Region Archives: US West

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been cleaning up the state’s forests since President Donald Trump told him to the last time he visited a big California wildfire in 2020. But as Trump touches down in Los Angeles on Friday to view the latest damage, forest management remains a political vulnerability for Newsom that Republicans have capitalized on since the wildfires started — and that Democrats have struggled to defend against. Trump’s repeated chastisements of Newsom to “manage your forests” echoes in-state Republicans’ longstanding argument that Newsom and Democrats aren’t doing enough to clear overgrown flammable brush and trees from the state’s forests. Some Republicans have taken up Trump’s idea of holding disaster aid hostage for policy concessions… Trump himself has repeated the familiar cudgel, telling Fox News, “Remember, I took criticism when I said, ‘You have to manage your forests.’ … Look at what happened in Los Angeles. It’s like a nuclear weapon went off.”

In the Wasatch Mountains of the western US on the slopes above a spring-fed lake, there dwells a single giant organism that provides an entire ecosystem on which plants and animals have relied for thousands of years. Found in my home state of Utah, “Pando” is a 106-acre stand of quaking aspen clones. Although it looks like a woodland of individual trees with striking white bark and small leaves that flutter in the slightest breeze, Pando (Latin for “I spread”) is actually 47,000 genetically identical stems that arise from an interconnected root network. This single genetic individual weighs around 6,000 metric tons. By mass, it is the largest single organism on Earth. Although Pando is protected by the US National Forest Service and is not in danger of being cut down, it is in danger of disappearing due to several other factors.

The Northwest Forest Plan is undergoing a once-in-a-generation amendment process and a symposium held on Wednesday afternoon on the University of Oregon campus worked to make sure that vital voices are included in the process. The symposium brought together multiple groups to make sure that the voices of indigenous communities, environmental justice advocates, and others are included in the forest plan’s amendment process. The goal is to educate the community about the critical importance of including indigenous perspectives and indigenous leadership in solving the climate and wildfire crisis affecting northwest forests… Nearly 280 people attended the symposium that was held in the Redwood Auditorium at the Erb Memorial Union. More details on the symposium can be found on the University of Oregon’s website.

Yana Valachovic

Wildfires are a fact of life in California. As the flames die down and residents return, this moment presents an opportunity to think more holistically about reducing wildfire risk in Los Angeles and other fire-prone regions. “There’s a lot that we can do as residents and homeowners to really change that trajectory and make small, often inexpensive actions that can make a big difference in changing the outcome when our buildings are exposed to the pathways of wildfire,” said Yana Valachovic, a fire scientist at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network… “I’m a licensed professional forester, so I will share my bias that I do like wood. We grow a lot of trees in California. It is our available natural resource, and I think it’s important to be able to use what you have in your community. The wood itself is combustible, but there are treatments that can make it fire-resistant.”

Dave Upthegrove

OLYMPIA — On his first day as Washington’s new commissioner of public lands… Dave Upthegrove knew one thing he would do right away: make good on a campaign promise by pausing for about six months on cutting unprotected, older forests on state trust land. …Upthegrove said he will direct his staff at the Department of Natural Resources to get a better handle on the older unprotected forests managed by the state: where they are, how much there is, and what criteria defines them. Some forests, or portions of them, might be released for cutting before the pause is up, depending on what is learned, Upthegrove said. The pause doesn’t mean the state will cut less timber overall, but it will change where the agency harvests, and what type of trees DNR cuts, Upthegrove said. …Nick Smith, with the American Forest Resource Council, an industry group, was skeptical. …Upthegrove’s decision to retain so many of the agency’s professional staff is reassuring, Smith said, and “we appreciate that he is accessible and willing to talk.”

…President Donald Trump issued a flurry of executive orders aimed at boosting fossil fuels production and mining on federal land… 60% of Oregon forests is owned by the federal government — and it’s managed primarily by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. The two agencies oversee more than 32 million acres in the state, and federal agencies are responsible for funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to the state to manage those areas, including protecting endangered or threatened species. State and federal land often spill over borders, requiring federal collaboration with Oregon agencies and leaders, who espouse environmental values at odds with those of Trump. Gov. Tina Kotek, her natural resources advisor, Geoff Huntington, and the heads of Oregon’s environmental protection and natural resource agencies said they’ve been planning for this second Trump presidency. …[Both] told the Capital Chronicle they are hopeful for collaboration but prepared for conflict. 

President Donald Trump signed executive order aimed at boosting oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in Alaska. While state political leaders cheer, environmental groups see it as worrying. …”It means a timber industry in the Tongass National Forest can once again take place. It means Alaska can begin the process [of] finally getting its remain[ing] acreage of land from the federal government”, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy said on X about the executive orders. …It also aims to reverse restrictions on logging and road-building in a temperate rainforest. …Cooper Freeman, Alaska director at the Center for Biological Diversity, told The Associated Press that the president “just can’t wave a magic wand and make these things happen. Environmental laws and rules must be followed… We’re ready and looking forward to the fight of our lives to keep Alaska great, wild and abundant”.

