Capt. William E. Simpson II – USMM Ret. contributed the following opinion article to Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities. How often do we find ourselves as citizens complaining when legislators overlook cost-effective ideas and plans that could arguably provide some relief or a solution for a serious societal issue, and instead seem to prefer solutions that…
We want to alert you to town halls Washington 24th District state legislators are holding in Port Angeles and Port Townsend next week. Details for the town halls are below, but first we want to tell you why your participation is important. This is your opportunity to urge State Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, Rep. Steve Tharinger and…
Smoke may smell good, but it’s not good for you While not everyone has the same sensitivity to wildfire smoke, it’s still a good idea to avoid breathing smoke if you can help it. And when smoke is heavy, such as can occur in close proximity to a wildfire, it’s bad for everyone. Smoke is…
A recent study by Climate Central found wildfires in the Western United States are undermining progress in reducing air pollution from tailpipes and industrial sources. In analyzing air quality in two large California air basins, the independent research organization found the level of harmful particulate matter in the air consistently exceeded federal standards during the peak…
Wayne Thacker is Chair of the Virginia Wildlife Habitat Coalition. The following letter originally appeared in the Central Virginian: In response to “Working with nature’s renewable resource in Louisa County”, in the Oct. 12 edition of the Central Virginian,, and a related letter to the editor on Oct. 26, sure, clear cuts are ugly the…
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Resilient Federal Forests Act on Nov. 1. In the run up the vote, there were many misleading statements about what the bill does, and doesn’t do. Thanks to the House Natural Resources Committee, here are myths and facts about this bill that improves the management of our federally-owned…
Note: This article first appeared on the Hoover Institution web site This past summer, wildfires scorched nearly eight million acres across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Most of the fires, which cost taxpayers $2 billion to fight, were on national forest land. Increased fuel loads over the last century—resulting from trees that are diseased, insect…
The U.S. Forest Service spent six and a half years and wrote 2,600 pages of environmental analysis for a forest project that reduced fire risks on 5,000 acres. What happened next has become too common in our broken system of federal forest management.
The Pulp & Paperworkers’ Resource Council has tracked Paper & Wood Products Facility Closures for 26 years, and they recently released their updated map of mill closures. Each dot and arrow on the map represents the loss of good-paying family-wage jobs; loss of markets for logs from private lands; and less infrastructure to support active…
This month we had an opportunity to tour the “A to Z” project, a major forest restoration effort that is transforming an overgrown, fire-prone national forest into a healthier and more resilient landscape that benefits wildlife habitat, public access, recreation and logging and mill jobs in nearby Colville, WA. It’s a product of forest collaboration among…