High Sierra Trail Crew, dedicated itself to improving trails and to removing illegal marijuana grow operations throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. The group has worked with the Forest Service since 1995 and the California Fish and Wildlife Agency since 2008 to restore the severely degraded grow sites across California’s National Forests.

On September 12, 2013 the fifty-seven-year-old fell to his death from a helicopter while out working to remove an illegal grow site on the Sequoia National Forest.

“Shane’s dedication to California’s natural resources was extraordinary,” Fish and Wildlife Assistant Chief John Baker said in a statement. “He and his crew have worked tirelessly for several years to maintain access to the high Sierra for all Californians.”

“The NFF was pleased and proud to have worked with someone as knowledgeable, dedicated, and truly committed as Shane,” added Adam Liljeblad, Director of Conservation Awards at the NFF. “We are so sorry for his family’s loss and for the California conservation community in general. We look forward to continuing to work with the High Sierra Trail Crew to carry on Shane’s legacy of stewardship and engagement.”

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TREASURED LANDSCAPES

the

Vast & Varied

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest

By Kathleen Dowd-Gailey

TREASURED LANDSCAPES

A RECREATION HAVEN

As one might expect, a National Forest with more than four million acres offers incredible recreation opportunities. Add to that vastness towering peaks, abundant snow, healthy populations of fish and wildlife, and it becomes clear why Seattleites flock to the Methow for year-round activities. Fishing, rafting, climbing, hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking are just some of ways you can spend an afternoon. If schussing is your thing, the Methow Valley is renowned for Nordic skiing, boasting more kilometers of groomed Nordic ski trails than any area in the nation.

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Surrounded by the glacial peaks of the North Cascades and serving as the northern gateway to the vastness of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, the Methow Valley lures Puget Sounders with its big valleys, open wild spaces, high ridges and beautiful rivers. The Methow region, including the adjacent Pasayten Wilderness Area, is cherished for its scenic beauty, recreation opportunities, wildlife and forested landscapes. For these reasons and for its unique restoration challenges, the NFF selected areas of the Methow that lie on the O-W as a Treasured Landscapes campaign site.

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The Okanogan-Wenatchee has a convoluted history. In 1908, the Forest Service created the Wenatchee National Forest, which remained a distinct unit of the National Forest System until it was combined with the Okanogan in 2000. In its early days, nearly 150,000 sheep grazed on the Wenatchee, a significant portion of the entire sheep population in Washington State. Unfortunately for the Forest, sheep are voracious, eating almost every bit of vegetation in site. This constant grazing denuded hillsides, meadows, and riparian areas, and encouraged erosion, invasive weeds, and reduced biodiversity. These effects can still be seen on the Forest today.

The Okanogan National Forest was originally called the Chelan National Forest, and it too was created in 1908. In 1911, the Forest Service split the Chelan, and the Okanogan was created. Nine years later the agency re-combined the Okanogan and Chelan, dropping the Okanogan moniker until 1955 when Okanogan once again became the preferred name.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Methow River watershed is one of the most intact major drainages in eastern Washington, supporting a diverse assemblage of fish and wildlife species. Nationally, this watershed is one of the few places where threatened and endangered species such as grizzly bears, gray wolves, lynx, bull trout, and salmon co-exist. The Methow, the Twisp and the Chewuch Rivers drain the Methow’s high country into the mighty Columbia River, providing critical spawning and rearing habitat for Chinook salmon, steelhead and bull trout.

The Methow Valley is home to one of the largest populations of lynx in the Lower 48, and the Methow Valley Ranger District was the site of Washington’s first returning wolf pack. The only photo documentation of a grizzly bear was taken here, and even that most elusive of rare forests species—the wolverine—is gradually migrating down from British Columbia, Canada. The Forest Service’s wolverine monitoring program has trapped and tagged numerous individuals and confirmed the first documented den in the North Cascades.

Thanks to another successful reintroduction program, a slightly less charismatic, but equally important species—the beaver—is also making a strong comeback on the landscape. Thousands of the fur-bearing mammals once lived all over the Methow, but decades of harvest resulted in their extirpation. Today, you can spot the busy builders damming creeks, rivers, and hear the slap of their tale in many sites across the Forest. The NFF actively supports this reintroduction program that will have tremendous benefit for streams and watersheds throughout the Forest.

