Your National Forests Winter/Spring 2015

A Celebration of Past & Present EXPLORING THE WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST

Pushing the Boundaries JOINING THE WINTER 4000 FOOTER CLUB OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS

Board of Directors Executive Committee Craig R. Barrett, Retired CEO/Chairman of the Board, Intel Corporation (AZ), Chair John Hendricks, Hendricks Investment Holdings, LLC (MD), Vice Chair Max Chapman, Chairman, Gardner Capital Management Corp. (TX), Vice Chair Lee Fromson, President and COO, Goal Zero (UT), Treasurer Timothy P. Schieffelin, Senior Wealth Director, BNY Mellon Wealth Management (CT), Secretary Caroline Choi, Vice President, Integrated Planning & Environmental Affairs, Southern California Edison (CA), Member Peter Foreman, Sirius LP (IL), Member

Board of Directors David Bell, Chairman, Gyro, LLC (NY) Mike Brown, Jr., General Partner, Bowery Capital (NY) Coleman Burke, President, Waterfront Properties (NY) Blaise Carrig, President–Mountain Division, Vail Resorts, Inc. (CO)

SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL FORESTS Donate today to ensure these resources last for tomorrow. $50 will plant 50 trees — helping ensure the health and vitality of our remarkable National Forests and Grasslands. $100 will send 10 students to a Friends of the Forest® volunteer day. $1,000 will restore up to one acre of forest.

Use the envelope enclosed to contribute.

Or visit www.nationalforests.org/give today.

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) Rick Frazier, Chief Product Supply & Service Officer, Coca-Cola Refreshments, North America Group (GA) Roje S. Gootee, Co-Owner & Manager, Rush Creek Ranch, LLC (OR) Jeff Paro, CEO, InterMedia Outdoors (NY) Patricia Hayling Price, President, LiveWorkStrategize, LLC (NY) Susan Schnabel, Managing Director, aPriori Capital (CA) Mary Smart, President, Smart Family Foundation (NY) Thomas Tidwell, Ex-Officio, Chief, USDA Forest Service (DC) Chad Weiss, Managing Director, JOG Capital Corp. (WY) James Yardley, Executive Vice President, El Paso Corporation, Retired (TX)

®2014 National Forest Foundation and Old Town Creative Communications, LLC. No unauthorized reproduction of this material is allowed.

welcome letter

Sharpening Our Focus

By Bill Possiel, NFF President

I

am pleased to tell you about a number of significant recent developments at the National Forest Foundation (NFF). If you read Your National Forests regularly, you

have been following our Treasured Landscapes, Unforgettable Experiences campaign.

Just over five years ago we launched this ambitious campaign focused on site-based conservation at 14 National Forests and Grasslands that are extraordinary examples of America’s natural and cultural heritage. At the end of Fiscal Year 2014, we greatly exceeded our $100 million goal in this unique public-private partnership. We did it because of the leadership of our amazing volunteer Board of Directors, the hard work of the NFF staff, and the generous support of hundreds of donors who understand and appreciate the role that the 193-million-acre National Forest System plays in providing fresh water, renewable resources, exceptional fish and wildlife habitat, and high quality recreational experiences.

About one year ago, while anticipating the successful completion of the campaign, we went to work to explore how we could leverage our success. We focused on what it would take to build momentum to address the need for greater awareness of the relevance of these landscapes to all Americans, while delivering tangible conservation results. The result is a Board-approved plan that sharpens our focus on two central themes: forest health and outdoor experiences.

Addressing these two themes, the NFF seeks to leverage public and private support to deliver measurable improvements in ecosystem vitality within the National Forest System at scale. And, with a focus on outdoor experiences, the NFF seeks to enhance human enjoyment of public lands and connect a more urban public to the wonder and benefits of outdoor recreation and volunteerism. As we transition to our new strategy, the Board has approved an extension and expansion of the Treasured Landscapes campaign by one year, increasing our goal to $125 million.

The first new project we evaluated that aligns the organization with our new strategy is an expansion of the work we initiated in 2009 in the San Gabriel Mountains of the Angeles National Forest. Our work on the Angeles began with restoration activities following the Station Fire, which burned over 160,000 acres leading to a variety of significant environmental impacts. One of the most rewarding efforts the NFF has led is the involvement of youth through partnerships with organizations like the Los Angeles Conservation Corps and Pacoima Beautiful.

On October 10, 2014, President Obama recognized the importance of the San Gabriel Mountains by declaring 346,177 acres a National Monument. The NFF responded by initiating a process to engage local interests in prioritizing early investments in the new National Monument, and announcing a commitment to raise $3 million to assist with early implementation. This commitment provides an exciting opportunity to connect underserved communities with the natural beauty of the San Gabriels, while protecting the source of 33 percent of the water for 18 million residents in the Los Angeles area.

We hope you enjoy this issue of Your National Forests, and that you will find the time to introduce your family and friends to America’s backyard – the spectacular National Forest System!

Winter – Spring 2015

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inside this edition Welcome

3

Where in the Woods

4

Forests by the Numbers

features

Sharpening Our Focus How well can you identify your National Forests?

White River National Forest versus White Mountain National Forest

5

Kids and Nature

6

Forest News

8

Tree Spotlight

10

From Balopticons to iPhones

A century of image-making has been key to National Forest acceptance and advancement

Learn to recognize animal tracks Updates from our National Forests Is there a perfect Christmas tree?

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Voices from the Forest

26

Field Reports

29

Voices from the Forest

30

Ski Conservation Fund

National Avalanche Center makes a big difference on a small budget

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Pushing the Boundaries

22

A Celebration of Past and Present

Capacity and collaboration

Winter ascents of 48 peaks over four thousand feet in the White Mountain National Forest

Interview with NASCAR Driver Elliot Sadler Partners make it easy to give back to your National Forests

A brief history of the White River National Forest in Colorado

on the cover Skiers hiking through the clouds up Highlands Bowl at Aspen Highlands, White River National Forest. Š David Clifford Photography / plywerk.com/art-store/store/2

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Your National Forests

Photo Š Kenneth D. Swan Photographs and Audio Tapes, Archives and Special Collections, The University of Montana-Missoula; Allison Nadler; US Department of Agriculture / flickr.com

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where in the woods This National Forest is named for a prominent figure in U.S. Forest Service history.

Photo © pfly / flickr.com

See page 32 for the answer.

National Forest Foundation

Your National Forests

Building 27, Suite 3 Fort Missoula Road Missoula, Montana 59804 406.542.2805

The Magazine of the National Forest Foundation Editor-in-Chief Greg M. Peters Contributors Hannah Ettema, Ray A. Foote, Emily Olsen, Marlee Ostheimer, Greg M. Peters, William J. Possiel, Vance Russell Graphic Artist David Downing, Old Town Creative Communications, LLC

Your National Forests magazine is printed on recycled paper with 30% postconsumer 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.

The National Forest Foundation is a proud member of EarthShare, the country’s leading federation of environmental and conservation organizations accepting Combined Federal Campaign workplace contributions from federal civilian, postal and military employees.

Look for the National Forest Foundation— CFC #12053—on EarthShare’s website at earthshare.org.

National Forest Foundation President William J. Possiel Executive Vice President Mary Mitsos Executive Vice President Ray A. Foote Edward Belden Southern California Program Associate Sheree Bombard Director, Administration Karen DiBari Director, Conservation Connect Hannah Ettema Communications and Development Associate Robin Hill Controller Lisa Leonard Oregon Program Manager Adam Liljeblad Director, Conservation Awards Zia Maumenee Conservation Awards Associate Luba Mullen Associate Director, Development Marlee Ostheimer Development Associate Greg Peters Director, Communications Lee Quick Accountant Vance Russell Director, California Program Emily Olsen Conservation Connect Associate Marcus Selig Director, Southern Rockies Region Deborah Snyder Manager, Development Services Emily Struss Conservation Associate Wes Swaffar Senior Program Manager, Ecosystem Services Dayle Wallien Pacific Northwest Development Manager

Winter – Spring 2015

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forests by the numbers

T

his issue of Your National Forests explores the White River and White Mountain National Forests. Though they are separated by thousands of miles, both Forests provide nearby metropolises with incredible outdoor recreation opportunities.

Learn a bit more about these iconic forests below.

