Ground Truth Blog
All California National Forests closed due to fire risk
By Mary Forgione, Christopher Reynolds — With California menaced by fires and shrouded in smoke, state and federal officials have now closed 30 state parks, Highway 1 south of Big Sur and all of the state’s national forests. State parks officials posted most recent...
Stewardship pact gives Wyoming more say on national forests
By Angus M. Thuermer Jr. — Gov. Mark Gordon signed an agreement Aug. 25 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture that gives the state more say in “active management” of national forests in Wyoming including logging, firefighting and invasive weed control. Critics...
Forest Service Authorizes One of Largest Timber Sales in Wyoming History
“The Forest Service’s decision today authorizes one of the largest timber sales in Wyoming’s history by allowing timber cutting and other actions on up to 288,000 acres of the Medicine Bow National Forest over the next 15 years,” said Adam Rissien, ReWilding Advocate...
One Trillion Trees
In February 2019, ecologist Thomas Crowther declared that planting 1.2 trillion trees would cancel out the last 10 years of carbon dioxide emissions and help mitigate climate change. Crowther based his statement on the results of a study produced at the Swiss research...
Retardant use spikes as crews fight blazes — and COVID-19
By Marc Heller — This wildfire season could be a banner year for chemical fire retardants. The COVID-19 pandemic is part of the reason. With the Forest Service under pressure to stop wildfires before they become big enough to require big fire crews on the ground,...
New Forest Service Rules Aim to Prevent Wildfires Sparked by Power Lines
By Monica Samayoa — The U.S. Forest Service is adopting a new rule meant to prevent power lines from sparking wildfires on public lands like California’s deadly, destructive 2018 Camp Fire. The Forest Service’s new rule is intended to reduce the risk of future...
Hundreds of comments submitted over Holy Cross Wilderness water export proposal
By Jerd Smith — Forty years after the Holy Cross Wilderness Area was created, an early effort to explore tapping its water supplies has generated more than 500 comments to the U.S. Forest Service. Aurora and Colorado Springs, which own and operate the only reservoir...
Relict Dace Endangered Species Act Decision Expected by End of September
By Scott King Although it’s small in size, Nevada’s relict dace has become a big name in recent conservation efforts, as a petition and a lawsuit have been put forth to protect the fish under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The process began in 2014 when Forest...
Amid Widespread Opposition to California Logging Project, Forest Service Extends Comment Deadline
By Rebecca August — The Forest Service has extended the deadline, from June 30 to August 14, for the public to comment on its proposal to cut down trees and chaparral across 755 acres deep in the Ventura County, Calif., backcountry. The move follows a letter sent to...
Bighorn Fire: Questions raised about effectiveness of flame retardant used against wildfires
By Tony Davis in The Arizona Daily Star — From the stark, deeply incised rock face of Pusch Ridge to the spruce-lined top of Mount Lemmon, one color seems to have dominated the two-week battle of the Bighorn Fire: Flaming, searing red — maybe a cross between the hues...
A Setback at Boundary Waters
Federal District Judge Trevor McFadden, a recent Trump appointee, upheld the Trump administration’s decision to reissue two mineral leases for the Twin Metals Minnesota mine project, which risks polluting the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Superior National...
Oil, Logging, Mining Ordered as Forest Service Focus
By Bobby Magill, Bloomberg Law — Oil, logging, mining, and grazing will be the priorities of national forests and grasslands, with expedited environmental oversight, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told the U.S. Forest Service Friday. Perdue‘s memo announced a...