Ground Truth Blog
FSEEE Files Lawsuit Over Heavy Metals in Fire Retardant
Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics filed another federal lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service over the agency's use of aerial fire retardant on May 7. In this latest complaint, FSEEE alleges that the Forest Service's use of fire retardant containing...
Respecting the Role of Dead Trees in the Forest
Dead trees have become a frequent target of the Forest Service in the years since the agency was forced to stop allowing clear-cut logging of old-growth trees. Either labeled as “hazard trees” or subject to “salvage logging,” dead trees have been identified by the...
Do Muskrats Herald Twilight?
During his first term, President Trump signed into law the 30,000-acre Devil’s Staircase Wilderness, an Oregon coastal rainforest. President Biden, on the other hand, added zero national forest acres to the wilderness system. During Trump’s first term, the Forest...
Tree Diversity Reduces Impacts of Temperature Extremes
Various studies have shown that forests act as a buffer to climate extremes, creating micro-climates that support forest resilience and biodiversity. The authors of a new study, “Tree Diversity Increases Forest Temperature Buffering via Enhancing Canopy Density and...
Compass Minerals Shuts Down Fire Retardant Business
In a statement to investors, Compass Minerals announced that it “has decided to wind down its fire retardant business, Fortress North America,” as “part of a larger strategic refocus to improve the profitability of the company’s core Salt and Plant Nutrition...
Allegheny National Forest
Located in northwestern Pennsylvania, the Allegheny is the state’s only national forest, established in 1923. The 514,029-acre Forest sits on the Allegheny Plateau and features: Two wilderness areas, Hickory Creek and Allegheny Islands. Two national scenic areas,...
Musk Firings Undermine Wildland Firefighting
The extralegal firing of Forest Service employees by Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” will undermine the agency’s firefighting capabilities. Musk’s pseudo-agency claimed that firefighters were exempt from the purge, but as reported by Kylie Mohr in...
Prescribed Fire Promotes Buffalo Clover Recovery
Buffalo clover (Trifolium reflexum) is listed as endangered by the State of Indiana, but this rare plant was discovered on the Hoosier National Forest following a prescribed burn. This patch of buffalo clover lives in an open canopy of dry oak forest adjacent to a...
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....
Good Samaritan Mining Law Finally Passes
by Jonathan P. Thompson In December 2024, President Joe Biden signed the Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act into law, opening the door for “good samaritans” to clean up some of the more than 500,000 abandoned mining-related sites across the U.S. without...
Report Reveals ‘Catastrophic’ Decline in Wildlife Numbers
Released in October 2024, the World Wildlife Federation’s (WWF’s) latest Living Planet Report cites a “catastrophic 73% decline in the average size of monitored wildlife populations” from 1970 to 2020.” The Zoological Society of London maintains the Living Planet...
EXPLORE Act Enjoys Broad Support
On Jan. 6, President Biden signed into law the “Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act” (H.R. 6492). With bipartisan sponsorship, the new legislation passed the House by voice vote in April. In December, the bill passed the Senate by unanimous...