Forest Planning News #3 (04/05/2006)
Oregon's Siskiyou Forest plans logging in roadless areas. Bush budget cuts local fire assistance funds by 25%. Forest plans must address wildland fire. Wyden-Baucus bill addresses Bush's proposed land sales; USFS
comment period extended. Tongass National Forest plan revisions beginning soon. Walden logging bill moving in the House of Representatives. How to get involved in National Forest projects. Forest Service planning around the country.
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WildAlert News November 2007 (11/05/2007)
Update on California Wildfires and Alaska's Teshekpuk Lake; Take a Moment to Help Montana's Bitterroot National Forest; Global Warming and Forest Fires; Accelerating Oil and Gas Development; Hearing on Proposed Road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge; New Wyoming Wilderness Bill Introduced; House Passes Virginia Ridge and Valley Act; Six Members of Congress Honored for Refuge System Efforts.
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WildAlert News October 2007 (10/04/2007)
Good News to Report on Efforts to Protect Spotted Owl Habitat; When a Burning Fire is Nature's Best Friend; National Wildlife Refuge Week; Natural Dividends Report Released; Updates on Wilderness Bills for California and Colorado.
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WILDALERT NEWS: April 2006 Update (04/04/2006)
Prince William Sound.
Siskiyou National Forest logging. The Wilderness Society's community wildfire work.
Arctic Refuge drilling dropped from House budget bill. Interior Secretary Norton rushes out damaging roads policy. New rules could lead to more jet skis, noise, pollution in National Parks.
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WILDALERT: An Offering of Thanks (11/22/2005)
A special Thanksgiving message from Eleanor Huffines, Anchorage, Alaska.
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WILDALERT: Oregon Roadless Area Timber Sale Announced, Despite Public Opposition (06/07/2006)
The Forest Service announced last week that it will begin selling timber in Oregon's roadless areas -- despite strong public support for the protection of these areas. The Mike's Gulch Timber Sale would be the first logging project in a national forest roadless area since the Roadless Area Conservation Rule was adopted in January 2001.
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Wildfire News Update #1 (05/16/2005)
Inaugural issue. GAO's number one way to protect structures. Current fire statistics.
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Wildfire News Update #2 (06/01/2005)
New report--Following the Money: National Fire Plan Funding and
Implementation. Current fire statistics.
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Wildfire News Update #3 (06/29/2005)
Wildfire season in full swing. Wildfire experts at The Wilderness Society. Current fire statistics.
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Wildfire News Update #4 (07/13/2005)
Wilderness Society teams with International Association of Fire Chiefs to issue community guidance. Current fire statistics.
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Wildfire News Update #5 (07/20/2005)
Prevention best cure for forest fires. Current fire statistics.
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Wildfire News Update #6 (08/03/2005)
Congress funds community wildfire protection. Current fire statistics
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Wildfire News Update #7 (08/22/2005)
President Bush, wildfires visit Idaho in August. Current fire statistics.
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Wildfire News Update #8 (09/22/2005)
2005 Fire Season: Not out of the woods yet. Current fire statistics.
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Wildfire News Update #9 (11/03/2005)
2005 Fire Season Wrap-Up: A Look Behind the Numbers
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Wildland Fire News Update #10 (06/02/2006)
A model for wildland fire planning. New fire mapping tool launched. Fire is essential tool. Wildland fire statistics. Online fire resources.
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Wildland Fire News Update #11 (06/27/2006)
Senate examines fire suppression. Fire as a management tool. Wildland fire statistics. Online fire resources
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Wildland Fire News Update #12 (07/13/2006)
Wildland fire linked to climate change. Fire as management tool. Wildland fire statistics. Online fire resources.
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Wildland Fire News Update #13 (08/28/2006)
In this Issue: Conservationist Walks a Mile in Firefighters' Boots During Idaho Wildland Fire Use Event; Tragedy Strikes Idaho Firefighters; Fire as a Management Tool; Wildland Fire Statistics; and Fire Resources/Reports.
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Wildland Fire News Update #14 (10/02/2006)
In this Issue: New Report on Landscape-Scale Fire Management; Fire as a Management Tool; Wildland Fire Statistics and Fire Resources and Reports.