For the second time this decade, Weyerhaeuser Co.’s Longview lumber mill has been hit with a serious state fine for violating state stormwater control regulations. On Monday, the state Department of Ecology announced it has fined the company $145,000 for 36 stormwater discharge violations, 15 monitoring requirements violations, and 16 reporting requirement violations, all of which occurred between July 2022 and May 2024… “We believe strongly in permit compliance and invest significant time and resources to ensure we are meeting all environmental standards,” Weyerhaeuser Co. spokeswoman Mary Catherine McAleer said in an e-mailed statement Thursday. The latest penalty follows another related to stormwater that Ecology issued to Weyerhaeuser‘s Longview lumber mill in 2022, when the agency fined the facility $40,000 for repeated water quality violations.

Oregon is grappling with the aftermath of a record-breaking wildfire season that has left the state facing a staggering $218 million bill. The unprecedented costs have ignited a fierce debate among lawmakers over who should foot the bill and how to prevent future financial crises. The state’s current funding model for wildfire response has come under intense scrutiny. Private landowners contribute to a fund that is capped at ten million, while the state’s general fund covers the remaining costs. This year, however, the general fund will bear the brunt of the expenses, paying more than fourteen times the amount contributed by private landowners. Representative Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, has long been a critic of the state’s reliance on the general fund for wildfire costs. He argues that large-forest landowners should be held responsible for the fires on their land.

A sweeping executive order signed by President Donald Trump during the first hours of his second term aims to boost Alaska’s natural resource industry by reversing environmental protections that limit oil and gas extraction, logging, and other development projects across the state. The order was one of dozens signed by Trump following his inauguration Monday.  Trump’s broad order, titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential,” follows a request from Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy for swift action reforming the federal government offices and policies that oversee Alaska’s resource development industry. The policy changes were also championed by Alaska’s all-Republican congressional delegation. …“We will drill, baby, drill,” Trump said in his second inaugural address. One of his executive orders signed Monday established a “national energy emergency.”

…LA, and much of the United States, was asking how wildfires could rage out of control in one of the richest cities in the world – a city with a long history of dealing with fire. What could have, what should have, been done? And who was to blame? …“There is an element of human hubris in this to think we can have full control,” Dr. Edith de Guzman, a cooperative extension specialist in adaptation policy who has closely studied impacts from the climate crisis on communities, said. “Nobody would blame officials for not stopping a hurricane – when a hurricane comes, it comes.” …What hit LA last week was a perfect storm – a combination of extreme weather, a warming climate, human hubris and and safety measures that have been delayed or disregarded for decades. …Firefighters faced an enormous task, both Safford and de Guzman said. And the homes they were defending were built in absolutely untenable places.

UTAH — The investigation into the Uinta blaze found it started a day earlier than initially thought. The amount is the maximum fine allowed under the timber harvesting contract loggers held with the U.S. Forest Service, according to an agency investigative report obtained through a public records request by KPCW. The Yellow Lake Fire consumed more than 33,000 acres in the Uinta Mountains. It was at one point the highest priority fire in the United States with 889 firefighters responding at its peak. The forest service’s investigation did not include the total cost of fighting the fire, and it redacted the name of the logging company responsible.

The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) reports on January 16, House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR-04) and Representative Scott Peters (D-CA-50) announced the reintroduction of the Fix Our Forests Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at strengthening resiliency through active forest management. Chairman Westerman noted that the recent LA wildfires underscore the urgency of this issue and said that the bill is slated for House floor consideration next week. The bill would expedite environmental reviews to help prevent catastrophic fires and increase the scope of restoration projects. The legislation also seeks to deter lawsuits that delay that which is deemed essential forest management. Additionally, the reintroduced bill includes language from California Democrat Representative Josh Harder that would require federal agencies to establish standard operating procedures relating to payment timelines for fire suppression cost-share agreements.

Additional coverage from the Federation of American Scientists: Position On The Re-Introduction Of H.R. 471 – The Fix Our Forests Act

As California residents grapple for answers in the wake of a massive firestorm event in which two major blazes ravaged parts of Los Angeles — the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire —power lines are once again at the center of debate. It’s no wonder. Failed electric equipment and poor maintenance have caused horrific blazes in recent years, sometimes sparked by the smallest of parts, according to government investigators. …The 2023 fire in Maui that killed 102 people was caused by “reenergization” of broken power lines during high winds that showered sparks into dense, dry vegetation. …One key but often unpopular tool for preventing deadly wildfires is shutting off power when high winds of certain velocities are forecast. …Undergrounding power lines is the single best method to avoid dangerous arcing of overhead wires, or having dry palm frond hit one that can spark or spread fires. It’s also by far the most costly

On Dec. 20, 2024, new research was published that reveals scientists discovered more than 30 dead whitebark pine trees that were entombed in ice for millennia on the Beartooth Plateau in northwest Wyoming. The groundbreaking discovery was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and can be found here. According to the research, the whitebark pines were lying down with “extraordinary quality of wood preservation.” The authors of the peer-reviewed paper write that recent warming has decreased snow and ice cover of most subalpine treelines around the world, so that the whitebark pine trees have become visible after up to 5,900 years. This discovery provides insights into past climate change and ecosystem dynamics in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE).

