As I sat down at my computer yesterday morning and looked at my overflowing email inbox, a new unread email subject line caught my eye: “Secretary Salazar to Announce Decision on Pacific Northwest Forest Management.”
The day had come! The Obama Administration would finally decide the fate of Oregon’s ancient forests, which have been under serious threat from a Bush-era plan that proposed to more than double the amount of logging on some 2.6 million acres of Bureau of Land Management forests.
The Wilderness Society is working to change our nation’s old approach to fire management. Protecting communities from fire is paramount, but effective policies on fire management should focus on protecting communities, while restoring ecosystems, and sustaining fire’s role in fire-dependent landscapes, where safe to do so.
A decade or so ago a friend suggested to me that instead of my normal spring backpack into my favorite north Georgia trout fishing hole that I instead try the Fires Creek watershed in Clay County, North Carolina. I had seen the mountains that make up this magnificent watershed for years as I drove to various spots along the nearby Appalachian Trail for hiking, but knew little about access to the area, or developed trails.
A few months ago, President Obama signed legislation to help communities revitalize forests and boost economies. The law sets the stage for Congress to provide funding so the Forest Landscape Restoration Act (FLRA) can put additional shovels on the ground next year.
It offers communities the opportunity to work together to look at larger scale, long-term restoration activities that benefit both forests and communities.
Just six months into Obama’s presidency, we’re already beginning to see just how much we can get done with an administration that values strong scientific evidence. Last week, after years of foot-dragging by the Bush Administration, the White House released a landmark multi-agency government report on the effects of climate change on the U.S. Just a day later, a scientific report from the U.S.
I’m looking out my window right now and savoring a magnificent view of the Rockies — it’s just one of the perks of living in Colorado. Recently, though, many Coloradoans have been seeing the familiar hilltops and mountainsides turn from green to red, as the mountain pine beetle continues its spread throughout the West.
As more people become aware of the challenges raised by the pine beetle outbreak it is vital that citizens and policymakers understand the ecology behind the outbreak.
Did you know that the loss of forests accounts for the release of more heat-trapping pollution than the world’s entire transportation sector?
This is an incredible statistic and yet, according to the U.S. Forest Service, the United States continues to lose about 6,000 acres of open space a day as natural ecosystems are developed for urban, agricultural and industrial uses.
With more than 20 percent of green house gas emissions worldwide stemming from deforestation and land conversion, wise forest management has never been more important.
I can still remember the smell of dog food and peanut butter mixing and melting beneath Kentucky’s July sun. My vertebrate zoology class was preparing to trap the Southern flying squirrel and my group received a special assignment: “make raccoon bait.” So, while my other classmates assembled cages and rolled up squirrel-sized peanut butter and oat balls, I tucked my nose under my shirt and stirred our thick concoction with a broken branch.
Our neighbors in Canada recently undertook an initiative that just may be the biggest land conservation victory for the United States in decades. It ensures that massive amounts of greenhouse gases won't be released and added to global warming. The province of Ontario placed at least 55 million acres off limits from development in order to prevent the escape of the carbon dioxide associated with deforestation.