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In

a state with three National Parks, towering volcanoes, and a dramatic coastline, it can be hard to imagine anyone wanting for outdoor opportunity. But when Seattle’s 3.5 million outdoor-loving residents head out for the weekend, the state’s most iconic sites can get over run. Some Seattleites have a personal ‘workaround:’ they skip Olympic, Rainier, and North Cascades, and head to the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest (O-W) for their weekend dose of solitude and adventure.

The largest National Forest in the Pacific Northwest, the O-W encompasses four million acres that stretch 180 miles from the Canadian border south past Mt. Rainier. From the high, glaciated alpine peaks along the Cascade Crest to the dry, rugged shrubsteppe country that sprawls along its eastern edge, the O-W has it all.

The Forest is bisected by the Cascade Crest, which rises from 1,000 to more than 9,000 feet in elevation. In addition to providing dramatic vistas, the Crest forms a rain shadow. On the western side, more than 70 inches of rain falls annually, while on the eastern edge, less than 10 inches a year drip from the typically sunny skies.

The Cascades’ jagged peaks provide abundant subalpine regions, dominated by subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, and lodgepole pine trees. The Forest’s eastern slopes contain extensive stands of ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, western larch, lodgepole pine, and quaking aspen. Wetlands, marshes, and riparian habitats are widespread but are concentrated around water bodies like Sinlahekin Creek and the Similkameen, Methow, and Okanogan Rivers, and several lakes and ponds. Verdant pockets of old-growth can be found scattered across the Forest.

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TREASURED LANDSCAPES

A FRAGILE FOREST

Heavy recreation use along the North Cascades Highway (Highway 20) is slowly but surely degrading the sensitive subalpine habitat that distinguishes this region. The Pasayten, although remote, is still recovering from years of high levels of sheep grazing

KATHLEEN DOWD-GAILEY

Kathleen ran the NFF’s Pacific Northwest Office for four and a half years before moving to the Washington National Parks Fund. When not working on behalf of public lands, Kathleen teaches yoga and travels to exotic locations.

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www.nationalforests.org

Photos © USFS

At over 530,000 acres, the Pasayten Wilderness is the largest Wilderness Area in Washington and one of the most remote areas in the entire North Cascades. More than 600 miles of trails provide access to the Pasayten Wilderness, many of them deceptively gentle at the start and progressively labor-intensive as they crawl up endless switchbacks into the higher country. The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) crosses the area north-south for 32 miles. The Boundary Trail moves north from the southeast corner to ramble near the Canadian border for a total of more than 73 miles before eventually joining the PCT.

that occurred nearly a century ago. Decades of fire suppression have resulted in thickly forested landscapes prone to large-scale fire. A changing climate is affecting species such as the whitebark pine. These sentinels of the high country have historically been safe from insects and disease; they thrive at elevations above 5,000 feet where pine beetles haven’t been able to survive until warming temperatures began shifting their distribution. Additionally, many rivers and watersheds have been impacted by past management actions. Restoring these critical instream and riparian habitats is essential to the future success of anadromous and resident fish populations.

Today’s healthy populations of charismatic mammals are the direct result of concerted reintroduction and monitoring efforts, yet this work is not done. Fortunately, efforts like our Treasured Landscapes campaign provide managers with some optimism about the future. In addition to the beaver reintroduction noted above, the NFF is also funding a long-term wolverine monitoring program to help scientists better understand their population distribution and habitat needs as wolverine reestablish home ranges in the region. The alpine regions of the North Cascades provide critical habitat for a species that is dependent on snowfields and glaciers, making this area crucial for the species’ future survival.

Few places in our country offer such an abundance of recreational opportunities as the Okanogan-Wenatchee. Whether summiting a technical mountain peak, gliding along miles of perfectly groomed Nordic ski trails, or simply stopping to take in the views along the world famous North Cascades Highway, the Okanogan-Wenatchee offers something for everyone. If you’re ever in the Pacific Northwest and feel like getting away from it all, the O-W is your express ticket to solitude. So enjoy the views, the quiet, and the varied terrain. Just don’t tell anyone.