White River National Forest White Mountain National Forest Colorado

1891

year established as a Forest Reserve in 1905, the Forest Service began managing the Forest

12 SKI RESORTS 55 miles

length of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail on the White River National Forest

1,400 miles

of hiking and horse riding trails

total acreage

total acreage

2,285,970

750,000

750,852

ACRES DESIGNATED WILDERNESS

14,270'

Average driving time from Denver, CO the closest major city

Your National Forests

8 SKI RESORTS 100 miles

the tallest in the Eastern U.S.

180 minutes

length of the Appalachian Trail on the White Mountain National Forest

Average driving time from Boston, MA the closest major city

1,200 miles

4,600,000

population of Denver

511�

148,000 elevation of Mount Washington

tallest peak

2,600,000

10,000,000

1918

year established as a National Forest

6,142'

elevation of Grays Peak

population of Boston

NUMBER OF ANNUAL VISITORS*

snowfall Vail Resort received during the 2010-2011 season, the Resort’s snowiest ever

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New Hampshire

of hiking trails

5,000,000 231mph

top wind speed recorded on the summit of Mt. Washington, the highest ever recorded in the U.S.

* approximate number of annual visitors.

kids and nature Photo © NPS / nps.gov

Hop, Scurry, or Stride?

By Greg M. Peters

L

earning to recognize animal tracks is one of the best ways to get kids interested in nature. Winter provides some of the best opportunities for

learning about animal tracks and identification.

The best scenario for winter tracking is hard packed snow covered by an inch or two of fresh powder. This combination allows you to see the tracks of smaller animals like mice, squirrels and skunks and the tracks of larger animals like coyotes, deer and elk.

Snowshoe hares, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, foxes, mice and deer are some of the best animals to track because they are usually active during the winter.

When identifying tracks with smaller children, simply finding an animal track can be a fun challenge. It’s often helpful to pose a few questions to the youngster before you even head out. What animals live in the forest you’re visiting? Which ones are awake during the winter? How do they move? Do they hop like rabbits, scurry like mice, or stride like deer?

When you find tracks, first make sure the route they take is safe for children and then follow them for a bit. See where they go and use that information to help with basic identification. Did the animal stop for food? Do the tracks stop at a tree or bush?

For older children, keying out the specific track is a fun challenge. Again, ask some basic questions. Does the track show claw marks? Canine, skunk and raccoon tracks will typically have claw marks, while feline tracks don’t. How far apart are the tracks? Elk and moose take much longer strides than deer. Is there scat or urine along the trail? Those clues can help identify animals as well. Foxes often urinate every 20 feet or so, leaving bright yellow dots in the snow.

With kids of any age, figuring out where the tracks go is a great way to learn about animal behavior. Encourage your kids to speculate where the animal is going and why. Is it searching for food or water, finding a home for the night, evading a predator? You don’t have to know all the answers, just asking the questions and discussing with your kids will get them thinking about the natural world.

Perhaps the best thing about winter animal tracking is that with each new snowfall, there’s a new opportunity to see what critters are out and about in your local forest.

Regardless of whether you accurately identify the species that made certain tracks or simply follow a set through the woods, seeking out animal tracks is a fantastic way to get kids interested in nature during the long, cold months of winter.

For more winter tracking tips and resources, visit nationalforests.org/blog/wintertracking.

A SNOWSHOE HARE LEAVES TRACKS IN THE SNOW.

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forest news

Forest Service to Conduct Winter Travel Planning for Over-the-snow-vehicles

I

n 2005, the Forest Service released regulations to govern off-highwayvehicle (OHV) use on National Forests across the country.

Through a process called “travel planning,” individual forests analyzed all their roads and trails and released “Motor Vehicle Use Maps” that dictate OHV access. The rule covered ATVs, jeeps, motorcycles, and traditional passenger cars, but did not include motorized over-the-snow-vehicles (OSVs) like snowmobiles.

In 2013, a lawsuit forced the agency to include OSVs in travel planning. In the summer of 2014, the agency solicited public comments on draft regulations designed to guide the travel planning process for OSVs. The public submitted approximately 20,000 comments, including roughly 18,000 form letters. Due to the volume of public comments and the requirement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture review the final rule, the agency missed the court-imposed deadline of September 9th to issue the final rule. The judge overseeing the case extended the agency’s deadline to January 31, 2015.

Learn more at http://1.usa.gov/1wxJiZM.

CORPORATE PARTNER Since 2009, the Salt River Project has been a proud partner of the NFF. Together we have planted more than 600,000 trees on Arizona’s National Forests. Additionally, our support of aspen restoration ensures this biologically significant species is here for generations to come.

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Your National Forests

The NFF and longtime partner Salt River Project (SRP) have launched the Northern Arizona Forest Fund (NAFF) to provide SRP’s customers and other Arizona businesses and residents an opportunity to support restoration on several Arizona National Forests. The NAFF will address critical watershed restoration needs on the National Forests that provide Phoenix and other Arizona cities with water.

“The Upper Beaver Creek Forest Health Project and the Oak Creek Erosion Control Project, the first two priority projects identified by the NAFF, will improve the health of the Verde River watershed by reducing the risk of severe wildfire and improve water quality by decreasing erosion and sedimentation that can end up in streams, rivers and reservoirs that supply the drinking water we depend upon,” said Bruce Hallin, SRP’s director of Water Rights & Contracts.

SRP has kicked off the NAFF with a $100,000 donation to the NFF. This donation will be matched with additional funds from Arizona residents and invested in the Upper Beaver Creek and Oak Creek projects.

“With declining forest health and tighter federal budgets, local partnerships and active stewardship are more critical than ever,” said Hallin.

“The NAFF's projects will also create jobs and provide volunteer opportunities in local communities.”

Learn more at nationalforests.org/azforestfund.

Photo © Tomasz Kobiela / istock.com

Restoration in Arizona

forest news Photo © USDA Forest Service

Map of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.

San Gabriel Mountains National Monument

O

n October 10, 2014, President Barack Obama declared 342,000 acres of the Angeles National Forest and 4,000 acres of the San Bernardino National Forest as the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. The new monument borders one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the country—more than 18 million people live within a 90 minute drive of the San Gabriel Mountains. The monument will be the eighth national monument managed by the Forest Service.

In conjunction with the monument’s declaration, the NFF announced a $3 million San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Fund. “We are excited to expand our work with the Los Angeles communities that depend on these treasured public lands,” said Edward Belden, the NFF’s Southern California Program Associate. “This fund will ensure that we hear from the diverse communities surrounding the monument and that we prioritize restoration and recreational infrastructure improvements to meet the needs of the millions of visitors who enjoy the natural and cultural amenities the monument provides,” he continued.

In 2009, following the devastating Station Fire that burned more than 160,000 acres of the Angeles National Forest, the NFF designated the Forest’s Big Tujunga Canyon as a Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign site. “The NFF has a proven track record of working with the Los Angeles community. Since 2009, we have raised and invested $1.4 million for post-fire restoration work on the Angeles National Forest. We have supported a number of community organizations that connect young people to fantastic outdoor experiences,” said NFF president Bill Possiel.

The Angeles National Forest represents 70 percent of Los Angeles County’s open space and provides 30 percent of the County’s drinking water. More than three million people visit the Angeles National Forest each year, and Forest Service officials predict the new monument will draw even more visitors.

Learn more about the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument at www.fs.fed.us/visit/san-gabriel-mountains-national-monument.

CORPORATE PARTNER The Sierra Nevada Conservancy recognizes how important the Tahoe National Forest is to California.

We believe our investment in the NFF’s Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign for the Tahoe National Forest will pay dividends for years.

Winter – Spring 2015

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tree spotlight

The Best Christmas Trees

By Marlee Ostheimer Photo © USDA / flickr.com

N

inety percent of American families pull out their wallets and buy their Christmas tree from a lot or a “cut your own” Christmas tree farm. But if you are craving a woodsier Christmas tradition, consider channeling your inner Paul

Bunyan and pull out your saw instead. Getting your tree from a National Forest can be a fulfilling and adventurous family outing, but it does require a few extra considerations. First and foremost: which tree species do you choose?

