Ground Truth Blog
‘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...
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Destructive Jellico Mountains Logging Project Withdrawn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...
Climatologist: Fuel-Reduction Logging is a Trojan Horse
Dr. James Hansen, Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute and former Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, doesn’t like the Fix Our Forests Act. A Boston Globe op-ed coauthored by Hansen and attorney Dan Galpern questions basic...
Study Reveals ‘Substantial, Persistent Fire Deficit’
Government agencies and corporate media consistently emphasize the expansion of wildfire acreage caused by a warming climate. Studies that examine only two or three decades of North American fire history support these claims. “Considering these studies, forest...
Debunking Early-Successional Habitat Myths
“ A campaign is underway to clear established forests and expand early-successional habitats ... with the intention of benefiting specific species.” So begins a 2023 report published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. The authors of that report analyze this...
FS Reorganization Will Close Leading Research Lab in Minnesota
The unfolding Forest Service reorganization targets important scientific facilities along with ongoing research projects. Current nationwide Forest Service research stations will be consolidated down to the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Colorado, and 75% of...