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FLOWS

By Wes Swaffar

Stream channel restoration on the Pike National Forest.

“

Ultimately, our success at the Forest Service will be measured in terms of watershed health on those 193 million acres of National Forests ~ Thomas Tidwell, and Grasslands.

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Chief of the U.S. Forest Service

Even if you’ve never set foot on a National Forest, there’s a good chance you’re linked to the 193-million-acre National Forest System by the one thing none of us can live without—water. More than 123 million Americans in 3,400 communities, including major cities like Denver, Los Angeles and Atlanta rely on the water captured by our National Forest watersheds.

National Forests were established in the early 1900s for two primary reasons: “securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber…” After World War Two, forests were managed almost exclusively for timber production, often resulting in massive clear-cuts. Streams and rivers clogged with sediment, degrading community water sources and impacting fisheries.

Our headwaters are still recovering from decades of industrial scale extraction. Mining channelized streambeds and left toxic rubble. Extensive livestock grazing left many forested acres denuded and infested with invasive weeds. Ironically, decades of fire suppression have resulted in increasingly severe wildfires that heavily impact large swaths of forest, leaving bare slopes that dump sediment into streams during storms. Meanwhile, a changing global climate is further threatening the resiliency of our National Forest watersheds.

Whether it’s post-fire sedimentation in Denver’s water supply or water temperatures too warm to support native salmon in the Pacific Northwest, watershed restoration needs on our National Forests are manifold. These issues emphasize the need for Americans to work together to restore our headwaters. But how exactly is watershed restoration done?

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CONSERVATION WATERSHED

RESTORATION

STRATEGIES

At its most basic level, a watershed is a distinct geographic area from which all of the water in a given river, lake, stream or creek originates.

Each watershed is unique, requiring varying strategies to remedy historic damage and repair ecosystem function.

ROAD RESTORATION & DECOMMISSIONING

RIPARIAN RESTORATION

Forest roads allow us liberal access to far corners of our National Forests, but they can spell trouble for our waterways.

Because forest roads are so compacted, rainwater does not infiltrate into the ground, instead running in sheets across an entire roadbed.

When this “sheet flow” finds its way to streams, it ruins spawning habitat for threatened fish species like Chinook salmon and bull trout by covering gravel stream bottoms with a fine layer of silt, suffocating eggs and killing important food sources for newly hatched fry.

Road restoration and road decommissioning prevent this sedimentation. Road restoration reconstructs roads located along sensitive streams, improving drainage and reducing sedimentation.

Culverts that block fish passage are often removed and replaced with bridges or other structures that allow fish to reach historic habitat.

Decommissioning removes unneeded roads and culverts and recontours roadbeds back to a more natural state. Heavy machinery literally pulls up the road bed and reestablishes the hillside’s natural slope. Importantly, restoring and decommissioning roads doesn’t simply help fish. Road-caused sedimentation is a serious issue for public water supplies as well. It’s often much cheaper to fix or remove problem roads before they foul water supplies than to remove sediment via expensive water filtration systems. Ensuring that we have the right number of properly located and well-maintained forest roads improves the health of our watersheds for both wild and human populations.

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Streamside or “riparian areas” play a critical role regulating stream channels, water temperatures and water quality. These diverse natural communities are located alongside streams and rivers. Their roots hold bankside soil in place, their branches and leaves provide cooling shade, insects and birds thrive in their canopy, and they filter pollutants and sediment before it fouls water quality. In the last century, however, many riparian areas have been severely impacted: open range grazing has denuded riparian vegetation; improperly located hiking trails and roads have exacerbated erosion and even caused some streams and rivers to change course; hydropower operations have flooded miles of river, drowning historic riparian zones and promoting the spread of invasive weeds. Restoring watershed function on these streams and rivers requires reestablishing native plant communities that keep invasive species in check. Once re-established, native vegetation helps stabilize eroding stream banks, provides valuable habitat for birds and wildlife, and provides much needed shade to cool water for native fish.

STREAM CHANNEL RESTORATION

Another effect on watershed health is stream channel alteration.

