Missoula, Mont. — As wildfire season presses on across the western United States, forest experts say that they have several tools available to counter them ahead opf time.

Seven long years ago the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, with the support of local residents, took the Forest Service to federal court to halt the Hanna Flats logging, road-building, and burning project on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest in northern Idaho. Through a long and winding legal saga the good news — for grizzly bears, old-growth forests, and the local populace which strongly opposed the deforestation — is that a federal appeals court just ruled for the Alliance.

In a time of political polarization, it’s easy to forget that the vast majority of Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs — 80% or more, depending on the poll — value environmental conservation. However, this support is not easily or often translated into successful, popular initiatives. One success story is the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Since […]