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Wildland Fire News Update #15 (11/20/2006)
In this Issue: 2006 Fire Season Wrap-Up: By the Numbers; Fire as a Management Tool; Fire Resources/Reports
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Wildland Fire News Update #16 (05/24/2007)
1) Five-Year Anniversary of 2002 Fire Season, Federal Agencies Making Changes in Fire Management; 2) National Model of Collaborative Planning Reaches the One Year Mark; 3) Fire is Essential Tool; 4) Wildland Fire Statistics; 5) Online Fire Resources
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Wildland Fire News Update #17 (06/22/2007)
1) House Examines Preparedness for 2007 Fire Season; 2) The Wilderness Society Participates in Joint Fire Science Smoke Management Roundtable; 3) Fire is Essential Tool; 4) Wildland Fire Statistics; 5) Online Fire Resources
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Wildland Fire News Update #18 (07/24/2007)
1) Our View: A Better Approach to Fire Management; 2) House Passes Interior Funding Bill; 3) Fire is Essential Tool; 4) Wildland Fire Statistics; 5) Online Fire Resources
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Wildland Fire News Update #19 (09/24/2007)
1) The Wilderness Society launches multi-media fire package; 2) Senate to examine intersection of climate change and fire; 3) Essential tool: Wildland Fire Use; 4) Wildland fire statistics; 5) Online fire resources
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Wildland Fire News Update #20 (12/12/2007)
1) Our View: A Watershed Year for Wildland Fires; 2) Wilderness Society Releases New Fire Position Papers; 3) Essential tool -- Wildland Fire Use; 4) Wildland Fire Statistics; 5) Online Fire Resources
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Wildland Fire News Update #22 - Senate should pass an improved FLAME Act (07/11/2008)
1) Our View: Senate Should Pass FLAME Act, Improve House Version; 2) Success Story: Learn from the Burn; 3) Fire is Essential Tool; 4) Wildland Fire Statistics; 5) Online Fire Resources
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Analysis of Biscuit Fire Recovery Project Final EIS  (06/10/2004)
A brief analysis of the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the Biscuit Fire Recovery Project, which the Forest Service announced on June 1, 2004. The Forest Service's new preferred alternative, while somewhat smaller than the draft plan, is still an extreme logging plan that would have devastating impacts on roadless areas and old-growth forest reserves. It would also set a dangerous precedent for wholesale violations of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule and the Northwest Forest Plan.
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Analysis of Categorical Exclusions for Fuel Reduction Projects (12/20/2002)
A brief analysis of the Forest Service proposal to exempt "hazardous fuels reduction projects" from the documentation requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. This would allow thinning or other fuel reduction activities without preparation of an environmental imapact statement or environmental assessment. Prepared by Mike Anderson, The Wilderness Society.
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Analysis of new Categorical Exclusion regulations (06/05/2003)
New regulations will allow very large logging operations with virtually no consideration of environmental impacts.
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Budget Overview: Why A New Direction for Wildfire Management is Necessary (05/15/2007)
The cost of putting out all fires has skyrocketed in recent years. In four of the last seven years, suppression costs have exceeded $1 billion. These escalating costs threaten to consume the majority of the Forest Service's discretionary budget, leaving them very little money to do anything else. Climate predictions, changing demographics and budget realities require a new way of thinking.
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Bush Rhetoric vs His Record (08/08/2003)
Bush Rhetoric vs His Record
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Bush Visits Central Oregon: Site of Metolius Basin Forest Management Plan (08/21/2003)
President Bush is visiting central Oregon on August 21, 2003 to discuss wildfire policy. The area's Metolius Basin Forest Management Plan is a good example of partnership to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire.
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Bush Wildfire Bill Fails to Protect Communities (08/08/2003)
Bush legislation concentrates funding on logging in backcountry, not fire prevention near communities.
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Bush Wildfire Bill Fails To Protect Communities At Risk From Wildfire (05/19/2003)
At a time when we urgently need to focus on protecting communities from wildfires, it is wrong to entertain proposals that would weaken environmental protections and encourage logging in the backcountry, far from threatened homes.
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Carbon Cycling Fact Sheet (02/15/2008)
This report highlights the adverse effects elevated CO2 levels have on forests ecosystems. Because forests have evolved at slow rates, today's warming climate and elevated CO2 levels are changing the way forests grow and store carbon.
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Colorado Fire Reduction Recommendations (07/09/2002)
Joint factsheet from several Colorado conservation organizations
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Community Fire Assistance Budget Continues to Decline in FY 2008 (03/26/2007)
Comprehensive fire management inherently transcends land ownership boundaries, just as wildland fire does not solely impact federal lands. Programs have been designed to help states and localities promote fire-adapted communities in fire-resilient landscapes. While funding for these programs increased slightly between FY 2003 and 2004, funding for these programs has trended downward since FY 2001. A significant decrease in funds, almost 30%, has occurred since FY 2004. Unfortunately, that trend continues in fiscal year 2008 with a proposed 17% reduction from the FY07 enacted levels
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Comparison of Miller and McInnis Wildfire Legislation (05/19/2003)
Analysis shows Miller bill provides significantly greater protection for homes and communities.