Balsam Fir If you live east of the Mississippi, you're likely familiar with Balsam fir (Abies balsamea). Also known as “blister pine” due to the numerous resin-containing blisters present on its bark, Balsam fir grows throughout the Forest Service’s Eastern Region, an area stretching from New England south to Pennsylvania and west to the Great Lakes states. Balsam fir has the greatest geographical

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Your National Forests

distribution of any North American fir species, limited only by its need for abundant moisture and humidity. Balsam fir grows from sea level to just below the summit of Mount Washington, the tallest peak in the Eastern U.S. Its dark green, fragrant, long-lasting needles and perfect cone shape make it the most popular choice for a Christmas tree in the East.

tree spotlight Douglas-fir Abundant throughout the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain, Intermountain, Southwestern and Pacific Regions, Douglas-fir tends to be the most common Christmas tree choice for westerners. Douglas-fir is not a true fir, hence the hyphenation in its name. Its scientific name, Pseudotsuga menziesii, literally translates to “false” (pseudo) “hemlock” (tsuga). Confusingly, both Douglas-fir’s common and scientific names indicate what Douglas-fir is not, rather than what it is. Pseudotsuga is its own genus, distinct from both fir and hemlock.

The Pseudotsuga genus contains only two species: coast and Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir. Commonly living more than 500 years and sometimes as long as 1,000 years, coast Douglas-fir is the second tallest conifer species in the world. Douglas-fir needles are sweet-smelling, adding to its value as a Christmas tree. Like the Balsam fir, Douglas-fir bark, especially the bark of younger trees, has resin blisters.

Subalpine fir

The Subalpine’s stout branches won’t bend under the weight of even your largest decorations.

A popular Christmas tree that grows wild throughout high-elevation forests from the Yukon to Arizona is the Subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa). Its nicely spaced branches are ideal for showcasing your favorite ornaments and, unlike the draping fronds of the Douglas or Balsam fir, the Subalpine’s stout branches won’t bend under the weight of even your largest decorations.

Subalpine fir’s blue-green needles are long-lasting and have blunted ends, making them soft to the touch. Requiring cool summers, cold winters, and deep snowpack, the Subalpine fir grows best at elevations above 2,000 feet.

Whichever tree you choose, you’ll want to be aware of any regulations such as allowable tree height, prohibited tree species, and authorized cutting areas.

Generally, Forest Service officials ask that folks select one tree from a clump, which promotes forest health through thinning. Also be sure to observe stump limits. These rules protect trees from “topping”—the practice of cutting down a large tree just to take the crown. Most forests require an inexpensive permit to harvest a Christmas tree, and you’ll definitely want to stop in to your local Ranger District office to check cutting dates and get your permit. The extra effort will not only save you money but will make a great new tradition for you and your family.

To learn more about cutting your own Christmas tree, visit nationalforests.org/blog/christmastree.

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

CELEBRATE LIFE’S SPECIAL MOMENTS • • • • • •

Graduations, Birthdays, Memorials, Anniversaries, Weddings, and more.

Your gift of any size will help create a lasting legacy on our National Forests. Simply visit our website or contact: Deborah Snyder: 406.830.3355 dsnyder@nationalforests.org

NATIONALFORESTS.ORG

Winter – Spring 2015

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Yakima woman on Columbia National Forest (now named Gifford Pinchot National Forest), 1933.

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unforgettable experiences Photos © 014835 (opposite), Kenneth D. Swan Photographs and Audio Tapes, Archives and Special Collections, The University of Montana-Missoula; Ray A. Foote (this page)

From Balopticons to iPhones: Picturing and Pitching National Forests

By Ray A. Foote

T

he hundred-year-old glass slides were luminous and surprisingly heavy. It was easy to lose track of time that September afternoon as I pored over pictures in the K.D. Swan Collection at the University of Montana Library. The slides and

large negatives brought to life vivid moments from the earliest years of our National Forests: a ranger in high leather boots and a necktie; a river chock-a-block full of logs; a laughing Yakima woman whose face almost leapt off the glass.

A Nascent Idea, Poorly Understood Born into a vacuum of public understanding and appreciation for its mission, the U.S. Forest Service had to move quickly and decisively to cultivate awareness and support in order to succeed. Fortunately, Gifford Pinchot, the agency’s first Chief Forester, intuitively understood the most potent way to sell an idea was through powerful imagery. In fact, during his five years with the fledgling agency, Pinchot traveled widely giving “lantern slide shows,” which illustrated not only the beauty of wild lands, but the enormous damage caused by unbridled harvesting.

Pinchot’s visual advocacy was important to the passage of the seminal 1911 Weeks Act which greatly expanded National Forests in the East. The Act provided funding for the purchase of more than five million acres of forests.

Pinchot’s adroitness in telling a story with pictures predated his service as Chief. As the private forester for the massive Biltmore estate in western North Carolina, he concocted a grand display for the 1893 Chicago Exhibition, including enormous panel prints of the Biltmore Forest so guests could “walk into” the woods he managed. It was a strategy he applied to the much larger woods—the early National Forests—he introduced to an entire nation in 1905.

Pomona College historian Char Miller has noted that “Gifford Pinchot thought that the camera was the most important instrument that the Forest Service had at its disposal, not the ‘pulaski,’ the great instrument they used to fight fire.” Miller has also written about how Pinchot brought cumbersome photographic equipment on a pivotal 1897 trip west at the request of Secretary of Interior Cornelius Bliss. Charged with evaluating and reporting back on “forest reserves,” the controversial precursors to the National Forests, Pinchot was determined to illustrate for policymakers and others that a more intentional forestry approach of active management could achieve simultaneous benefits of sustainable timber production and ecological conservation.

Holding a Swan transparency in the Archives.

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unforgettable experiences Pinchot’s unrestrained views on deforestation fill his posthumous autobiography, Breaking New Ground. He wrote: “the common word for our forests was ‘inexhaustible.’ To waste timber was a virtue and not a crime. There would always be plenty of timber…The lumbermen… regarded forest devastation as normal and second growth as a delusion of fools…And as for sustained yield, no such idea had ever entered their heads.”

Eight years after his 1897 expedition west, Pinchot was tapped by President Theodore Roosevelt to lead the new U.S. Forest Service, a position he held until 1910.

An Amateur’s Growing Vision The year after Pinchot left the agency’s topmost position, a young graduate from Harvard Forestry School, Kenneth Dupee Swan, entered the same agency at the very bottom. Hired as a forest assistant in Missoula, Montana, “K.D.” left his eastern roots and embraced the western wilderness. Swan was immediately fascinated by the West’s open spaces, rugged terrain, pioneering spirit, and promise of what was possible from a natural resources perspective. According to his daughter, Helen Swan Bolle: “…he was totally enchanted by being out west and doing something primary in the Forest Service.”i His interest in photography grew quickly, with his early work consisting of Forest Service personnel doing mundane tasks, locals in small towns, Missoula scenes, and sensitive treatment of Native Americans on nearby National Forests. Swan was shaped by his adopted region, and he began developing an aesthetic that revealed the West’s wild places and sparse populations in a new way.

It became clear that Swan had both a deep interest in forest management and a good eye for telling stories through photography, and in time, he was given official full-time photographic responsibilities.

Swan ended up serving in the Forest Service for 36 years, leaving a prodigious 300,000 images and negatives that provide an invaluable resource for forest historians today.

Swan recalled in his 1968 memoir, Splendid Was The Trail, that “[I]n the late Twenties it became apparent that if the Region was to…build up a comprehensive picture record of our effort to prevent and control forest fires a photographer would have to be assigned…I was chosen as that man; the job was exciting and presented a real challenge. For many summers I stood ready to leave Missoula on a minute’s notice day or night.”

“

The idea of a full-time photographer struck many as odd, so Swan had to create its legitimacy. He recounted how the summer of 1929 had been extremely dry and fire-prone. One day he got a call to shoot a fire: “[W]ithin an hour I was on the road in a Model A Ford loaded with camera equipment, a bedroll, and a few emergency rations. A parting word of advice from [coworker] G.I. Porter is still remembered: ‘Don’t let them put you to work, K.D., keeping time or doing other menial jobs. Your assignment is to travel around and get pictures.’”

