Ground Truth Blog
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...
Analysis Recommends Limits on Old-Growth Logging
In the Forest Service old-growth analysis released in June, the Biden administration recommends restricting — but not eliminating — old-growth logging on our national forests. This draft environmental impact statement (EIS) proposes amending all national forest...
Project 2025: What is the Plan for Public Lands?
Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise is the pro-Trump playbook produced as the centerpiece of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 agenda. The 920-page manifesto lays out a plan “to address and reform the failings of big government and an undemocratic...
In Memoriam: Carroll B. Williams Jr., Forest Service Pioneer
Caroll Burns Williams Jr., who died March 1 at the age of 94, was the first African American scientist hired by the Forest Service. He was also the first African American to earn a doctorate in forestry and entomology and one of the first African American faculty...
National Whistleblower Day
In 1989, Forest Service timber sale planner Jeff DeBonis took the words of the Continental Congress to heart when he penned and distributed an open letter to Forest Service Chief F. Dale Robertson. Jeff called for an end to over-cutting our national forests. “We have...
‘Redefining the Urban Wildfire Problem in the West’
A recent report published by Headwaters Economics addresses the increasing risks to communities in wildfire-prone areas. The authors characterize current efforts to control wildfire as “ineffective” and “costly.” Fundamentally, the current paradigm is “inconsistent”...
Fire Escapes Containment; Retardant Proves Ineffective
The Darlene 3 Fire started Tuesday, June 25, a mile from the town of La Pine, Oregon, near Bend. Writing for the Capital Press, Morgan Owen and Michael Kohn reported that firefighters responded quickly, establishing “a full perimeter line around the fire Tuesday...
Save the Jellico Old-Growth Forest
Using an outdated management plan, the Forest Service is set to approve a timber grab on the Daniel Boone National Forest. Please call USDA Deputy Undersecretary of Agriculture Meryl Harrell and urge her to protect Kentucky’s Jellico Old-Growth Forest. Call...