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Drought Underscores Need to Protect Communities from Wildfire (04/20/2004)
As drought continues, and more people settle in or near fire-prone areas, the threat to communities increases. Thus protecting lives and communities must be our top priority now, and in the future.
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Fact Sheet: 2006 Fire Season to Date (11/17/2006)
We take a look at how much has burned as well as the type of landscapes involved and their location.
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Facts About FY 2007 Wildfire Appropriations (03/17/2006)
Over the last five years, over $14.24 billion have been appropriated to the National Fire Plan (NFP). At a time of large federal deficits and increasing pressure to re-examine federal budget priorities, the question must be asked whether these taxpayer dollars have promoted safer communities and more resilient ecosystems.
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Facts About FY 2008 Wildfire Appropriations (03/26/2007)
Over the last five years, over $14 billion has been appropriated to the National Fire Plan (NFP). During this time of large federal deficits and increasing pressure to re-examine federal budget priorities, the question must be asked whether these taxpayer dollars have promoted safer communities and more resilient ecosystems.
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Factsheet: "Healthy Forests" Law (12/06/2004)
On December 3, 2003, President Bush signed the “Healthy Forests Restoration Act” (HFRA). The Bush administration and its allies in Congress claimed that passage of the HFRA would protect communities and national forests from destructive wildfires. The HFRA falls far short of what should be the primary goal of any wildfire legislation – protecting communities and keeping people safe from the risks of wildfire.
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Factsheet: Community Wildfire Protection Funding in Final FY06 Budget (07/29/2005)
Summary of funding for state and local wildfire assistance programs in final FY06 Interior Appropriations bill.
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Factsheet: Current and Pending Attacks to Weaken NEPA in the Public Lands Context (04/11/2006)
The National Environmental Policy Act is facing threats along many fronts, including Congressional and White House task forces, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, using wildfire fears to weaken National Forest protections, grazing programs, and national security/border issues.
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Factsheet: Dry Conditions Persist Throughout West and Southeast (05/15/2007)
Wildfire season is upon us. Experts are predicting severe conditions from Pennsylvania to Florida to California, and over 60,000 acres have already burned in Georgia. According to the US Drought Monitor, the majority of Western states and much of the Southeast are once again experiencing very dry conditions.
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Factsheet: Expanding Wildland Fire Use (05/21/2007)
Wildland Fire Use (WFU) is the practice of actively managing naturally-ignited fires in designated sections of forests to accomplish resource management goals. WFU is widely accepted by scientists, policymakers and land
managers as an important tool not only to help mitigate the escalating costs of fire suppression, but also to help restore forests and make them more resilient.
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Factsheet: National Fire Plan - State and Local Assistance (03/26/2007)
Less than 10% of the $14 billion appropriated to the National Fire Plan in the last five years has gone to non-federal partners. This brief describes how funding can be redistributed to better balance non-federal and federal fire funding to help insure more effective national fire management.
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Factsheet: National Fire Plan -- Following the Money (02/07/2005)
The National Fire Plan (NFP) is a suite of policy documents that provides the framework for managing fire on public lands. Among the most significant changes that have come about since the advent of the NFP is the dramatic increase in federal funding for fire management. Money originates in Washington DC through the annual appropriations process and proceeds through complex layers of the USDA Forest Service system to reach the ground where work is done. Following the money reveals federal priorities for fire management and substantial accounting problems.
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Factsheet: State and Local Wildfire Assistance Programs Slated for Deep Cuts in Budget (03/08/2005)
Even though up to 85 percent of the land around communities at the highest risk is state or private, resources going to non-federal lands continue to decrease.
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Factsheet: State Fire Assistance Highlights (03/26/2007)
Coalition factsheet on State Fire Assistance Program highlights.
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Factsheet: State Fire Assistance Program (03/26/2007)
Coalition factsheet on State Fire Assistance Program, which provides funds to state forestry agencies to help communities successfully prepare for and manage wildland fires, including funding for Community Wildfire Protection Plans.
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Factsheet: The Interplay of Fire, Carbon Storage, Charcoal and Global Warming (07/24/2007)
“The Interplay of Fire, Carbon Storage, Charcoal, and Global Warming,” describes the relationship of wildland fires to climate change and provides scientific information to inform public discussions of fire impacts. We also summarize research being conducted by Tom DeLuca and Greg Aplet. Their research will be published in fall 2007 in the journal, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
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Factsheet: The Wildland Fire Budget -- The Reality Behind the Rhetoric. (05/02/2006)
The President’s proposed FY07 budget for wildland fire plans to short-cut many assistance programs that invest our scarce resources where they are most urgently needed -- in and around communities. These cuts come despite predictions that this could be a very active fire season and they ultimately send the message that the goal of safer communities is not a top priority. Members of Congress have questioned these cuts at recent hearings and the Administration has defended them with the rationale that they reduce overhead and duplication and other programs can take up the slack. But the reality is much different.
