"Autumn Fern" photographed in the Nordic Valley area of Eden, Utah by Rory Wallwork

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The Government Accountability Office released a letter Friday that questioned the closed-door land use plan between Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey and the Plum Creek Timber Company — the largest private landowners in Montana with 1.2 million acres.

The GAO investigators — provoked by the secretiveness of the land use easement and potential impact on Montana’s forestland — referenced the National Forest Roads and Trails Act passed by Congress in 1964, which states the purpose is “to facilitate timber harvesting,” and concluded the agency cannot grant a right greater than what the act allows.

Many argue private driveways are not facilitating timber harvest, particularly when the road easements detail “cost-sharing agreements,” where taxpayers and Plum Creek split cost of road construction and maintenance.

In other news, Rick Holley, President and CEO of Plum Creek Timber, will be a Keynote Speaker at the upcoming Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies conference, and will be discussing the company’s approach to real estate activities.

The Post Office won't be delivering any mail. Federal Agencies across America are closed for the day. Banks are emptied of personnel. Most of the nation is still at work, some parades are snaking their way through cities and Italian Americans are supposedly celebrating a famous figure. Most notably, a 14.92 percent discount is in effect at clever stores.

It's Columbus Day, everyone.