- Daniel Boone National Forest announces prescribed burns, fire season remindersU.S. Forest Service — With the start of Kentucky’s spring wildfire hazard season, wildland fire crews are setting up shop across the Daniel Boone National Forest. These crews will be on call to respond to wildfires throughout the spring fire season, which lasts from February 15 to April 30. They will also carry out a… Continue reading Daniel Boone National Forest announces prescribed burns, fire season reminders
- Forest Service announces plan to amend all forest land management plans to protect old growth treesWXPR – Last week, the USDA Forest Service announced a proposal to amend all 128 forest land management plans across the country. In keeping with the Biden administration’s April 2022 executive order, each forest plan is going to be amended to conserve and steward old and mature growth national forests and grasslands. WXPR spoke with… Continue reading Forest Service announces plan to amend all forest land management plans to protect old growth trees
- US moves to protect old growth forests as climate change threatens their survivalABC News – The Biden administration moved on Tuesday to conserve groves of old-growth trees on national forests across the U.S. and limit logging as climate change amplifies the threats they face from wildfires, insects and disease. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the agency was adopting an “ecologically-driven” approach to older forests — an arena… Continue reading US moves to protect old growth forests as climate change threatens their survival
- Timber harvests climb in national forestsPolitico Pro – The Forest Service harvested more timber in fiscal 2023 than it has for years, but still fell short of the agency’s annual target. National forests yielded 2.9 billion board feet of cut timber, and 3.1 billion board feet in sales, the Forest Service said. Timber industry groups said the numbers reflect progress… Continue reading Timber harvests climb in national forests
- We save Arizona’s forests by keeping their largest treesAZ Central – Decades ago, the logging industry had it backward, removing old-growth trees while leaving the small ones. That’s no longer the case. A coalition of stakeholders, including some former adversaries, came together to fundamentally rethink how we manage ponderosa pine forests in Arizona. Recognizing the need to correct course and safely restore natural… Continue reading We save Arizona’s forests by keeping their largest trees
- DNA mapping begins a long road to recovery for endangered Tennessee fishNews Channel 9 – In 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a draft recovery plan for the Cumberland Darter, a pencil-shaped, three-inch fish whose range has been reduced to just a handful of streams in Southeast Kentucky and Northeast Tennessee, including in the Jellico Mountains. The Cumberland Darter’s precipitous decline was caused by… Continue reading DNA mapping begins a long road to recovery for endangered Tennessee fish
- Forest ‘thinning,’ aka logging, is not going to save us from wildfiresSeattle Times – Thirty years ago, fuels-reduction work in the national forests to prevent mega-fires was promoted like a religious revival. It involved logging projects focusing on thinning forests to mitigate the damage caused by past timber cutting and fire suppression. But after years of analysis of “fuels-reduction” projects, the painful facts have arrived. Let’s… Continue reading Forest ‘thinning,’ aka logging, is not going to save us from wildfires
- Conservation groups sue Forest Service for logging proposal near Yellowstone National ParkDaily Montanan – Three conservation groups have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a United States Forest Service plan for a large logging project near Yellowstone National Park that they say puts several threatened or endangered species in even more danger. The groups said that the Forest Service is refusing to identify the locations, timing… Continue reading Conservation groups sue Forest Service for logging proposal near Yellowstone National Park
- Forest Service plans to clear-cut in the Monongahela National ForestWest Virginians worry it’s a return to the state’s destructive logging past. Fayette Tribune – The U.S. Forest Service has proposed to clear-cut and burn a number of areas of the Monongahela National Forest near the Upper Cheat River — 3,463 acres of trees in all. The Forest Service says that it seeks to make the forest more resilient… Continue reading Forest Service plans to clear-cut in the Monongahela National Forest
- Environmental Assessment Due in SeptemberWe spoke with Tim Reed, U.S. Forest Service Stearns District Ranger and decision-maker on the Jellico Mountains Vegetative Management Project. He said we should expect the Environmental Assessment in September. They are following the NEPA Process and will provide a 30-day official comment period. Watch this space.
