Homeland slated to become "battlefield;" Helena National Forest announces collapse

In a recent debate, Ron Paul raised awareness of legislation pending in the US Senate. The ACLU's Blog of Rights brings the story via hipneck:

The Senate will be voting on a bill that will direct American military resources not at an enemy shooting at our military in a war zone, but at American citizens and other civilians far from any battlefield — even people in the United States itself. The worldwide indefinite detention without charge or trial provision is in S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act bill, which will be on the Senate floor on Monday. The bill was drafted in secret by Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) and passed in a closed-door committee meeting, without even a single hearing. And American citizens and people picked up on American or Canadian or British streets being sent to military prisons indefinitely without even being charged with a crime. The solution is the Udall Amendment; a way for the Senate to say no to indefinite detention without charge or trial anywhere in the world where any president decides to use the military. In support of this harmful bill, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) explained that the bill will “basically say in law for the first time that the homeland is part of the battlefield” and people can be imprisoned without charge or trial “American citizen or not.”

The US Department of Agriculture concedes the failure of Helena National Forest. From the Missoulian:

A Forest Service report (pdf guide) identifies the Helena National Forest as having the worst watershed conditions of all national forests and grasslands in a region that includes Montana and parts of Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota. The report found the Helena National Forest had 28 watersheds in need of serious help. Most other forests had zero to six.

A California blogger sees a pattern west of the Divide. More on Forests to Faucets.