County and governor criticize old-growth planning process

Both Governor Mark Gordon and the Crook County Commissioners have expressed displeasure with how the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has handled the process of changing how it manages old-growth forests.

“The State’s concerns about the process, timeline and substance of the National Old-growth Amendment (NOGA) persist, are in fact increasing, and have become indicative of why the Forest Service should perform its effort at a forest unit level, not on a national scale,” wrote the governor last week in a letter to Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

The county also shared negative thoughts wi...