This well-balanced, well-sourced article presents a variety a viewpoints which, together, explain how complicated land management issues are in the U.S. It is also very timely, as it has a real-estate angle; while most U.S. real estate markets are experiencing waves of foreclosures and house-value drops, Montana forests are becoming the sought-after location for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th homes for the extreme wealthy. The reporter provides hotlinks throughout. There is much big picture ... More »

The very last paragraph finally gets to the topics I know about from seeing rural land around me developed. Development becomes a drain on local government because they must provide services to outlying areas. Homes like these have been burned by the hundreds by the wildfires that increasingly ravage the West during longer droughts. And this land is no longer available for timber production, just as we've built over thousands of acres of farmland that will never again produce food ... More »

I personally would have liked to know more about Mark Rey, a former timber lobbyist who oversees the U.S. Forest Service. This sounds like another Bush administration renegade who left the public sector to work for the same sector in the government - a clear violation of ethics, if not law. I would not put a former gun manufacturer in charge of the ATF and consider myself principled.

We in Maine are currently dealing with a proposal for a huge Plum Creek development around Moosehead Lake and are only now waking from our slumber to see how they operate. This article is very informative and provides us with much additional insight as to what kind of organization we're dealing with, their connections, and to what means they'll go to get what they want.

Th stench of this behind closed doors thuggery is typical o this bounch of crooks!. Living in an area that had a couple of sweetheart Nat'l Forest 'swaps I sympathize with montanans. The story itself i well written. It is the first I had heard of this assault. I'm pleased it is shining some sunlight into the pit of slime. I assume if Reich-wing radio even acknowledges it it will be to ridicule the envionazis and tree huggers.

I think it would have been helpful to show the statistics on the amount of money the industry has spent on political processes (lobbyists and campaign contributions) both in Washington and in Montana, and on whom they have spent it, and a little more on Mr. Rey's background as a lobbyist, and see who the key players are in this deal in relation to that deal. Whatever can be done to make those connections more transparent over time, since they are FACTS - would be helpful. Otherwise, ... More »