But there was a far larger and more profound purpose behind the recording of agency duties. Following in Pinchot’s path, Swan created a visual record of places few Americans would ever see, yet which needed their support. His photos revealed majestic open country nearly unimaginable to people in crowded Eastern cities or small farms. Like Ansel Adams’ work in the early decades of the National Park System, Swan’s images conveyed an inherent, if dimly understood, value in wild places. If the Forest Service was ever going to achieve any level of brand awareness, it had to have iconic imagery. Even his candid and informal pictures such as the ones of his family camping delivered a strong message: these places we call National Forests are special. They are part of America’s character. They matter. By showing people actively enjoying the forests, he was tapping into the rising trend of outdoor recreation that would fully blossom in the decades after World War II. At the same time, Swan showed the productive uses of forest land including vivid images of logging operations. Pinchot had laid the groundwork for the public’s early understanding of how forests could be both harvested and sustained—a seeming contradiction resolved only through the novel idea of “forest management.” Swan helped translate that idea to the public. His memoir notes that his colleague Theodore Shoemaker, who ran the Office of Public Relations for the Forest Service’s Northern Region, observed: “There are people living in eastern Montana who know little or nothing of the aims of our forest conservation policy….We need to reach these people and tell them in terms they can understand just what benefits they will gain from proper management of the forests—their forests.”

The common word for our forests was ‘inexhaustible.’

To waste timber was a virtue and not a crime.

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Your National Forests

”

unforgettable experiences Photo © 014761, Kenneth D. Swan Photographs and Audio Tapes, Archives and Special Collections, The University of Montana-Missoula

“

Don’t let them put you to work….Your assignment is to travel around and get pictures.

”

K.D. Swan in the field with poles for his film-changing tent, 1920s.

It was the powerful idea inside just those two words— “their forests”—that animated Swan’s craft and drove him to share the forests’ glories and potential for sustainable use. For example, in the fall of 1926, Swan launched what he called his “Showboat” campaign to carry these messages to remote parts of the agency’s Northern Region. His government issue Model T pickup truck was loaded with a screen, a DeVry motion picture projector, and a large device for showing still images known as a “Balopticon.”

The Showboat made it to 28 small towns and was seen by more than 5,000 people in what was major grassroots outreach effort for its day.

Historian Miller has noted that “Swan had twin audiences: he had to get buy in from the agency to institutionalize photography as a management tool, but he also was cultivating the understanding and appreciation of the general public.” And he reached both audiences successfully. His images became staples in Forest Service publications (many of which he also authored), and he began to achieve broader recognition through such publications as National Geographic, The New York Times, and The Christian Science Monitor.

From Glass Plates to Satellites: Imaging Proliferates The still photos by Pinchot, Swan, and many others told the Forest Service’s early stories. In subsequent decades, the scientific application of photography took off quickly. As the National Forest System grew, so did the need for data to inform decisions about increasingly complex challenges.

Photography became “imaging,” growing and evolving at the Forest Service as a tool for everything from evaluating tree cover to assessing fire risk to understanding wildlife behavior and habitat. Aerial photography, first used in forestry in 1919, offered a powerful new tool for forest managers. An unexpected but profound boost to imaging technology came from the military’s development of extensive satellite capabilities during the Cold War. At the same time, NASA accelerated development of remote sensing approaches that revolutionized how the Forest Service could gather critical information about forest conditions. By the 1980s, the availability of computing power ushered in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that remain the foundation of how we understand and manage complex public lands.

Winter – Spring 2015

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treasured landscapes

Mission Mountains, Montana, 1920s.

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Your National Forests

Land-based photography still remains a key tool, and its importance has even been enhanced in recent decades with motion-activated camera traps which are especially useful in wildlife research, and smaller, lighter, ever more capable cameras in general. The awkward 40-pound packs that Pinchot and Swan hauled to get their shots (which they wouldn’t see for days or weeks) are a far cry from today’s extremely versatile and sophisticated devices.

Storytellers All The story of photography for National Forests is one of gathering useful information in ways that reveal truths and trends, and it has evolved inexorably with technology and increasingly scientific approaches to forest management. Interestingly, it is the complexity of the Forest Service’s mission that demands thorough documentation and interpretation of these places. In the earliest days, it was the need to engender familiarity for lands that were remote and seen by many as mere troves of valuable resources for exploitation. As America pushed steadily westward, it was also urbanizing and industrializing; setting aside lands for all time under exotic notions of “conservation” required intentional messaging that drew its power from iconic imagery.

Photos © 0014821 and 014852 (opposite), Kenneth D. Swan Photographs and Audio Tapes, Archives and Special Collections, The University of Montana-Missoula

Veteran Forest Service employee and National Remote Sensing Manager Everett Hinkley sums up the challenge: “For any land management agency, everything happens on the ground.” And the Forest Service has to know what those things are. For example, satellite imagery can reveal key forest health indicators about pests and disease.

Because fire has always been a major threat to National Forests and today takes up nearly half the agency’s annual budget, achieving superior mapping of fire location, behavior, and intensity is critical.

Despite its power and widespread availability, satellite imaging has not fully replaced aerial reconnaissance.

Today, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) provides exceptionally accurate contour mapping by scanning the ground below and creating a “point cloud.” These scans can reveal the amount of timber in a stand, can generate a bare earth elevation map, or can indicate areas of blight.

Hinkley explains that today nearly 100 Forest Service professionals are dedicated specifically to developing imagery for use by thousands agency employees as well as the public, scientific organizations, and other government agencies.

treasured landscapes

Logging in Petty Creek, near Alberton, MT, Lolo National Forest, 1940s.

It worked. As Char Miller notes: “we are still indebted to and part of the legacy of K.D. Swan and Gifford Pinchot.”

And, the way we tell today’s forest stories continues to evolve. Our modern day analogue to Swan’s “Showboat” is social media where we share engaging images and key facts about the promise and perils of a challenged National Forest System. It’s why the National Forest Foundation and the Forest Service have recently teamed up to create dozens of new Facebook pages, to tweet timely information, and continually to enhance our web presence.

The stories that flow from an awe inspiring landscape photograph or the challenges revealed by a technical map of a forest fire’s likely spread each point to the same need: the American public must understand the many roles their National Forests play and how forest health affects our country.

The lives of countless Americans and their communities are indeed touched by these special places. We are indebted to those who have brought “the People’s Lands” to life through the hundred-plus years of the Forest Service’s history, whether by satellite data, Balopticon devices from the back of a Model T, or the mobile device in our pocket.

To see more of KD Swan's photographs, visit nationalforests.org/blog/kdswan. i

rom The World of K.D. Swan: Early 20th Century Photographer and Conservationist,” F a 2009 documentary by Marcia Hogan & Libby Langston. © Digital Magic Video.

Ray A. Foote Ray is an Executive Vice President at the NFF based in the Alexandria, VA office. He spends his free time outdoors with his family, playing the piano, and taking photographs. Reach him at rfoote@nationalforests.org.

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voices from the forest

From Howitzers to Hotlines

By Greg M. Peters

I

n a country where lambasting government waste is a national pastime, it’s heartening to learn about federal programs that make a real difference on a very small budget. The U.S. Forest Service’s National

Avalanche Center is one such example.

Avalanches kill more people on National Forests than any other natural hazard. In a typical winter, the U.S. has about 30 avalanche-caused fatalities, nearly all on National Forests. It’s the job of the Forest Service’s National Avalanche Center and its affiliated backcountry avalanche centers to reduce these numbers, even as backcountry skiing, snowboarding, and snowmobiling use skyrockets.

And it’s a challenge this small crew of dedicated avalanche experts do on an annual federal budget of roughly one million dollars.

This modest federal investment is doubled by funding from nonprofit “friends groups” that work with the 14 Forest Service backcountry avalanche centers around the country. For some perspective, the agency spent $967 million fighting forest fires in 2013.

Founded in 1999 and consisting of only two full-time positions, the Center’s mission includes overseeing 14 backcountry avalanche centers and the military artillery program that provides ski resorts with avalanche control technology they otherwise could not get. In addition, the Center provides expertise to field units, provides public and employee avalanche education, transfers new technologies to the field, facilitates avalanche research, and serves as a single point of contact for all things related to avalanches for the Forest Service.

Pre-dawn Howitzers The National Avalanche Center builds on a long history of Forest Service avalanche expertise that began in the 1940s. Forest Service Snow Rangers were some of the agency’s first employees skilled in assessing and mitigating avalanches. They focused on the growing network of resorts that operated on National Forests, working with ski patrols and resort management to keep skiers safe.

Over time, ski resorts developed their own expertise and assumed the majority of their avalanche mitigation.

