Forest Service no longer serves public

I have a new name for the Forest Service, and the agency is probably not going to like it. It seems the agency has adopted Nancy Reagan's 1980s mantra of "Just Say No," so let's change its name to The Department of No. I've been dealing with the Forest Service as a recreationist and a reporter for nearly 20 years. It used to do a pretty good job of serving the public and managing public lands. But attitudes within the agency appear to have changed, and recent decisions make me wonder whether Forest Service officials care what the public wants. It seems like there is someone in a dusty back office at the Department of No scouring every federal law, code, policy, plan, order or directive to find new and creative ways to deny people the use of public lands. Here are a few recent examples...more