Ground Truth
What can we Learn About Wildfire From Australia?
Five years ago, the Black Summer Bushfires burned more than 60 million acres in Australia. Between June 2019 and May 2020, hundreds of fires burned, mainly in southeastern Australia. Like the recent fires in Los Angeles, Australian bushfires are driven by high winds....
Northwest Forest Plan Amendment
The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP), adopted in 1994 during Bill Clinton’s administration, covers 24.5 million acres in Washington, Oregon, and northern California. The NWFP was created in response to logging practices that decimated old-growth forests, created expansive...
Lockheed Martin Employs Goats to Reduce Fire Risk
Lockheed Martin’s Waterton Canyon campus sits on 98 acres of rugged foothills near Denver. In August 2024, a 500-acre wildfire came within a mile of the aerospace facility, serving as a wake-up call for corporate decision-makers. Professional staff members were tasked...
Four More Years of President Trump
Donald Trump’s return to the White House is unprecedented. He’s the first convicted felon to be elected to the presidency after a New York jury found him guilty of 34 charges stemming from a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election. Manhattan Judge Juan M....
Bridger-Teton National Forest
The Bridger-Teton National Forest encompasses a significant portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest intact ecosystem in the contiguous United States. The Forest is home to scenic views and abundant wildlife, including grizzly bears, black bears,...
Forest Service Continues Allowing Old-Growth Logging
The Forest Service continues to approve old-growth logging projects in spite of the Biden administration’s executive orders promoting old growth protections. One of the more egregious examples is the Black Ram Project, a plan to cut 95,000 acres in the Yaak River...
Logging Threatens Fens on White River NF
The Lakeview Project on the White River National Forest in Colorado proposes to employ “commercial thinning” in the 6,661-acre project area, much of which is characterized by wetlands, including irreplaceable fens. According to the Notice of Proposed Action (NOPA)...
Protecting Water Resources From Wildfire
Protecting water resources is a common justification for conducting wildfire mitigation projects on our national forests. The concern is valid, as forestland provides “the cleanest and most stable water supply compared to other lands,” according to a 2022 Forest...
Idaho’s Parachuting Beavers Build Forest Resilience
In 1948, Idaho Fish and Game began parachuting “nuisance” beavers into the backcountry in spring-loaded boxes that opened upon landing. The “nuisance” began in the wake of WWII as prosperity returned to the nation and more reliable automobiles allowed people to...
Forest Service Authorizes Heavy Equipment in Wilderness
“Forest Service leaders in the Pacific Northwest have authorized the use of heavy equipment and fire retardant to suppress wildfires in Roadless and Wilderness Areas,” reads a press release from the Forest Service. “When we approve the use of heavy equipment and...
Utah Seeks Control of Federal Lands
In 2015, a Republican-led commission of Utah legislators voted to file a lawsuit challenging U.S. government control of federal lands in the state. Almost a decade later, Utah’s Republican governor and attorney general are following through by petitioning the U.S....
‘Wildfire Retardant is Laden With Toxic Metals’
The calendar reminds me that this is the time of year for nonprofits to ask their members for a year-end donation. Your contribution ensures we can continue protecting our national forests, defend whistleblowers, and promote a positive environmental ethic within our...
Record Retardant Drops From Medford Air Tanker Base
Planes launched from the Medford Air Tanker Base in Oregon have dropped 1.7 million gallons of fire retardant so far this year, breaking the airbase’s previous record set during the 2023 fire season. The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest announced the new record on...
Gutting the Forest Service Workforce
Amazon announced last month that revenue forecasts require that it cut staffing at its fulfillment warehouses. “We’re forced to lay off all of our package handlers,” said Jeff Bezos. “They’re our cheapest labor and lowest in our corporate hierarchy so, obviously,...
Great Britain’s Sequoias Outnumber California’s 6-1
Sequoias are thriving in Great Britain, both giant sequoias (Sequoia giganteum) and coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). Scientists with the Royal Society report that some stands have matched the average growth rates of similar-aged sequoias in their natural...
Forest Service Releases Seasonal Employees
The U.S. Forest Service has suspended the hiring of all seasonal employees with the exception of firefighters for the 2025 fiscal year due to anticipated budget shortfalls. Letters sent to regional leadership teams were leaked via social media site Reddit, prompting...
Ottawa National Forest
The Ottawa National Forest encompasses 1 million acres on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, extending from the south shore of Lake Superior to the Wisconsin state line. The Forest is home to abundant wildlife, scenic views, rolling hills, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, and...
Forest Service Fails to Protect Fens
by Ann Vileisis The U.S. Forest Service recently denied a petition brought by 27 conservation groups from 14 states urging the agency to adopt a rule to better protect the special type of peat-forming wetlands known as fens. Nourished by the continual flow of...
Fire Retardant in Wine Country
The Point Fire burned 1,200 acres in Sonoma County in June. Lago di Merlo Vineyards lost a few vines to the fire, but it faces an uncertain future after an errant fire retardant drop painted a 20-acre swath of grapevines bright red. The Press Democrat reports that...
No Safe Harbor for Water Polluters
For the sailor, a “safe harbor” provides refuge from the storm. In the law, a “safe harbor” gives legal immunity from a broad prohibition to accommodate certain narrow, desirable conduct. For example, when a landowner voluntarily agrees to protect habitat for an...
Judge Halts Illegal Logging Project in Montana
Federal Judge Dana Christensen halted the Horsefly Vegetation Project in the Little Belt Mountains in Lewis and Clark National Forest. Judge Kathleen DeSoto had ruled that both the Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hadn’t properly considered a...