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Your National Forests

By the late-1980s, the agency played more of an oversight role with ski areas, but maintained its responsibility in supplying ski resorts with the artillery needed to mitigate avalanches through carefully controlled explosions. This is still a critical component of the National Avalanche Center’s mission, which serves as the primary point of contact with the U.S. Army for the program. Military weapons provide a way to safely deliver explosives to remote starting zones, triggering controlled avalanches that reduce the danger on access roads and resort slopes.

In the predawn cold, well before skiers and riders get in line for the first chair of the day, Forest Service Snow Rangers work with highly trained ski patrollers to load artillery shells into frost covered howitzers and lob explosives onto snow-laden ski runs. The explosions send white clouds of snow down the slopes, effectively releasing an avalanche long before a skier might trigger it. Because of the requirements surrounding the safe handling, use, and disposal of these weapons, the Forest Service plays a crucial role in operating this program in conjunction with several ski resorts.

Backcountry Responsibilities The Center’s most visible work is its backcountry avalanche program. Begun in the 1970s, this network has grown to 14 locations, mirroring the growth of backcountry activities.

Backcountry skiing and snowboarding are some of the fastest growing sectors of the ski industry. Recent advances in snowmobile technology allow riders to get farther into the backcountry than ever before. These pressures underscore the importance of the backcountry centers’ work. As more and more people venture into the backcountry, the need for high-quality and accurate avalanche forecasting grows even more critical.

voices from the forest Photo courtesy of Bruce Tremper

LCC Avalanche in action.

Bruce Tremper, Director of the Utah Avalanche Center on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, inspects an avalanche crown.

Dr. Karl Birkeland, the National Center’s Director explains: “We work in all National Forest Regions except Region 8 [the Southern Region]. We have our avalanche centers across the country, each with a director and one to three additional avalanche specialists. The centers broadcast avalanche advisories, host educational opportunities, and work with their local communities and friends groups to raise awareness about the dangers of avalanches.”

If you’re a backcountry aficionado, you’ve probably called your local avalanche hotline or visited its website for the current advisory. And you’re not alone; Birkeland estimates these advisories are accessed nearly six million times a year. The training sessions and lectures organized or sponsored by the backcountry centers reach tens of thousands of people annually.

Forecasting for avalanches in states from Alaska to New Hampshire is an immense challenge, making it all the more impressive that these centers accomplish what they do on a shoestring budget. Most advisories cover multiple mountain ranges that can stretch for a hundred miles or more. Differences in wind, temperatures, snowfall amounts, and existing snowpacks can make for complicated forecasting. Some regional centers are small, and staff can only provide updates twice a week, while others post daily.

Birkeland explains the strong relationships between the backcountry centers, the public, and the ski resorts operating nearby: “The National Avalanche Program and its backcountry centers function as clearinghouses for snow and avalanche data. Our staff work with ski patrollers at nearby resorts, backcountry guides, volunteers, and backcountry users to provide the public with the most accurate and comprehensive information possible.”

The grassroots friends groups host fundraisers, organize and co-sponsor education efforts, and share real-world information from backcountry users to help keep other backcountry users safe.

No amount of forecasting can obviate personal responsibility, which includes being properly educated about risk and conducting one’s own assessments while venturing into the backcountry. However, the backcountry advisories provide an essential tool for mitigating the inherent dangers of playing in the mountains in the winter. Add that to the role the National Avalanche Center plays in ensuring that ski resorts have safe access to the artillery they need for reducing avalanche risk and you truly have a top-notch program for a bargain price.

Learn more about staying safe in avalanche terrain at: fsavalanche.org, avalanche.org, and aiare.info.

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unforgettable experiences

Pushing the Boundaries

By Hannah Ettema

M

iriam Underhill was born in the nineteenth century but left a good mark on the twentieth. You may have heard the saying, “she

moved mountains,” and while Miriam didn’t move mountains, she did conquer some of the highest, coldest and most dangerous peaks in both North America and Europe.

Born in New Hampshire in 1899, Miriam started climbing mountains at an early age. At 15, she traveled to Europe with her mother and seven-year-old brother. While in Chamonix, France, Miriam later wrote how she and her mother “walked the 5,000 feet up to the Le Brévent.” Soon, she began making regular trips to Europe to scale mountains, ultimately leading the first womenonly climbing teams up some of the Alps most iconic peaks.

Without the latest gear and gadgets from her local outfitter and without an iPhone or Instagram to brag of her peak-bagging adventures, Miriam broke boundaries and challenged the climbing world to accept elite female athletes as equals.

A New Game A New Englander at heart, she grew up exploring “the Whites”—the locals’ parlance for New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Always one for a challenge, Miriam and her husband Bob decided that scaling the Whites’ 48 peaks over four thousand feet in summer wasn’t hard enough, so they created the “Winter Four Thousand Footer Club,” an offshoot of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC) popular “All Season Four Thousand Footer Club.”

The rules of “the game” as she called it are quite simple. Using your feet, whether with boots, skis or snowshoes, ascend the White Mountains’ 48 peaks over four thousand feet during winter. Exactly winter.

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unforgettable experiences

“Winter was to be measured exclusively by the calendar,” she wrote.

Hikers cannot start their hike until after the exact time of winter solstice and must complete their hike by returning to the peak’s official trailhead before the moment of the spring equinox.

“We very strictly hold to that,” explained Eric Savage, Chair and Corresponding Secretary of the AMC Four Thousand Footer Committee. A few years ago, one aspiring Club member made it back to his campsite before winter ended. Unfortunately that was not enough. According to the rules, he had to return to the trailhead by winter’s end.

“And to that guy’s credit, next year rolled around and sure enough, I got an application with a new date for those peaks,” Savage recounted.

Brutal But Beautiful Conditions The 48 peaks of the Four Thousand Footer Club all lie within New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest. Whether it’s Mount Tecumseh at 4,003 feet or Mount Washington, the region’s tallest at 6,288 feet, ascending the Whites is not a simple walk through Christmas card-like scenery.

Wind pushes the boundaries of hikers’ physical and mental stamina. The highest wind speed recorded in the U.S., 231 mph, was recorded at the summit of Mount Washington. Savage described the wind conditions on one of his ascents: “On the way over the ridge, it was 40 mph winds with gusts up to 55 mph that you could hear coming and would ‘brace for impact’ to let the gust go through you. By the time we came back, the wind was a steady 50 or 55 mph and gusts were probably hitting 70 mph.” Because of the wind, the group was forced to crawl. “One of the craziest mental pictures I have is seeing the other hiking groups spread out across the ridge, and everyone was down on all fours.”

According to Savage, the temperature on a typical winter hiking day is in the teens with winds at 20-30 mph. “You get those conditions, you’re like ‘Yup, that’s winter in the Whites,’” he said.

Some days, you head out but don’t reach the summit.

“There will be trips where things will seem fine and you’ll get to tree line and you’ll just look around and realize this is not an ‘above tree line day.’ So you turn around and go back,” Savage recalls.

Illustration © Appalachian Mountain Club

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Photo Š Courtesy of the Appalachian Mountain Club Library & Archives

Miriam and Robert Underhill geared up for a winter outing in the 1960s.

unforgettable experiences Photo © Allison Nadler

“

“There was a group who talked about taking an hour and a half to go half a mile because between the steepness and amount of snow, it made for very slow progress.”

For another hiker, it took eight attempts to ascend Mount Jefferson in the winter.

But, there are magical moments, too. Allison Nadler, a Massachusetts teacher, recounted her adventure up Mount Lafayette and Mount Lincoln as: “So, so gorgeous…Once you’re on that ridge, you’re just completely within the elements. You have to combat all the wind. Or if it rains or hails or snows, you’re in it.”

Jim Radmore, a teacher out of Maine, appreciates the diversity: “Every time the conditions change, the mountains change.”

You meet people who are doing something crazy like you. You don't feel like you're doing it on your own.

”

A Growing Group Despite the distance, the wind, and the cold, more and more people are completing the challenge first set by the Underhills.

Thanks to ever improving gear and a growing community, the number of applications to the Winter Four Thousand Footer Club has nearly tripled from twenty years ago. Up until the mid-1980s, fewer than ten people a year applied.

In the last ten years, anywhere from 20-45 people apply for membership.

Savage explained that as more people hike in the winter, the trails become more worn and accessible. As of spring 2014, 642 hikers have completed the challenge since its inception.

Nadler credited the sense of community to help her be just nine peaks away from completing the challenge.