Typically a result of historic mining and logging practices, naturally winding streams were straightened and deepened, often draining valuable wetlands and significantly compromising watershed health. While stream channel restoration is more complicated than riparian restoration, the goals are quite simple—stabilize the streambed and create habitat complexity. Often using large machinery, restoration practitioners place large woody debris to create fish habitat, stabilize stream banks to prevent erosion, or reinstate natural stream meanders on a channelized creek. Planting native species ensures that riparian areas are restored alongside the stream itself.

www.nationalforests.org

CONSERVATION Photos © Katie VinZant / USFS; Dave Rosgen

RESTORING BIG TUJUNGA CANYON

As part of the NFF’s Treasured Landscapes campaign, diverse partners are helping to restore Big Tujunga Canyon on the Angeles National Forest. The high mountains of the Angeles National Forest capture enough rain and snow to supply one-third of Los Angeles County’s water supply. When the 160,000-acre Station Fire swept through the Forest in 2009, it left bare mountain slopes and denuded stream banks, conditions that paved the way for invasive weeds. Just a few years after the flames died down, the riparian areas along Big Tujunga Creek were lined by Tamarisk and Arundo, aggressive invasive weeds that crowd out native riparian plants and deplete water-stressed streams.

With support from the Coca-Cola Company and Southern California Edison, the NFF partnered with Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden to implement weed control efforts, allowing native riparian vegetation to reestablish along 150 stream miles in Big Tujunga Canyon. “Our work on the Angeles is an excellent example of our collaborative approach to watershed restoration,” said Bill Possiel, NFF President. “With the support of our partners, we’re looking forward to continuing our work restoring America’s headwaters.”

American companies are beginning to understand the critical and complex relationship between water and National Forests.

Companies like Coca-Cola, Southern California Edison, Alliance Pipeline, Avista and others are investing in watershed restoration through our Treasured Landscapes campaign and our Restoring America’s Headwaters program. From the Ocala National Forest in Florida to the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the NFF is working on myriad projects that improve the health of our watersheds.

Pulling Tamarisks and conducting riparian surveys.

With today’s more holistic public lands management ethos, it can be hard to imagine the industrial-scale logging, mining and extraction of a century ago. But despite the years separating giant clear-cuts and fly-by-night mining operations from today’s rigorous public processes, the legacies of these past practices continue to affect our National Forests. As water becomes ever more precious to modern industries, agriculture and communities, the health of our nation’s headwaters becomes increasingly valuable. Fortunately, the NFF, the Forest Service, and forward thinking American businesses are rising to the challenge. These investments in watershed restoration will ensure that our National Forests can once again “secure favorable conditions of water flows” for the communities that depend on them.

To learn more about how the NFF is Restoring America’s Headwaters, visit nationalforests.org/restoring-americas-headwaters.

ADVANCING THE MISSION

Fortunately, the U.S. Forest Service recognizes the importance of watershed restoration. According to Chris Savage, the agency’s Assistant Director for Watershed, Fish, Wildlife and Rare Plants, “Restoring watersheds is important to sustaining National Forests as a supplier of high quality water and aquatic habitat. Particularly with climate change, it’s more important than ever to invest in our National Forest headwaters through targeted restoration efforts.”

However, with nearly half of National Forest watersheds’ function classified as either “at risk” or “impaired,” the need for restoration exceeds the agency’s capacity. With this in mind, the NFF is working closely with the Forest Service and other partners to restore high priority watersheds.

BY WES SWAFFAR

Wes manages the NFF’s Ecosystem Services Program.

Wes can usually be found standing in a Montana trout stream with a fly-rod in hand when he’s not in the office.

Reach him at wswaffar@nationalforests.org.

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WHERE IN THE WOODS

WHERE IN THE WOODS?

By Hannah Ettema

Photo © Alloy Photography / veer.com

A somewhat temperamental National Forest, this one has been said to have moody weather. Winter can dump buckets of rain and summer can lead you astray with fog. It’s one of the few forests where you can put your feet in the sand or explore old growth forests of towering trees. This Forest, established in 1908, contains 1,200 miles of rivers and streams, 30 lakes, and more than 33,000 acres of old-growth forests.

See page 27 for the answer.

This National Forest can go from lush to other-worldly.

