Ground Truth
30×30 Update
The Biden administration’s commitment to the “30x30” goal of conserving 30% of the planet’s lands and waters by 2030 remains enigmatic, in part because the administration has changed the playing field. The original concept of conserving 30% of natural spaces addressed...
FSEEE Files Lawsuit to Stop Post-fire Logging in Oregon
As reported by the Statesman Journal, FSEEE has filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service over a commercial logging plan to harvest at least 15,000 acres of so-called “hazard trees” along 404 miles of roads in Willamette National Forest in Oregon. The project would...
FSEEE Reiterates Concerns About Aerial Fire Retardant
Autumn Spanne with Environmental Health News recently spoke with FSEEE Executive Director Andy Stahl about the increasing use of fire retardant in the western U.S. Spanne's article cites a significant increase in aerial wildfire retardant use — 90 million gallons...
Toxic Algae and Fire Retardant
Authorities are looking at toxic algae as a likely cause in the mysterious deaths of a family and their dog while hiking in the Sierra National Forest. The family was reported missing when they failed to return home, and their bodies were discovered the next day. The...
FSEEE Weighs in on Wildfire Policy Debate
A Los Angeles Times article by Anita Chabria and Alex Wigglesworth cites FSEEE Executive Director Andy Stahl in the debate about the U.S. Forest Service “let it burn” wildfire policy. Andy told the Times that, “despite the devastating outcomes, the problem isn’t the...
Wildfire Mitigation
The 2020 wildfire season set a record for acres burned in the U.S. since 1983, and fire season started early for 2021 with drought conditions continuing across most of the country. At this writing, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows much of the West experiencing extreme...
Biden Administration Moves to Reverse Trump’s Tongass Actions
As reported by Juliet Eilperin in The Washington Post, the Biden administration recently announced new protections for the Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska, including an end to large-scale old-growth logging and a proposal to bar road construction on...
Roadless Area Conservation Act
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) reintroduced conservation legislation — the Roadless Area Conservation Act (S. 877). The proposed legislation would permanently prevent logging and related activities in designated roadless areas of National Forest land, including parts...
30×30
In May, the Biden administration released a 24-page “Conserving America the Beautiful” plan with a goal of “conserving at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030.” The 30x30 idea is based on scientific guidelines that seek to mitigate climate change and...
Wildfire Caucus
Congressman John Curtis (R-Utah) and Congressman Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) formed the Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus in the second month of the 117th Congress. A press release issued by the offices of both congressmen says the new caucus “seeks to elevate awareness and...
Haaland Makes History at Interior
Interior Secretary Debra Anne Haaland became the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary when she took the oath of office on March 16. She won confirmation in the Senate on a 51-40 vote. She is a member of the Laguna Pueblo and a 35th-generation New...
No Pass from Forest Service ‘Nanny State’
The Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon, recently published an editorial by FSEEE Executive Director Andy Stahl, in which he takes the Forest Service to task for closing large portions of many national forests following forest fires. "According to the Forest Service,...
FSEEE Comments on Grounding of World’s Largest Firefighting Plane
Associated Press journalist Patty Nieberg recently reported on the grounding of the world's largest firefighting plane, the Global SuperTanker, based in Colorado. She contacted FSEEE Executive Director Andy Stahl for an expert opinion: "Some fire experts, like Andy...
FSEEE Voices Support for Mushroom Hunters, Criticizes Post-Fire Forest Closures
The Salem Statesman Journal reports that a unique culinary opportunity is being thwarted by forest managers in Oregon. Morel mushrooms, specifically fire morels, are known for their prolific production following wildfires like last year's Labor Day fires. "It's hard...
Forest Service Partnerships and Volunteers
As funding for public lands agencies has dwindled, the Forest Service has turned to nonprofit partnerships and volunteers (P/Vs) to help keep boots on the ground. The Forest Service Wilderness Advisory Group (WAG) examined this trend in 2008, identifying the top 10...
As if 2020 Wasn’t Bad Enough Already
The U.S. set a record that may have escaped notice at year's end, given the distractions of an accelerating pandemic. 2020 brought a new wildfire record—10.3 million acres burned—breaking the 2015 record by 200,000 acres. “In 2020, we saw some of the hottest months on...
Whitebark Pine
In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed listing whitebark pine (pinus albicaulisis) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), nearly 30 years after protections were first proposed. Native to the mountains of the western United States...
‘Conservation Value of National Forest Roadless Areas’
In 2001, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule prohibited road construction and timber harvesting on more than 90,000 square miles of inventoried roadless areas (IRAs) in National Forests. Since these areas are not protected by legislation, 40 percent of these lands are...
Trump’s Forest Service Legacy
Donald J. Trump’s environmental legacy will be remembered as one of the most destructive in the nation’s history. While he and his enablers unleashed a preponderance of their environmental attacks through the Bureau of Land Management and the Environmental Protection...
Vilsack Confirmed to Head Ag Department
While President Joe Biden’s picks to head the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency will make history if confirmed, his nomination of Tom Vilsack to lead the Department of Agriculture is considered politically safe, as reflected in the 92-7...
Trump Administration Redefines ‘Habitat’
In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, at the direction of Trump appointees, finalized a rule to limit the government’s ability to protect crucial ecosystems by redefining “habitat” as it relates to the designation of areas critical to the survival of...