“It’s a little niche group. You’ll be working on number 30 and you’ll find someone else who’s working on number 35. You get to see how everyone progresses. You meet people who are doing something crazy like you. You don’t feel like you’re doing it on your own.”

Although Radmore lives near mountains he knows he could climb over and over, the list takes him elsewhere.

“The list gets me going different places in different seasons. Things I wouldn’t see if I wasn’t doing my list.”

Through the Winter Four Thousand Footer Club, Miriam’s spirit of exploring the outdoors lives on, even if the mountains haven’t gotten any shorter and the weather any kinder. Her words capture the simple essence of challenging nature, weather, and gravity: “The delight of climbing! It has been with me all my life. For when you have spent in the hills most of the time you have for recreation and pleasure, they come to mean much more than just the fun of acrobatics…And in occasional times of strain just to walk in the hills brings a strengthening of the spirit, a renewed courage and buoyancy.”

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.

The White Mountain National Forest is one of the NFF’s 14 Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign sites. Learn more at nationalforests.org/treasured.

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The White River National Forest A Celebration of Past and Present

By Emily Olsen

difficult cases in the same way he often addressed supporters from his front porch, by discussing the facts and allowing sound logic to illuminate his conclusions.

In 1891, Harrison’s dark, critical eyes focused on Colorado’s forested landscapes. Armed with clear evidence— rampant deforestation and silt-clogged rivers contaminated with mining waste caused by the twin railroad and mining booms—Harrison’s keen mind saw few options. To ensure the preservation of these vast forests for coming generations, he had to act. So on October 16, as the aspens were flaming gold and yellow, Harrison declared what is now the White River National Forest as a “forest reserve,” the second such designation in our country’s history.

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Reserving lands for public forests was a novel, unfamiliar idea in a place where endless opportunity and Manifest Destiny gripped the public’s attention. In the year’s prior to Harrison’s bold declaration, gold discoveries spurred Denver’s fledging economy, new rail lines paralleled canyon contours to connect the Front Range to the Western Slope, and prospectors arrived with bright eyes to Independence and other towns, eager to strike it rich.

Photo © Brian Pfaltzgraff

A

brilliant lawyer, President Benjamin Harrison tackled his most

treasured landscapes The New West

Altitude and Solitude

Today, the White River National Forest defines Colorado and the “new west.” During the first half of the 20th century, Denver transitioned from a scrappy gold mining town to the financial and commercial hub of the Rockies. The second half saw the emergence of a powerful outdoor-based economy as former mining towns like Breckenridge and Aspen transformed into glamorous all-season destinations. Visitors flock to Highway 82 along the Continental Divide, cresting 12,095-foot Independence Pass, where dilapidated remnants of the once-booming Independence are now a tourist attraction.

The White River National Forest still provides opportunities for mineral exploration, grazing, logging, and oil and gas development, but recreation reigns. Ten million people visit each year, distinguishing the Forest as one of the most visited in the county.

The rugged Elk and Sawatch Ranges tantalize the eyes, attracting skiers from around the world to carve arching lines along the Forest’s twelve ski areas, trek to backcountry huts, or simply enjoy one of the frequent bluebird days. The Maroon Bells oblige to their ever-growing duty as luminaries to the surrounding landscape. These incredible peaks, hailed as the most photographed mountains in America, call the most hardy of visitors to “ring the bells” by traversing their four 12,000+ foot mountain passes. The Bells along with six other massive peaks over fourteen thousand feet offer plenty of altitude to satisfy even the most ambitious peak baggers.

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Winter – Spring 2015

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treasured landscapes The White River’s multiple, world-class uses continue to draw new patrons. However, contrary to the early Manifest Destiny believers, the landscape’s resources are not endless, and even a 2.3-million-acre-backyard is not big enough for everyone. As recreation use skyrockets, the clash between past and present has pushed the White River to be a model of balance between tremendous outdoor experiences and the protection of fragile ecosystems.

In recent decades, eco-terrorists have torched expensive vacation homes and protested ski resort expansion plans. In 2013, the threat of a lawsuit forced Vail Resorts to mitigate potential damage to lynx habitat so that it could expand its Breckenridge Ski Resort.

The Forest’s eight Wilderness areas see so many visitors it is often challenging to find solitude. The agency has gone so far as to designate some of the most popular Wilderness areas as “high-use,” meaning the agency can improve the area’s recreational infrastructure to better accommodate the influx of visitors. However, the Wilderness Act’s protections prohibit many of the improvements needed to accommodate the growing number of visitors, such as pit toilets and established campsites.

Contrary to the early Manifest Destiny believers, the landscape’s resources are not endless.

Wheels, paddles, rods, and rifles are common forest accessories. Mountain bikers hammer up the Government Trail’s 1,000 vertical feet, paddlers maneuver through rapids along the Roaring Fork and Eagle Rivers, and anglers eye native cutthroat trout lingering under the surface of Trappers Lake, a blue-ribbon trout fishery. Big-game hunters stalk the open rangelands and alpine meadows in the autumn months, hoping to bag an elk from the nation’s largest herd.

Creating a Shared Vision Along the Continental Divide, north of Independence Pass and near Leadville, Colorado, the Eagle River tumbles from craggy peaks to support elk, bear, lynx, and other wildlife. Camp Hale lies at the headwaters of this storied river. Established as a winter and mountain warfare training camp, Camp Hale housed almost 15,000 soldiers who learned to ski, mountain climb, and survive in winter conditions. Beginning in the 1940s, thousands of Army-hired construction workers streamed into the 9,300-foot-high valley. They straightened and channelized the Eagle River, effectively turning this critical headwater stream into a ditch. They flattened three miles of the valley floor with giant graders and constructed acres of concrete barracks and mess halls.

Yet, like so many places on the Forest, Camp Hale’s legacy is complicated. Many of the soldiers who trained at Camp Hale went on to establish or manage ski resorts in Colorado, Montana, California, and New Hampshire, laying the foundations of America’s ski industry. The dilapidated concrete barracks that stand as silent sentries along the grid of roads scarring the valley floor are an important reminder of the sacrifices war demands of a nation.

An alpine meadow in the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness, within the White River National Forest.

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Photo © Jeff Werner

The White River boasts eight designated Wilderness areas including the renowned Collegiate Peaks, Flat Tops, and Eagles News Wilderness Areas. Over 2,500 miles of trails that open up 1.5 million acres accessible to backcountry travel offer a lifetime of hiking, biking, and off-highway-vehicle opportunities in a wildflower paradise.

treasured landscapes Photos © Jack Affleck; Steven C DeWitt Jr

Mountain bikers pedaling through wildflowers on the White River National Forest.

Seeking to restore the ecology of this area, while preserving and celebrating its role in American history, the NFF has selected Camp Hale and the Eagle River headwaters as one of 14 Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign sites where we are concentrating our work. Our collaborative work with citizens, organizations, and local leaders created a shared vision for this historically and ecologically significant place, ensuring that Camp Hale continues its transition from a military training camp to a vibrant celebration of all that visitors love about the White River National Forest.

The days of gold mines, narrow-gauge rails, and military camps may have passed, but President Harrison’s legacy persists. The future of the White River National Forest as a model for sustainable recreation, forward thinking management, and almost endless opportunity shines a golden light on the 21st century—and beyond.

The straightened and channelized Eagle River.

The White River National Forest is one of the NFF's 14 Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign sites. Learn more at nationalforests.org/treasured.

Emily Olsen Emily is the NFF’s Conservation Connect Associate and an avid hiker who spends as much time on Montana’s National Forests as she can. Reach her at eolsen@nationalforests.org.

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field reports

Building Capacity for Resilient Forests

By Vance Russell

P

raise and denunciation. These seem to be the bookends of opinion for forest management. When the Southwestern Crown Collaborative in Montana landed a $4 million Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration project grant in 2010, proponents praised

the group. The project promised 156 jobs and the restoration of 52 miles of stream and 7,600 acres of wildlife habitat. But critics quickly protested that the project was just a front for the Forest Service to log 814,000 board feet of timber and accused the massive project of shifting needed resources away from the Lolo, Flathead, and Lewis and Clark National Forests.

This praise and denunciation typified decades of public discourse surrounding National Forest management.

But one simple fact remained: a landscape-scale forest management project that included both timber harvests and restoration activities had actually been green-lighted.

