Category Archives: Forestry

A federal judge placed the Knotty Pine timber sale in the Kootenai National Forest on hold until the U.S. Forest Service can explain how its road building won’t hurt grizzly bears in the area. District Judge Dana Christensen ruled a group of environmental organizations would likely win their challenge in his Monday decision enjoining the project near Libby. Knotty Pine included 2,593 acres of logging, precommercial thinning on 2,099 acres, fuels reduction burning on 4,757 acres and prescribed burning on 7,465 acres. Some of the burning work was anticipated to start in May. It would involve 35 miles of road maintenance, and 5 miles of new or temporary roads. The environmental groups raised several issues, but the judge concentrated on two: whether federal planners properly accounted for the impact logging roads would have on grizzly habitat and whether the 1,300-acre project failed to disclose how that area would be accessed without harming the bears.

A federal appeals court ruling has upheld the expansion of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in Southern Oregon and northwest California, after Oregon-based timber company Murphy sued the federal government over a 2017 expansion of the monument. Murphy argued it interfered with laws requiring the government to set aside land for timber production. The 9th Circuit Court said the Oregon and California Lands Act (O&C Act), doesn’t say all these forest lands should be used for timber production. They added the law also includes directives to protect watersheds and provide recreational opportunities. “In rejecting Murphy’s lawsuit, the Ninth Circuit today definitively concluded that conserving O&C Lands for their ecological values is consistent with the law,” said Susan Jane Brown, senior attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center. “Confirming BLM’s discretion to manage the O&C Lands for conservation values is essential to ensuring these lands will continue to provide ecosystem services for future generations.”

Fire-resilient forests have a ripple effect — from trees to landscapes to communities — as their benefits spread beyond their borders to all of us. The 275,000-acre North Yuba Landscape within California’s Tahoe National Forest is one of the largest contiguous unburned areas remaining in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was selected for the Wildfire Crisis Strategy in 2022 as a high-risk landscape. The North Yuba is also home to several communities, including Downieville… Like many other small towns within forested lands in the West, Downieville is exposed to significant wildfire risks due to rising temperatures, enduring drought and an overabundance of living and dead trees on the land. …At first it is hard to see the need to remove anything. The sea of green seems like a positive thing… But consider drought years when these trees and shrubs are water stressed and drying. Then the vegetation becomes potential fuel for a fire.

A bill advancing in the Alaska Legislature would dramatically shorten the time needed to approve the logging of some state-owned lands, shrinking approval time from years to days in the most extreme cases. Proponents say the bill will alleviate fire danger and revitalize the state’s dwindling logging industry by expanding the amount of timber that can be sold from public land, but legislative and public critics have noted that the bill’s lack of specificity gives the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources almost unlimited discretion to decide what forests can be speedily sold and cut. …If passed by the Legislature and approved by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, the bill would allow the state to more quickly sell forests that are threatened by fire, need to be cleared for development, or have been killed by insects, disease or prior fires.

A case brought by an Oregon-based advocacy group challenging the U.S. Forest Service’s use of aerial fire retardant is in federal court, with a judge now tasked on deciding how the agency can use retardant this summer while it seeks Environmental Protection Agency guidance. …The ethics group is requesting the court grant an injunction against the Forest Service, barring it from depositing fire retardant into U.S. streams and rivers until a permit comes through from the EPA. …the Forest Service is in the process of getting a permit from the EPA, but it could take between two and three years. Missoula U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen said he’s aware of the impending fire season and wants to act with a sense of urgency. …Julian Ellis Jr., an attorney representing wildfire stakeholders, argued that the Forest Service’s role in firefighting is paramount, and that retardant is a critical tool in the firefighter’s toolkit.