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KIDS & NATURE

Photos © Anastasia Pelikh / istockphoto.com; Paul Burwell / PaulBurwell.com

IMPOSSIBLY PERFECT SNOWFLAKES!

By Marlee Ostheimer

There is nothing more beautiful in winter than the first snow.

The quiet white of a snowy forest is truly incredible. But, snow is even more striking if you take a moment to look closely at the flakes falling from the sky—each one is different, impossibly tiny and impossibly perfect.

The snowflake’s story begins in the clouds. Tiny snowflake building blocks—snow crystals—form from water vapor and microscopic dust high up in the sky. These miniscule particles of ice bind together to create the amazingly intricate snowflakes we see drifting from the sky on cold winter days.

The snowflake’s many forms are determined by the air’s temperature and humidity. All snowflakes begin as simple hexagonal shapes. The branches build off of the hexagon’s corners as the snowflake takes shape. Wetter air produces more intricate branching patterns while snowflakes that develop under low humidity, or drier air, tend to have simpler forms.

To get a closer look try going out on a snowy day with a piece of black construction paper and a magnifying glass. The snowflakes will show up brightly against the dark backdrop, and you can observe their individual shapes up close.

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that there is a classification system for snowflakes?

See if you can identify some of them. The most common shapes are depicted below. Can you guess which one’s might have formed in dry conditions and which ones in wet?

So the next time you’re outside and see some fluffy white flakes dropping from the sky, take a moment before you try to catch one on your tongue and think about just how it got its shape.

Hexagonal Plate Stellar Plate

Stellar Dendrite

MARLEE OSTHEIMER

Marlee is the NFF’s Development Associate. Her young son, Ellis, keeps her pretty busy whether he’s checking out snowflakes, leaves, planes, or dirt. Reach her at mostheimer@nationalforests.org.

Fernlike Dendrite

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CORPORATE PARNTERS

by Greg Peters

Angeles National Forest

COCA-COLA EXPANDS COMMITMENT TO WATERSHED RESTORATION

In August, Plow & Hearth and the NFF celebrated the fifth anniversary of a successful tree-planting partnership. A generous donor to the NFF’s Trees for US program, Plow & Hearth has supported the planting of more than 1.5 million trees in Florida, Michigan, Idaho, Colorado, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Minnesota, California and Wisconsin.

“Partners like Plow & Hearth can make an incredible difference for our National Forests,” remarked the NFF’s Executive Vice President Ray Foote. “Their long-term dedication to our mission and to restoring our nation’s forests is truly inspiring.” Plow & Hearth is continuing the partnership through 2014 with an additional 72,000 trees slated for planting this coming spring.

“Plow & Hearth has long been committed to environmental stewardship, so we are proud to team up with the NFF to plant, literally, millions of trees in key places across the nation. This is simply part of who we are as a company,” said John Haydock, Plow & Hearth’s president.

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To help become water neutral by 2020, the Coca-Cola Company has partnered with the NFF to restore watersheds on our National Forests. In 2012, Coca-Cola worked with the NFF and Forest Service to restore Colorado’s Trail Creek watershed that supplies water for Coke’s nearby bottling facility. Trail Creek was severely impacted by 2002’s Hayman Fire and restoration reduced sedimentation, restored natural creek meanders, and improved aquatic habitat.

In 2013, Coca- Cola expanded the partnership by supporting four additional watershed restoration projects on Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, and the Angeles, Carson and Huron-Manistee National Forests. Coca-Cola, the NFF, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Forest Service celebrated the partnership with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony this past September at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Joliet, Illinois. The MOU outlines Coca-Cola’s commitment to continue restoring watersheds on public lands, including National Forests, for the next five years. The NFF contributed significant funds towards these projects as well, leveraging Coke’s investment and restoring additional acres.

www.nationalforests.org

Photo © Brian Keith Lorraine; urbancow / istockphoto.com

PLOW & HEARTH AND NFF CELEBRATE 5 YEARS

CORPORATE PARNTERS Silver Glen Springs, Ocala National Forest

WALT DISNEY COMPANY CONTINUES CONSERVATION LEADERSHIP Photo © Paul Clark

This summer, the Walt Disney Company’s Worldwide Conservation Fund supported the NFF’s collaborative work on the Ocala National Forest, a Treasured Landscapes campaign site in Florida. Since early 2013, the NFF has been facilitating the Silver Glen Springs collaborative process, which is working to solve management challenges on the popular recreation site. A history of competing management agencies, lack of public awareness around environmental issues, and ever-increasing use are threatening the very qualities that make the Silver Glen

Spring so popular. The NFF and partners aim to reduce user and wildlife conflict, craft a new vision for the Spring, and ensure that it supports both robust recreation and natural communities.

