Story Archives of 'White Mountain National Forest'

Firefighters appear to have contained a blaze on Rattlesnake Mountain near Rumney. Since late last week as many as 70 firefighters and two helicopters have been coping with dangerous terrain and unpredictable weather. Correspondent Chris Jensen has this report on what it’s like to fight one of the more challenging fires to hit the White Mountains in many years.

It’s wildfire season, a time when the worst fires burn thousands of miles away from the northeast. But the rising cost of fighting them in the west is affecting the operation of New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest here in the east.

NHPR Correspondent Shannon Mullen reports.

After almost ten years of work, dozens of public meetings and thousands of pages of comments, New Hampshire has an updated management plan for the nearly eight-hundred-thousand acres of land we call the White Mountain National Forest. We’ll get into the report, the public reaction, and what we can expect over the next ten years. Laura's guests are Tom Wagner, NH Forest Service Supervisor for the White Mountain National Forest and Charlie Niebling, Vice-President of Policy & Land Management for the Society for the Protection of NH Forests.

On 191 million acres of land, the size of Texas, the National Forest Service celebrates its centennial this year. Today, we'll look at its formation, its long history, its relation to New Hampshire's forests and the current challenges facing this organization. Laura's guests are Tom Wagner, New Hampshire National Forest Supervisor and Karl Roenke, New Hampshire National Forest Archeologist for the White Mountain National Forest. Also Charles Niebling, Vice President of Policy and Land Management for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. Richard Goudarzi, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Off Highway Vehicle Association and Jasen Stock, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association.

The Roadless Rule - A big change could be coming in terms of who decides how much tree cutting and road building is allowed in the National Forests, including the White Mountains. We'll look at all the sides of the Roadless Rule, the Bush plan, the Clinton plan and compromises within that could give a lot more weight to state and local opinion. Laura's guests are John Demos, North East Representative of the American Land Alliance. Jasen Stock, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association and Charles Niebling, Senior Director for Policy and Land Management for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.