Ground Truth Blog
FSEEE cited in Report on Wildfire Management Strategies
CQ Researcher just published a report titled "Wildfire Management: Are new strategies needed as fire risks grow?" that takes a wide-angle look at how Canada and the U.S. are (and aren't) adapting their wildfire strategies as fire seasons grow longer, hotter, and more...
The New U.S Wildland Fire Service Employs Old Strategies
In the mountains near the Colorado/Utah border, five federal firefighters deployed emergency fire shelters this past weekend as flames overran their position. Three did not survive. Their deaths have pulled back the curtain on a set of sweeping changes to how the...
Oregon Lawsuit Argues Decades of BLM Land Plans Were Never Valid
A single logging project in western Oregon has become the test case for a legal theory that, if it holds up in court, could put the management of hundreds of millions of acres of federal public land in question. Cascadia Wildlands, a Eugene-based grassroots...
‘Eos’ Article Highlights FSEEE Concerns About Forest Service Research Cuts
An article by Emily Gardner published by the American Geophysical Union in Eos highlights FSEEE Executive Director Kevin Hood's concerns about recent changes to the U.S. Forest Service. The article reports that historic drought, record-low snowpack, and extreme heat...
$10 Billion FEMA Backlog Delaying Disaster Preparedness Nationally
Across the United States, communities are working to prepare for a future shaped by more frequent floods, wildfires, droughts, and extreme weather events. From wildfire-prone neighborhoods in Colorado to flood-vulnerable towns in Mississippi, many communities rely on...
Reimagining Fuel Breaks Through Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Among members of the Karuk Tribe, whose ancestral lands encompass present-day Happy Camp (Athithúfvuunupma), California, fire is recognized not as an enemy but as one of the oldest teachers. For thousands of years, the Karuk have used low-intensity cultural burning to...
Roadless Rule Rescission Threatens Vital Ecosystems
A new report in Biological Conservation coauthored by David Mildrexler, Logan Berner, Beverly Law, and Mary Booth concludes, "The justifications for rescinding the Roadless Rule are fiscally misguided and ecologically flawed." The rescission, they write, would...
Stealth Attack on Roadless Rule Moves to Senate Floor
JUNE 10, 2026 UPDATE: The backroom ambush on our national forests has cleared its first hurdle. This morning, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 11–9 along strict party lines to pass the Wildfire Prevention Act (S. 140) and advance it to the full...
Forest Service Reorganization: The Bigger Picture
[6/8/26: added embedded update below to include 6/3/26 Executive Order reclassifying positions to Schedule Policy/Career] When assessing the Forest Service reorganization, we must consider the bigger picture and broader changes occurring across the civil service....
We Need Your Help to Make a Stand for Clean Water
[We will be updating this post regularly to reflect the current legislation status and how you can best stand for clean water.] 3 UPDATES 6/3/26: I removed "Urgently" from our post title as lobbyists & Congress were unable to pass legislation exempting aerial fire...
Destructive Jellico Mountains Logging Project Withdrawn
In a letter to Kentucky Heartwood, District Ranger Kyle Edmonds announced the withdrawal of the draft "Decision Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Jellico Vegetation Management Project" on the Daniel Boone National Forest. FSEEE, along with Kentucky...
Senator Cassidy Drops Proposal to Carve up Kisatchie, Louisiana’s Only National Forest
Reporting for New Orleans-based Verite News, Tristan Baurick writes that Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy has abandoned his plan to transfer 140,000 acres of Kisatchie National Forest to Grant Parish after his bill "sparked outrage from conservationists and parish...