This investment underlines Disney’s leadership and commitment to conservation. In 2011 and 2012, Disney partnered with the NFF through our Carbon Capital Fund to support large-scale reforestation projects on the Angeles and San Juan National Forests.

Projected to sequester more than 290,000 metric tonnes of CO2e in the next 100 years, these projects will also restoring watersheds, improving important wildlife habitat, and ensuring that future generations can experience healthy forests.

WHERE IN THE WOODS? FROM PAGE 24

SIUSLAW NATIONAL FOREST Location: Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

Stretching along the coast of Oregon, the Siuslaw National Forest offers some unique experiences for visitors. Explore 40 miles of windsculpted sand at Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Take in the view atop Marys Peak, the highest point in Oregon’s Coast Range which runs from the Columbia River to Northern California. The Cascade Head Scenic Research Area features a variety of geologic and natural communities: estuary and flood plain, river system and ocean edge, and dense, verdant forests. Some parts of the forest receive up to 100 inches of rain and summertime temperatures in the 60s frequently bring fog. From swimming and hiking to camping and fishing, the Siuslaw offers a wide variety of activities for users to enjoy the beautiful and unique natural landscape. Just bring an umbrella.

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VOICES FROM THE FOREST

By NFF Staff

WHO’S VISITED OUR NATIONAL FORESTS IN THE LAST YEAR?

In July of 2013, the NFF conducted a nationwide poll through a bi-partisan polling firm. We wanted to learn what you—voting-age Americans from all walks of life and areas of the country—thought about one of America’s greatest conservation achievements, the National Forest System.

Once the results came in, we waded and waded through the responses to pick out key messages, and we learned some pretty amazing things: your appreciation for water, your willingness to spend more to protect these resources, and your overwhelming support for our public lands. We featured many of these in this issue of Your National Forests—see our infographic on the inside cover and Ray A. Foote’s Forests' Imprint article on pages 14-15.

Visit www.nationalforests.org/poll to offer your input about what National Forests mean to you.

Of course, as with any large effort to gather information, some pieces aren’t quite key messages, but are definitely interesting and provide further insight into how National Forests are perceived and valued by a variety of demographics. So we wanted to share some additional results with you below. Enjoy!

72%

OF WESTERN STATE RESIDENTS

VISITED A NATIONAL FOREST IN THE LAST YEAR.

72%

52% VISITED A

OF WINTER SPORTS ENTHUSIASTS

VISITED A NATIONAL FOREST IN THE LAST YEAR.

NATIONAL FOREST IN THE LAST YEAR.

ADDITIONAL NUMBERS »» 59% of dads plan to visit in 2013. »» 56% of 18-34 year-olds plan to visit.

47% NEED TO

»» 51% of parents plan to visit.

PLAN A TRIP!

»» Only 45% of Americans plan to visit an National Forest in the next year. Clearly, you all don’t know what you’re missing!

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE »» Good news for the U.S. Forest Service: you all have generally positive views of the agency. »» Even better news: Those of you who’ve visited three or more times have an 80% favorable rating of the agency. Those who’ve never visited have a 60% favorable rating.

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VOICES FROM THE FOREST

VALUE OF NATIONAL FORESTS

Illustrations © David Downing / Old Town Creative

IM INK PO IT RT 'S AN T

53 TH % IMEXTRINK IT E 89 PORTMAENLY'S % TH T

»» You clearly value water! 89% think it’s important that National Forests are the source of many major rivers and lakes and therefore the single largest source of drinking water for Americans in 33 states. More than half (53%) think this is extremely important. »» 72% think the role National Forests play in reducing global warming pollution is important, and 45% think it’s extremely important. »» Less than half (45%) of you think that the timber National Forests provide for buildings and paper is important. Only 15% think it's extremely important.