On his first day in office, Dave Upthegrove, the state’s new public lands commissioner, said he would pause logging sales in some older state-managed forests for about six months. In doing so, he’s taking a step toward fulfilling a campaign promise to set aside nearly 80,000 acres of older, but not necessarily old-growth, trees. How much acreage the pause would cover was not immediately clear, but a Department of Natural Resources spokesperson said Wednesday it would involve slightly more than 20 timber sales… The state’s previous lands commissioner, Hilary Franz, during an interview last fall, pointed to hundreds of thousands of acres the department has already set aside for conservation and highlighted the environmental benefits of using wood from trees grown in-state, rather than importing it from other places that might have less stringent logging regulations.

Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska would seem as temperate as coastal Washington is now. Glaciers would retreat, fires may become common, and new wildlife would arrive. How would long-lived, stationary organisms like trees cope with these shifts? Scientists try to answer that question in a number of ways. Most of them have logistical drawbacks, like the high maintenance costs for lengthy experiments… results show that when faced with large temperature swings, forests stayed unexpectedly stable. This suggests that vegetation replacement, forest dieback, or changes in tree composition are less likely to occur in response to radical climate change than most land managers might predict… About 27 percent of Glacier Bay National Park is covered by more than 1,000 glaciers. Many of these are alongside old-growth, temperate rainforests. This type of rainforest also clings to the damp, coastal mountains of Canada, Chile, and New Zealand. It’s considered critical for global diversity and carbon storage.

Last year, wildfires burned 1.9 million acres in Oregon, setting a new record. Since 2020, major river drainages of the Cascades, including the McKenzie, Santiam, and Clackamas rivers, have been devastated by fires. Many fear that it could be a matter of time before a catastrophic wildfire burns along the Highway 26 corridor on the west slope of Mount Hood. Bracing for this potential, a small nonprofit organization based in Sandy, Oregon, is cutting trees and clearing brush. Launched with funding from state and federal sources, AntFarm’s Community Wildfire Defense Program aims to address the growing threat of wildfires in rural Oregon communities, especially on Mount Hood, where the pockets of neighborhoods and businesses are hemmed along the edge of the 1.1 million acre Mt. Hood National Forest. The program helps at-risk communities along the Highway 26 corridor create plans for wildfire defense, offers fire-risk assessments to property owners, and performs “boots on the ground” mitigation, such as fuel reduction.

The Tongass National Forest’s annual Anan Bear Awards showcased the now viral black and brown bears’ range of talents from a brown bear’s expert fishing skills winning “Fishing in Style,” to a black bear’s lack thereof being awarded “Slippery Paws.” One of the four-legged influencers, a cub that was not quite ready to claim expert hunting abilities, received 2.1 million views after winning the “Nope” award! The idea for the Anan Bear Awards originated on a whiteboard in 2022, after staff at the observatory were inspired by the National Park Service’s Fat Bear Week. Enter Forest Service Forestry Technician Jennifer Kardiak, who wanted to celebrate all aspects of the Anan bears, not just their figures.

The Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest has published a multi-decade forest plan that favors logging and motorized and mechanized recreation. Last week, the acting Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest supervisor, Heath Perrine, signed off on a final version of the forest plan that will guide projects on the national forest for at least the next 20 years. The previous forest plans for the Nez Perce and Clearwater Forests were separately written in the late-1980s. After decades went by and the two forests were combined in 2013 due to budget cuts … a new management plan was needed for a forest that now covers 4 million acres and seven counties in Idaho. However, the process the Nez Perce-Clearwater Forest used to produce the plan has been somewhat unorthodox, from having an acting supervisor, who was in the job for six months, make the decision to choose an alternative that wasn’t originally defined in the draft environmental study. 

WASHINGTON — a first wave of bills has been put forward by Republicans and Democrats alike in response to the devastation in Los Angeles. The measures come as President Biden has pledged 100% federal backing for disaster assistance for the next six months, though with President-elect Donald Trump taking office in less than a week, the future of the funding is not completely secured. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), meanwhile, has said … he is discussing  whether to link aid to the deeply political debate over increasing the debt ceiling. 

• The Fix Our Forests Act would streamline environmental regulations to make forest management happen faster
• Rep. Darrell Issa introduced legislation he called Direct Hire to Fight Fire
• The Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster Act calls for changes to how FEMA prepares for disasters
• Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) plans to introduce legislation to rein in California’s Coastal Commission.