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Factsheet: Wildfire Suppression Reserve Account (03/26/2007)
Recognizing that past borrowing of funds from other agency programs for wildland fire suppression caused project cancellations, strained relationships with partners, and disruptions in management, Congress established a supplemental wildfire suppression account to preclude that practice. This brief provides a history of the account, why it should be maintained, and information on efforts to develop long-term solutions to address suppression funding.
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Factsheet: Wildland Fire Use (03/27/2007)
Wildland Fire Use (WFU) is the practice of actively managing naturally-ignited fires in designated sections of forests to accomplish resource management goals. WFU is widely accepted by scientists, policymakers and land managers as an important tool not only to help mitigate the escalating costs of fire suppression, but also to help restore forests and make them more resilient. This Fact Sheet provides more information on this management tool and how it can be expanded.
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Fire and Climate Change Fact Sheet (02/15/2008)
While it's true that fires release emissions as they burn, forests recapture carbon as they regenerate and do not contribute to climate change.
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Forest Fires: Facts and Fiction (07/12/2002)
Severe drought across the West has caused an above average number of forest fires. The Forest Service clearly must improve its performance if it is to achieve the goal of the National Fire Plan - prioritizing our limited resources to protect lives and homes.
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Forest Management Fact Sheet (02/15/2008)
Healthy and naturally functioning forests are more likely to survive the effects of a changing climate than heavily harvested ones. This report debunks the logic that aggressive timber harvesting and suppressing all fires is sound forest management practice.
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Forest Service Blowing Smoke (07/12/2002)
A U.S. Forest Service July 2002 report claiming conservation groups have obstructed Forest Service projects to protect homes and communities from wildfire is a poor attempt to shift blame. The Agency bears responsibility for its mismanagement and delays in protecting communities, and its rhetoric will neither protect homes nor prevent future fire dangers to communities.
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GAO Report Finds Appeals Do Not Slow Fuel Reduction Projects (05/14/2003)
For the second time in two years, a review by the General Accounting Office has demonstrated that public comment and appeals process do not hamper hazardous fuel reduction efforts. This new GAO report, which the agency is expected to release to Congress today, finds that the overwhelming majority of projects go forward in a timely manner, even when questions are raised by citizens, industry, recreation groups, conservationists or other interested parties.
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Global Warming and U.S. Public Lands: America's wild lands are under threat, and will play key role in any climate change solution (03/24/2008)
Global warming poses an unprecedented threat to our national parks, forests, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges. At the same time, protecting these natural places is more important now than ever before. Our country’s public lands store carbon and offer one of our best hopes for sustaining the plants, animals, clean water and air, and recreational opportunities that are important to our heritage.
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Kinds of Carbon: Wildland Fires vs. Fossil Fuels Fact Sheet (02/15/2008)
This report explains how carbon that is released during wildland fires is significantly less harmful to the environment than carbon released by burning fossil fuels.
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Position Paper - Appropriate Management Response (11/16/2007)
Position of The Wilderness Society on Appropriate Management Response in wildland fire.
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Position Paper - Fire Regime Condition Class (11/16/2007)
This paper discusses the concept of Fire Regime Condition Class - a method of classifying vegetation developed by the Forest Service which purports to represent the degree of departure of current vegetation from historical conditions.
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Position Paper - State Fire Assistance (11/16/2007)
This position paper takes a look at the Forest Service's State Fire Assistance program, which provides financial assistance to states and communities for fire management activities including training, planning, hazardous fuels treatment and purchase of equipment.
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Position Paper - Wildland Fire Use (11/16/2007)
Brief document outlining The Wilderness Society's position on Wildland Fire Use.
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Protecting Communities from Wildfires (08/08/2003)
Eleven common-sense projects across Colorado targeted to save homes and lives.
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Restoring Forests Reducing Fire Danger (09/28/2000)
Restoring forests and reducing fire danger in the Intermountain West with thinning and fire (Rick Brown, Conservation Science Support Center, & Greg Aplet, The Wilderness Society, Aug. 2000)
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Wildfire - Hayman Fire Facts (09/18/2002)
Factsheet on Hayman Wildfire in Colorado.
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Wildfire Protection Begins Near Homes and Towns (05/13/2003)
Protecting homes and keeping people safe must be the first priority for any wildfire policy. There is universal agreement that making homes firewise and creating a defense space around communities will dramatically improve homeowner safety. The McInnis wildfire bill, however, would provide more help to timber companies than to fire-threatened and cash-starved communities.
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Wildfire: Newspapers Across the Country Agree (06/09/2003)
Compilation of recent newspaper editorials on wildfire.
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