POLLUTION AND ACCESS »» Three out of four (76%) think that pollution of rivers, lakes, streams is an extremely, very or serious problem. »» Just 37% of you think access to public lands is a serious problem.

THOUGHTS ON WILDFIRE »» Interestingly, more women (49%) than men (39%) feel that fires are worse today than five years ago. »» Westerners are more likely to feel that fires are a part of nature and should be allowed to burn as opposed to contained and extinguished as soon as possible. »» But, 42% of westerners think that uncontrollable wildfires are an extremely or very serious problem.

5%

WHAT THE NFF SHOULD BE DOING? »» 72% of you think that providing places and hands on opportunities for children and families to explore and learn about forests and nature is important. »» 64% find our focus on restoration appealing. »» 58% think we should help Americans better understand the many benefits our National Forests provide. »» 53% think we should continue to foster collaborative networks and bring people together to solve the challenges facing our National Forests.

So there you have it. We hope you’ll take a few moments to add your voice to the “forest” at www.nationalforests.org/poll or www.facebook.com/nationalforestfoundation.

WILDFIRES ARE NOT AS BAD.

ARE WORSE. 44% WILDFIRES

ARE ABOUT THE SAME. 45% WILDFIRES

4 OUT OF 5 THINK KIDS ARE NOT SPENDING

ENOUGH TIME OUTDOORS www.nationalforests.org

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SKI CONSERVATION FUND

Since 2006, we’ve awarded 131 grants through these two programs, and generated some truly impressive results:

By Greg Peters

In 2006, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort in Utah’s famed Little Cottonwood Canyon kicked off the NFF’s Ski Conservation Fund.

Since that time, the Ski Conservation Fund and the complementary Forest Stewardship Fund have generated more than $4 million in National Forest investments—evidence that small contributions can add up to significant impacts.

Since Snowbird first “groomed the path,” iconic American resorts like Vail, Breckenridge, Jackson Hole, and Copper Mountain have joined the program. They’ve been joined by others such as Stevens Pass in Washington, Waterville Valley Ski Resort in New Hampshire, and Ski Apache in New Mexico.

Our industry partners ask each guest to contribute $1 per room night or ticket purchase. The NFF then pools these contributions, matches them 50 cents to the dollar, and invests them in restoration projects on the National Forest from which the donation originated.

Recent projects include restoring campsites in ecologically sensitive areas, expanding education and outreach efforts on Colorado’s Fourteeners, or planting trees and removing invasive species.

By granting these funds to local conservation organizations, we support local economies and expand the capacity of these groups to work with the Forest Service and accomplish high quality restoration projects.

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»» 4,688 youth engaged or employed in conservation and stewardship projects; »» 18,441 volunteers contributing 184,266 hours improving their backyard National Forest; »» 1,572 miles of trails maintained, improved, restored, or repaired; »» 19,040 trees planted; »» 319 miles of streams restored and an additional 108 miles of streams surveyed; »» 1,348 harmful campsites removed and restored and 244 campsites maintained; »» 2,737 acres treated for invasive weeds; and »» 395 acres of wildlife habitat restored.

When you consider that these impressive accomplishments are the result of single dollar donations made by hundreds of thousands of people, they become even more notable. Thanks to all our partners and most importantly to the guests who’ve contributed to the program over the years.

www.nationalforests.org

Photos © Colorado Mountain Club; Headwaters Trail Alliance

SMALL CONTRIBUTIONS, BIG IMPACT

SKI CONSERVATION FUND Photo © Wildlands Restoration Volunteers

Opposite Left: The Colorado Mountain Club works to reconstruct, repair and restore a portion of the Maroon Bells Circuit/Four Pass Loop in the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness near Aspen, CO. Opposite Right: Headwaters Trail Alliance members buidling a bridge on the Elk Creek Loop, a new trail segment on the Sulpur Ranger District of the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest.

Wildlands Restoration Volunteers celebrate the restoration of the Georgia Pass jeep trail on the White River National Forest.

NFF STEWARDSHIP PARTNERS From California to New Hampshire, Forest Stewardship and Ski Conservation Fund partners make it easy to give back to your National Forests. Please consider booking your next forest getaway with one of our partner organizations.