Successful collaboration had come a long way since Congress created the precursor to the Forest Service in 1876.

Drawing the Battle Lines Initially tasked with assessing the state of forests in the United States, the “Division of Forestry,” a small office housed in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was limited in its scope. However, as the nation began to set aside more and more public forests through the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 and again with the Weeks Act of 1911, the Division’s name and purpose changed. In two short decades, the small USDA office that assessed the nation’s forests evolved into the U.S. Forest Service, the primary federal agency responsible for managing public forest lands.

Through the 1960s, the Forest Service acted as the sole arbiter of forest management, leaving little room for meaningful public participation. That role shifted in 1970 with the signing of the National Environmental Policy Act and further in 1976 with the passage of the National Forest Management Act. But even though these laws opened the door for public comment on forest plans, the

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Your National Forests

agency’s role as expert persisted, and public participation was primarily reactive rather than proactive. The Forest Service presented the public with management options, the public submitted their comments back to the agency, and the agency charted whatever course it thought best.

Concern over federal public lands management gained significant steam in the 1980s. Small grassroots watershed and conservation groups formed to focus on local issues.

On the national stage, groups like Earth First! pushed traditional environmental organizations to become more aggressive in their critiques of the Forest Service, and in the years following President Reagan’s election, the battle over the future of our National Forests was in full swing.

The Northwest Forest Plan proved a particularly ugly battle. Adopted in 1994, the Plan aimed to protect the long-term health of forests, wildlife, and waterways with a special focus on the Northern Spotted Owl. While the plan did implement significant protections for this “charismatic” species, local timber-dependent communities blamed it for job losses because it curtailed logging in the Pacific Northwest’s old-growth forests. The fallout from this plan—significant job losses, the pitting of people versus animals, and the highly publicized battle between the local communities, environmentalists, and the Forest Service—catalyzed a different approach.

field reports Getting to Yes Even as the battle over the Pacific Northwest Plan raged, increasing public interest in alternative conflict resolution began to take hold across the country. People from all sides of the debate began to realize that the incessant fighting, near constant litigation, and even the outright sabotage of timber machinery were symptoms of a deeper problem, the lack of proactive community engagement. The answer, popularized through books such as Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, was collaboration.

Collaboration seemed simple.

Rather than relying on the Forest Service to present management options that inevitably became embroiled in litigation and bred mistrust and division, the agency, environmentalists, and communities would get together to develop plans to improve forest management in ways that also respected the economic development of rural, resource-dependent communities.

However, in practice, collaboration was far more challenging. The skills and techniques required to build trust, reach consensus, and move forward with complex management options were difficult to learn and the collaboratives themselves proved time-intensive and costly.

These initiatives required small grassroots organizations, staffed largely by volunteers, to meet for hours each month to hash out plans to keep their neighbors employed while protecting their drinking water or a threatened species.

Similarly, for small independent contractors working in forests, time spent in collaboratives meant time not spent in the forest, earning money to support families.

Many of these early collaboratives such as the Applegate Partnership in Oregon and the Watershed Research and Training Network in California proved effective. But others failed. As the country moved into the new millennium, forest managers and organizations like the National Forest Foundation, which has done this work for more than a decade, realized that one of the biggest challenges to successful collaboratives was building the local capacity to participate meaningfully in them.

“

To specifically address this capacity challenge and ultimately increase the pace and scale of large-scale restoration, the NFF and the Forest Service started the Community Capacity and Landowner Stewardship Program (CCLS) in 2011 in the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Region. In 2012, CCLS expanded to Alaska and in 2013, to California.

Its primary goals are to help organizations more effectively implement landscape-scale restoration and bring socioeconomic benefits to communities. The program gives a wide berth for innovation and customization by partners at the local and regional level, and the $300,515 awarded to 14 nonprofits in California since 2013 is beginning to pay dividends.

The skills and techniques required to build trust, reach consensus and move forward… proved timeintensive and costly.

”

Bringing Old Adversaries Together

Mega-fires bring old adversaries together and can unite communities in unexpected ways. When the Rim Fire exploded in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park, ultimately torching 257,314 acres, it re-energized Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions (YSS). The Forest Service originally convened YSS in 2010 to address declining forest health issues. But YSS members reformulated the group to better address the potential polarization of its members following the Rim Fire.

Mike Albrecht, Chairman of YSS and owner/operator of a local logging firm, explains: “Collaborative efforts stand the greatest chance of delivering the economic and environmental returns state and federal leaders envision and restoring California’s landscape. YSS represents a diverse cross section of our community.”

If YSS did not exist, there would be virtually no prospect for identifying the common ground that is needed to find balanced solutions. Instead, the Forest Service would find itself in a crossfire of frustrated, angry interests, making an already herculean job impossible. Scott Tangenberg, Stanislaus Deputy Forest Supervisor, credits YSS for “…taking the right approach. Our decisions are more thoughtful and appreciative of diverse perspectives because of YSS input. YSS continues to provide support in the face of challenges and criticism of those decisions.”

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field reports The Power of SCALE At a much larger scale, the Sierra Cascade All Lands Enhancement (SCALE) collective is attempting to advance an inclusive “all-lands” restoration approach by coordinating three Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) projects: the Dinkey Creek Collaborative, the Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group and the Burney-Hat Creek Collaborative. CFLR, a national program initiated by the Forest Service, focuses on collaborative landscape-scale forest management. Jonathan Kusel, of the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment notes: “The power of SCALE is in forging new relationships and enhancing transparency in project expenditures and on-the-ground outcomes.”

SCALE's challenges and goals are intertwined. The challenges include navigating a complex network of land ownership and generating matching funds required by the CFLR program for restoration projects. The goals include successfully reducing the long-term risk of severe wildfire by returning the landscape to a fire regime that can respond to climate change.

Increasing the pace and scale of landscape-scale restoration while addressing the economy, community needs, and the environment is complicated. By working with SCALE, the three CFLR groups are learning from one another, affecting forest management policy, and using SCALE as a tool to disseminate knowledge, all of which leads to stronger individual collaborative efforts and a more effective regional approach.

It’s All About People

Capacity building and collaboration are easily confused. NFF programs focused on capacity building often fund collaborative capacity, but capacity building is about any kind of investment that builds the strength of an organization, expands its operations, improves its ability to implement programs, and trains individuals within the organization. Importantly, capacity building investments do not support actual on-the-ground implementation.

Collaboration for public lands management is essentially a voluntary process involving diverse interests typically organized around a specific geography. Collaboratives focus on improving problem solving around forest and natural resource issues and but can take many forms.

Collaboration is transparent and non-proprietary—the solutions and ideas are not from any one entity— and typically lead to longer lasting solutions.

Photo © Daphne Hougard

Ultimately collaboratives are an experiment where communities, the Forest Service, and environmental organizations are trying to work better together.

The NFF, the Forest Service, and our partners believe it is worth investing in collaborative capacity building because it produces better projects, longer lasting solutions, and ultimately healthier communities and forests.

However, collaboration is not a panacea. Skeptics point out such approaches are too costly, may sidestep regulatory requirements, and don’t necessarily eliminate litigation. In fact, even the most well-intentioned collaboratives sometimes generate controversy due to poor facilitation, participants’ lack of time, and inadequate resolution of past conflicts. But in the last two decades, collaboration has emerged as the most effective way to accomplish on-the-ground work.

Collaboration gives communities a better understanding of how the Forest Service operates while educating the agency about what communities need.

By involving multiple voices and identifying needs for how resources are managed, collaboratives can maximize technical and cultural knowledge to create long-lasting solutions for the health and resilience of our National Forests.

Investing in the capacity of people to participate in these intensive initiatives has proven a key strategy to creating successful on-the-ground projects that marry forest management, restoration, and community development.

Adam Liljeblad, the NFF’s Conservation Awards Director summed up the NFF’s investments in building collaborative capacity: “Forest management doesn’t happen in a vacuum any more. It happens when people sit down and learn from each other. The CCLS program invests in people because it’s people who either make or break forest management.”

Collaboration vs.

Capacity Building

Vance Russell Vance is the NFF's Director of California programs. When he's not visiting forests, he is busy chasing his daughters, skiing, cycling, running and fishing

For more information see is.gd/nff_capacity.

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through them. Reach him at vrussell@nationalforests.org.

voices from the forest Photo © Nigel Kinrade Photography, LLC

Sadler’s OneMain car with its NFF-themed wrap.

