Ground Truth

Jet Fuel From Wood

Jet Fuel From Wood

Writing for Greenwire, Marc Heller reports that Enviva, the world’s largest wood pellet producer, has inked a deal to turn forest products into aviation fuel. The deal will send up to 750,000 metric tons of “forest thinnings” to a new production facility to be built...

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FSEEE Bighorn Protest ‘Gets Ink’

FSEEE Bighorn Protest ‘Gets Ink’

Angus Thuermer with Wyofile and Alex Hargrave with the Buffalo Bulletin reported on our protest that helped convince Bighorn National Forest officials to drop their plan to spray toxic herbicides to kill native sagebrush and larkspur. As noted by Hargrave, the Forest...

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FSEEE Sues Forest Service Over Fire Retardant

FSEEE Sues Forest Service Over Fire Retardant

Sixty days have passed since FSEEE delivered a notice of intent to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service for its use of fire retardant in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Forest Service has not responded, so we have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District...

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Prescribed Fire

Prescribed Fire

The wildfire crisis in the West represents one of the most significant issues that the Forest Service must address. Climate change frequently gets a large share of the blame, as does the Forest Service 100-year policy of suppressing all fires “by 10 a.m.,” thereby...

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Beavers Can Spearhead Climate Action

Beavers Can Spearhead Climate Action

A recent report by Emily Fairfax and Chris Jordan finds that “biological components,” beaver in particular, are critical to restoring “the full process-based functionality of connected floodplain systems.” The authors note that rivers and streams, “are naturally...

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Victory: Post-fire Forests Reopening in Oregon

Victory: Post-fire Forests Reopening in Oregon

During the 2020 and 2021 fires in Oregon national forests, the Forest Service issued closure orders in the affected areas. But once the fires were extinguished, closure orders were extended, ostensibly to protect the public from the risks posed by so-called “danger...

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Native American Tribes Will Co-manage Bears Ears

Native American Tribes Will Co-manage Bears Ears

After restoring and expanding Bears Ears National Monument, the Biden administration signed a historic agreement that gives Southwestern tribes a role in managing the monument. Under Secretary Deb Haaland’s leadership, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land...

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FSEEE Criticizes Fire Retardant Use

FSEEE Criticizes Fire Retardant Use

FSEEE Executive Director Andy Stahl's criticism of aerial fire retardant use by the Forest Service went out on the Associated Press newswire in an article written by Keith Ridler. Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and...

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Is Fire Retardant Effective?

Is Fire Retardant Effective?

The Forest Service is supplementing its aerial fire retardant environmental impact statement that FSEEE’s lawsuits forced to be written in 2011. Those cases imposed no-drop zones around water and rare plant critical habitat. Fire retardant is the red slurry dumped...

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One Step Closer to Erasing Trump Rule

One Step Closer to Erasing Trump Rule

Greenwire reports that the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) submitted a new rule for White House review, a step toward undoing a Trump administration rule redefining critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. The new rule would cancel the Trump-era rule that...

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State Park is First on Forest Service Land

State Park is First on Forest Service Land

Colorado’s 43rd state park is the first of its kind — it sits on Forest Service land. In 2021, the White River National Forest took ownership of the 488-acre Sweetwater Lake parcel adjacent to the Flat Tops Wilderness. The state park designation is the result of work...

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Plan Falls Short on Wilderness Recommendation

Plan Falls Short on Wilderness Recommendation

Gallatin National Forest lies at the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park. Along with Custer National Forest, it encompasses more than 3.3 million acres, including the Absaroka-Beartooth and Lee Metcalf wilderness areas. The final Custer Gallatin Land...

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