ARIZONA

Arizona Snowbowl

CALIFORNIA

China Peak Mountain Resort Mt. Shasta Ski and Board Park Mountain High Navitat Canopy Adventures Wrightwood Sugar Bowl

COLORADO

Arapahoe Basin Ski and Snowboard Area Beaver Creek Resort Breckenridge Ski Resort Copper Mountain Resort Keystone Resort The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, a RockResort The Arrabelle a Vail Square, a RockResort The Lodge at Vail, a RockResort One Ski Hill Place, a RockResort The Osprey at Beaver Creek, a RockResort The Pines, a RockResort Vail Resorts Hospitality Winter Park Resort

IDAHO

Pend Oreille Shores Resort

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Waterville Valley Ski Resort through Town Square Condos Omni Mt. Washington Resort

NEW MEXICO Ski Apache

OREGON

Black Butte Ranch Cascade Vacation Rentals Cold Springs Resort Cooper Spur Mountain Resort Five Pine Lodge Lake Creek Lodge Metolius River Lodge Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort Sunriver Resort Timberline Lodge

UTAH

Snowbird Ski and Snowboard Resort Snowpine Lodge

WASHINGTON

Lake Quinault Lodge Skamania Lodge Stevens Pass Mountain Resort

WYOMING

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

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FOREST PERSPECTIVES Photos © Leland J. Prater, courtesy of the Forest History Society, Durham, N.C.; University of Idaho Idaho Cities & Towns Collection

January 29, 1939

Hiawatha National Forest, Michigan

“ NO SWEAT,” THE ARRIVAL OF THE SKI TOW At the top of another slope, a red pine tree serves as a support and starting point for a group of young skiers on Michigan's Hiawatha National Forest near Masonville, Michigan.

National Forests have been vital to the popular adoption and development of alpine skiing and subsequently snowboarding in the United States. Hundreds of locations across the National Forests provided opportunity for winter recreation that included hiking up slopes and then skiing down. The emergence of "Ski Tows" (aka Rope Tows) in the mid-1930s provided a quicker way back to the top of the hill. Early skiers at Alta, Utah on the Wasatch National Forest nicknamed that area's first tow "No Sweat."

The first chairlift was installed at Sun Valley, Idaho adjacent to the Sawtooth National Forest in 1936.

A guest loads the lift on Proctor Mountain in 1936.

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NFF CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF SPORTING CLAYS The NFF’s Annual Sporting Clays Invitational is a great opportunity to connect with friends and celebrate all that America’s National Forests provide.

We invite you and your company to join us next May for the 20th Annual Sporting Clays Invitational in upstate New York.

Our special thanks go out to last year’s sponsors: EVENT SPONSORS PAUL & SONIA JONES CRAIG & BARBARA BARRETT BENTLEY USA JOHN & MAUREEN HENDRICKS FRITZ & ADELAIDE KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION INTERMEDIA OUTDOORS / SPORTSMAN CHANNEL SIRIUS FUND WATERFRONT NY WILLIAM & SON

STATION SPONSORS AOL VENTURES BAILEY FOUNDATION DAVID BELL BETTERRIDGE JEWELERS CYAN PARTNERS EDDIE BAUER PRICEWATERHOUSE COOPERS ROBINS ISLAND FOUNDATION

For the past 19 years, many generous sponsors and friends of the National Forest Foundation have gathered for a memorable shoot in New York.

This event is a vital fundraiser for the NFF’s conservation mission and we are deeply grateful for the participation and generosity of all.

SALESFORCE.COM TIM & SUSAN SCHIEFFELIN AND SPENCER & TOMOKO HABER THE VIRGINIA SPORTSMAN

PLEASE JOIN US IN MAY 2014 FOR THE 20 ANNUAL SPORTING CLAYS INVITATIONAL. Contact Hannah Ettema at hettema@nationalforests.org to learn more about participating or sponsoring a team. th

Join the thousands of Americans who help care for our National Forests.

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HELP PROTECT AMERICA’S BACKYARD

We invite you to stay informed and get involved.

Become a Friend of the Forest and learn how you can care for our National Forests and all they provide.

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