Upcoming favorable weather allows the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management to begin ignitions on a multi-day prescribed burn project nine miles southeast of Sonoita in Santa Cruz County. The Babacomari Ranch RX Burn starts Tuesday, April 25, through Thursday, April 27, and is weather dependent. Firing operations are planned daily starting in the late afternoon or evening hours. The later ignitions are due to a multitude of reasons, including predicted low relative humidities, more ideal and safer weather conditions, and better predictable winds. …Burn managers expect smoke to settle into the lower elevations throughout the night. This prescribed burn is a multi-year project that started in 2019 to reduce hazardous fuels around the ranch. The primary objective of the project is to provide wildfire protection through strategically placed fire to reduce overloaded fuel to protect adjacent communities, key infrastructure, and other values at risk as the 2023 wildfire season unfolds. 

BILLINGS, Mont. — A legal dispute in Montana could drastically curb the government’s use of aerial fire retardant to combat wildfires after environmentalists raised concerns about waterways that are being polluted. A coalition that includes Paradise, California — where a 2018 blaze killed 85 people and destroyed the town — said a court ruling against the U.S. Forest Service in the case could put lives, homes and forests at risk. An advocacy group that’s suing the agency claims officials are flouting a federal clean water law by continuing to use retardant without taking adequate precautions to protect streams and rivers. The group, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, requested an injunction blocking officials from using aerial retardant until they get a pollution permit. …California Forestry Association President Matt Dias said the prospect of not having fire retardant available to a federal agency that plays a key role on many blazes was “terrifying.”

PHOENIX — Arizona is investing $6 million in federal funding to increase its tree cover in disadvantaged communities and create more green spaces, the Department of Forestry and Fire Management announced. The agency’s Urban and Community Forestry program will use the funds from the U.S. Forest Service to offer grants for municipalities, tribal organizations, non-profits and schools to increase shade, manage trees and assist with heat resiliency. …Phoenix’s urban trees also store 305,000 tons of carbon and removes 35,400 tons of carbon from the air every year, according to the city. But trees only account for 9% of shade in Phoenix, and not every neighborhood sees the same coverage. As the tree canopy map shows, areas in southwest Phoenix have less than 10% tree canopy cover, while northeastern sections of the city have over 14%.

Lance Davisson

Robert Maynard

The Society of American Foresters is the nonprofit national society for forestry professionals. We are a resource for education and assistance in sustainable forest conservation and management, in the urban as well as rural areas of Idaho and nationwide. Our local SAF Snake River Chapter of foresters actively participate in environmentally sound stewardship of our community and regional forests for public benefits. The Treasure Valley Canopy Network is comprised of public and private sector professionals and volunteers who recognize the value that trees and forests provide for the Treasure Valley. Through collaboration, innovation and information sharing, they work to sustain and enhance our region’s urban forest. In our SAF “Foresters for All Idaho Forests” project, these two organizations have partnered together to further grow and improve our forest assets to help build healthy, vibrant, sustainable Treasure Valley communities and forests across Idaho. We appreciate this opportunity to share our work and tell our story.

The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States and the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world. …The largely intact stands of old growth also make Tongass the “national carbon champion representing 44% of the entire ecosystem carbon of the entire national forest system.” … On January 25, 2023, the Tongass made headlines when the U.S. Forest Service repealed the Trump-era Alaska Roadless Rule. Former President Trump’s Alaska Roadless Rule had exempted Alaska from existing roadless area restrictions, opening these areas up to road construction and timber harvesting. …The U.S. Department of Agriculture adopted the 2001 Roadless Rule “to protect and conserve roadless areas on National Forest System lands.” …By ensuring that the Tongass’ roadless areas remain closed to new road construction and timber harvests, the Biden administration has protected millions of acres of pristine backcountry that support a flourishing local recreation economy. 

This is a critical moment for Seattle’s urban forest, as our City Council members prepare to vote on an updated tree protection ordinance next week. We know that Seattle’s trees — especially our largest trees that provide lifesaving canopy coverage, alongside many other health and environmental benefits — are in steep decline. But while it’s commonly assumed we know the shape of the problem and have ideas on how to fix it, we should be questioning the assumptions that this new ordinance will bake into law. But how can the public possibly make good decisions without knowing the basic facts about the resources we have? How many large trees does Seattle actually have? This missing information is a surprising gap at the heart of the current policymaking effort, and it means the ordinance is not being informed by all the facts.