USFS targets lands to purchase, restore and preserve in 15 s

[azdesertfather]

USFS targets lands to purchase, restore and preserve in 15 states
Written on April 9, 2012 by Sarah McIntyre in News

In a recent announcement, the Unites States Forest Service, with the help of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, will be dedicating $40.6 million towards acquiring 27 “exceptional land acquisition projects” this year as part of the Obama Administration’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative. The land, spread across 15 states, will be restored by the Forest Service for a number of reasons. Among them: to help safeguard clean water supplies, provide recereational access, preserve wildlife, and protect historic wilderness.

The fifteen states that are home to areas chosen by the USFS are spread across the country. Alaska, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington will all be seeing land acquisitions by the Forest Service as part of this larger project.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack describes the project, “In keeping with the Obama Administration’s America’s Great Outdoors conservation initiative, USDA is committed to conserving and restoring our forests and bringing jobs to rural America. Through our partnerships with states, communities, tribes and others, it is vital that we step up our efforts to safeguard our country’s natural resources.”

All funding for the land acquisitions is being provided by the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Created by Congress in the 1960s, the Fund helps provide funding to federal, state, and local governments so that they can purchase land, water, and wetlands for preservation.

US Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell shared his support of the projects, saying, “The pristine wildernesses, flowing waters and majestic vistas help define what makes this country grea. These projects will help ensure a long future of quality open space for those hunters and anglers, hikers, campers and other nature lovers who enjoy America’s great outdoors. The funding will also reduce administrative costs and provide us increased flexibility in how we restore lands across the country.”

A full list of the projects being funded, including details about each project, is available here. The largest project is being funded in Tennessee. Rocky Fork (Cherokee National Forest) will be part of a $5 million project. This huge acquisition will protect what has been one of the largest forest tracts in the eastern part of the United States. Other substantial projects (over $3 million in funding) will be in Miranda Canyon (Carson National Forest), New Mexico and Salmon-Selway Initiative Area (Salmon-Challis and Sawtooth National Forests), Idaho.

http://www.dailyhiker.com/news/usfs-tar ... y+Hiker%29

[The_Eagle]

Nothing in Arizona.....

[JimmyLyding]

The fools running Arizona are hell-bent on reviving the ill-fated "Sagebrush Rebellion," thus ignoring the US Constitution and the preconditions that Western states had to agree to in order to be admitted to these United States. The biggest precondition related to this subject is that Western states had to give a fair amount of land to the federal government in order to be admitted to the union. The lawyers win again!

[Tough_Boots]

Doesn't the Forest Service already own a crazy amount of land in Arizona? What else could they take on? If you want more hiking land, talk to the Boy Scouts. They just got donated like 300,000 acres or something huge like that in Arizona. They apparently don't even know what's on it yet.