Nine Questions with Elliot Sadler In April 2014, OneMain Financial partnered with the NFF to plant more than 200,000 trees on two National Forests. OneMain Financial also sponsors NASCAR driver Elliot Sadler, who drove an NFF-themed car during an April race at Richmond Speedway in Virginia. Sadler, an avid outdoorsman, has planted thousands of trees on his property in Virginia. The NFF took the chance to sit down with Sadler and ask him a few questions about his outdoor passions, the racing industry, and National Forests.

NFF: What role did the outdoors and forests have in your childhood?

Sadler: My favorite childhood memories are hunting and racing with my dad. We hunt over 50,000 acres now. When I’m not behind the wheel of my racecar or hanging out with my family, I’m in the woods. I love being outdoors.

NFF: What are some of your favorite activities to do outside?

Sadler: Hunting, deep-sea fishing, playing softball, golf.

NFF: How are you environmentally conscious in your everyday life?

Sadler: My family recycles, and we also make sure no one is doing illegal dumping on our land that we hunt and farm.

NFF: What can your fans do to help be environmentally conscious at races and in their lives?

Sadler: Race fans love the outdoors. We encourage them to plant trees through an initiative with OneMain Financial. I suggest the fans throw their trash away when they attend NASCAR events.

NFF: I understand you’ve planted a lot of trees on your property in Virginia.

What motivated you to do that?

Sadler: I love the outdoors and am a huge hunter. The trees are great for wildlife habitat.

NFF: What is your favorite type of tree?

Sadler: Dogwood.

NFF: What’s your favorite National Forest?

Sadler: The George Washington-Jefferson National Forest in Virginia.

NFF: Which National Forest is closest to your house?

Sadler: The Croatan National Forest in North Carolina.

NFF: Which do you prefer? RV or tent camping?

Sadler: I stay in an RV over 30 weeks a year. It’s my home away from home.

I do enjoy a tent and a good campfire when I get the chance, though.

CORPORATE PARTNER OneMain Financial is proud to support the NFF’s Trees for US program. Our partnership with the NFF has supported the planting of more than 200,000 trees on the Chippewa and Shasta-Trinity National Forests.

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ski conservation fund

By Greg M. Peters

T

he NFF’s Ski Conservation Fund and Forest Stewardship Fund programs provide opportunities for guests staying at ski resorts and lodges

near National Forests to give back to the places they play. Since 2006, these partnerships with some of the most iconic ski resorts and lodges in the country have generated funds for local restoration efforts that improve watersheds, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, and community engagement.

Guests donate a dollar or two per room night, lift ticket or season pass purchase, and resorts send these contributions to the NFF. Through grants to local nonprofit partners, the NFF invests these contributions (augmented by matching funds from the NFF), in projects on the National Forest where the resort or lodge operates.

The programs achieve impressive restoration results because of matching funds from the NFF and nonprofit partners carrying out the work. Since 2006, we have invested more than $4 million in National Forest restoration projects through the two programs. But the value of conservation work that we’ve accomplished is much higher than that. With all cash and in-kind contributions included, the projected conservation value of the projects to date exceeds $14.7 million.

GREG M. PETERS Greg is the NFF’s Communication Director. When he’s not lost in a mountain of paperwork at his desk, Greg enjoys skiing, hiking, canoeing, and getting home after dark. Reach him at gpeters@nationalforests.org.

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Your National Forests

This year, the NFF is pleased to welcome new partners into the program: Loon Mountain Resort, The Omni Mount Washington Resort and the Nordic Inn, all in New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest. Funds donated by the guests of these resorts will be invested in the NFF’s White Mountain National Forest Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign site. In Summit County, Colorado, guests of Breckenridge Grand Vacations and Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center are now able to contribute to prioritized restoration efforts on the White River National Forest through the program.

You can be part of this success story, too. When you book your next vacation, consider staying with one of our partners and giving back to your National Forests.

Photo © Wildland Restoration Volunteers

Protecting the Places We Play

ski conservation fund Photo © Courtesy of Omni Mount Washington Resort

The beautiful Omni Mount Washington Resort and Bretton Woods Ski Resort on the White Mountain National Forest.

2014 Partners California Mt. Shasta Ski Park, Shasta Trinity National Forest Sugar Bowl Ski Resort, Tahoe National Forest

Colorado Arapahoe Basin Ski and Snowboard Area, White River National Forest Beaver Creek Resort, White River National Forest ➤➤ ➤➤ ➤➤

Inn at Beaver Creek The Seasons at Avon The Pines Lodge

Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center, White River National Forest Breckenridge Ski Resort, White River National Forest ➤➤ ➤➤ ➤➤ ➤➤ ➤➤

Double Tree by Hilton Great Divide Lodge Mountain Thunder Lodge One Ski Hill Place, a RockResort The Village at Breckenridge

Breckenridge Grand Vacations, White River National Forest Copper Mountain Resort, White River National Forest Keystone Ski Resort, White River National Forest The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, a RockResort, White River National Forest Vail Ski Resort, White River National Forest ➤➤ ➤➤

The Lodge at Vail, a RockResort The Arrabelle at Vail Square, a RockResort

Winter Park Resort, Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest

Idaho Pend Oreille Shores Resort, Idaho Panhandle National Forest

New Hampshire

New Mexico Ski Apache Resort, Lincoln National Forest

Oregon Cascade Vacation Rentals, Deschutes National Forest Cooper Spur Mountain Resort, Mt. Hood National Forest FivePine Lodge, Deschutes National Forest Lake Creek Lodge, Deschutes National Forest Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort, Deschutes National Forest Sunriver Resort, Deschutes National Forest Timberline Lodge and Ski Area, Mt. Hood National Forest

Utah Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Snowpine Lodge, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest

Washington Lake Quinault Lodge, Olympic National Forest Skamania Lodge, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Stevens Pass Mountain Resort, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest

Wyoming Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Bridger-Teton National Forest

Loon Mountain Resort, White Mountain National Forest The Nordic Inn, White Mountain National Forest Omni Mount Washington Resort, White Mountain National Forest Town Square Condominiums at Waterville Valley Resort, White Mountain National Forest

CORPORATE PARTNER Since joining the Ski Conservation Fund program in 2007, Copper Mountain Resort’s guests have donated more than $290,000 for restoration projects on the White River National Forest. We are proud of the big collective impact from these small individual donations.

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where in the woods Photo © Carlo Spani

Mount St. Helens looms over the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Answer from page 3

This National Forest is named for a prominent figure in U.S. Forest Service history.

W

ashington’s 1.3-million-acre Gifford Pinchot National Forest features the towering peaks of the Cascades, oldgrowth forests, glaciers and volcanic peaks. Many of the Forest’s visitors find their way to the Mount St. Helens

National Volcanic Monument or take in the sights of the state’s second tallest volcano, Mount Adams. Originally part of the Mount Rainer Forest Reserve, it became the Columbia National Forest in 1908, and in 1949 it was renamed for the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service. Less than two hours from Portland, the Gifford Pinchot includes many points of interest such as Lower Lewis Falls (pictured on page 3). From historical places to ecological wonders, the Gifford Pinchot does its namesake proud.

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Your National Forests

NFF CELEBRATES

21 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 21st Annual Sporting Clays Invitational in upstate New York.

Our special thanks go out to last year’s sponsors: TITLE SPONSOR GATEWAY CANYONS RESORT & SPA

EVENT SPONSORS PAUL & SONIA JONES CRAIG & BARBARA BARRETT BNY MELLON WEALTH MANAGEMENT MAX CHAPMAN INTERMEDIA OUTDOORS / SPORTSMAN CHANNEL FRITZ & ADELAIDE KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION POLARIS SIRIUS FUND WATERFRONT NY

STATION SPONSORS BAILEY FOUNDATION DAVID BELL BENTLEY USA BETTERIDGE JEWELERS

For the past 20 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.

BOWERY CAPITAL ROBERT FEITLER ROBINS ISLAND FOUNDATION TIM & SUSAN SCHIEFFELIN AND SPENCER & TOMOKO HABER THE VIRGINIA SPORTSMAN

PLEASE JOIN US IN MAY 2015 FOR THE 21 ANNUAL SPORTING CLAYS INVITATIONAL. Contact Hannah Ettema at hettema@nationalforests.org to learn more about participating or sponsoring a team. st

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