- Reversing the worst impacts of the NEPA rollbacksEarthJustice.org – The Council on Environmental Quality released its phase II proposed rule for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This is the final proposed rule in a multi-phase process to remedy harmful changes made under the Trump administration. NEPA is our bedrock environmental law requiring the federal government to engage with communities and take… Continue reading Reversing the worst impacts of the NEPA rollbacks
- More than Half a Million People Call on Forest Service to Protect Mature, Old-Growth Forests and TreesEarthJustice.org – More than 528,000 submitted comments to the U.S. Forest Service about protecting mature and old-growth trees and forests from logging on federal land as a cornerstone of U.S. climate policy. “The public wants the nation’s mature forests and trees to be protected from the chainsaw, and with good reason,” said Garett Rose, senior attorney… Continue reading More than Half a Million People Call on Forest Service to Protect Mature, Old-Growth Forests and Trees
- U.S. has inventoried old-growth forests. Will protection be next?Washington Post – The federal government estimated that more than 100 million acres of old-growth and mature timberlands are still standing on public lands. The findings are the result of a year-long review ordered last year by President Biden and are likely to inflame tensions with the timber industry over which forests should remain unlogged. But they… Continue reading U.S. has inventoried old-growth forests. Will protection be next?
- Forest Service Is Dragging Its Feet On Protecting Ancient Trees From LoggingHuffPost — Critics say it is time for the White House to make demands of the Forest Service instead of letting the agency advance pro-logging policies. On Earth Day last year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at protecting and restoring mature and old-growth forests on federal lands across the country. The order… Continue reading Forest Service Is Dragging Its Feet On Protecting Ancient Trees From Logging
- Forest Service Fiscal 2024 Budget JustificationThis publication summarizes the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA Forest Service’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The 2024 Forest Service Budget request for discretionary appropriations is $9.7… Continue reading Forest Service Fiscal 2024 Budget Justification
- Plans for Jellico Mtn. logging project remain unchanged, but maybe not for longThe News Journal – Basically, it’s not the fact that the logging job is being proposed that has people so upset. It’s more about the overall scope of the job, which will span about four decades and include a considerable amount of clearcutting. I am concerned about the long-term negative effects that could result from… Continue reading Plans for Jellico Mtn. logging project remain unchanged, but maybe not for long
- New Report: Taxpayers Lost $1.7 Billion from Money-Losing Timber Sales in the TongassSince 1980, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has lost more than $1.7 billion on timber sales in the Tongass National Forest, according to a new report by Taxpayers for Common Sense. “It actually costs taxpayers millions to ‘sell’ timber that we collectively own, which makes no sense,” said Autumn Hanna, vice president of Taxpayers for… Continue reading New Report: Taxpayers Lost $1.7 Billion from Money-Losing Timber Sales in the Tongass
- Valuing the forest can’t be left to the marketSumauma.com – Under what insane set of values are lifeless, horizontal logs priced higher than living, vertical trees? How can it make economic sense to run down one of the world’s most important climate stabilisers, water pumps and cooling systems for the sake of a quick buck, burgers and gold trinkets? The answers to these three… Continue reading Valuing the forest can’t be left to the market
- Damaging logging operations on federal public lands costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $2 billion each yearA May 2019 report by the Center for Sustainable Economy says thelogging program on federal forests continues to lose money for U.S. taxpayers in the range of $1.5 to $2.0 billion per year. Each year, the U.S. Forest Service authorizes logging of roughly 3 billion board feet of timber – equivalent to 650,000 full log… Continue reading Damaging logging operations on federal public lands costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $2 billion each year
- Conservation groups sue Forest Service for evading analysis and disclosure of commercial thinning projects’ environmental impactsWildEarth Guardians – Conservation organizations WildEarth Guardians and Oregon Wild filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Forest Service’s misuse of an agency regulation to evade its obligation to analyze and disclose the environmental impacts of three projects on the Fremont-Winema National Forest in Oregon. The organizations allege the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)… Continue reading Conservation groups sue Forest Service for evading analysis and disclosure of commercial thinning projects’ environmental impacts