Last year, the U.S. Congress passed legislation to end the practice of “fire borrowing,” where the U.S. Forest Service “borrows” money from forest management accounts to pay for escalating wildfire suppression costs. Yet this “fix” doesn’t take effect until 2020, and the Forest Service was forced borrow $720 million in 2018. Congress needs to pass…
by Steve Kariainen: HFHC Great Lakes Director Montana’s Bruce Vincent likes to remind us, “The world is run by those who show up!” Margaret Mead is famous for saying, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” A small group…
A Democratic Governor in a deep-blue state made headlines in declaring a state of emergency ahead of this year’s wildfire season. As part of the declaration, California Gov. Gavin Newsom moved to ease state regulations to expedite targeted forest management projects to help protect communities from wildfire. We’ve long supported similar reforms in Congress to…
The U.S. Forest Service released its budget justification for Fiscal Year 2020 and it includes a lot of information about the agency and its finances. Buried in this voluminous document are details about settlement awards and attorneys fees related to the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), Endangered Species Act (ESA) and amounts paid in…
Jim Dudley is Vice President of Timber Resources for Swanson Group, a forest products company. The following is an excerpt of his address to the 2019 Oregon Logging Conference, of which he served as president. We have reprinted Jim’s address with his permission. I feel like I owe everything I have in this world to…
Last month Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild launched well-publicized attacks against the Bureau of Land Management’s “Pedal Power” timber sale, near Springfield and Willamalane Park and Recreation District’s Thurston Hills Natural Area. You may be curious about what this manufactured controversy is all about. Here are three things you should know: Pedal Power was carefully…
Steve Kariainen is Great Lakes Director for Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities Change is nothing new to the forests of the Great Lakes region of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The forests are relatively young, having developed in the wake of the most recent glacial period that ended around 10,000 years ago. A host of ongoing changes…
Forest roads on National Forest System (NFS) lands are an essential part of America’s infrastructure, providing forest products, open space, wildlife habitat, clean water and air, and more. They provide motorized access into our federally-owned forests, enabling millions of Americans to enjoy our public lands. Forest roads facilitate search and rescue operations, and enable firefighters…
by Molly Pitts, HFHC Rocky Mountains Director As a Colorado resident, I truly enjoy a wide variety of activities on all types of lands including secluded, designated wilderness areas. As a forester, I am deeply concerned with the idea of designating more land as wilderness under the guise of “protecting” or “conserving” it. Take for…
By Tom Morton, Choose Outdoors Chairman of the Board and Bruce Ward, Choose Outdoors President The recent announcement of the “Platte Fifteen” Cross Laminated Timber building in Denver is great news, for many reasons. Platte and 15th Streets, formerly the home of Natural Grocers and Confluence Kayaks, will soon become the site for Platte Fifteen…