Road-closure plan for national forest targets 4,000-mile network

Nothing does more to degrade and fragment wildlife habitat than a road. Make that “roads” and there is a real problem. Read what a national forest in Oregon has come up with for closing roads it can’t keep up with maintaining anyway.

Research confirms global warming in death of yellow cedars in N.W.

It has long been suspected that climate change is causing root disease in yellow cedars up the Pacific Northwest coast. Now, as this article nicely explains, research has confirmed it. Here is more evidence that something is wrong and human activities are behind it.

Court strikes down parking fees in Coronado National Forest, Arizona

This case, which could have wide implications for other public lands, centers on the highway leading to the summit of Mount Lemmon, just north of Tucson. My wife and I traveled it during our two visits to Tucson/

U.S. Forest Service assesses watersheds for first time

OK, but one very big question this poorly researched media account doesn’t answer is why did it take the public land-management agency this long to get around to it? In any case, Americans have got to remember that few acres in the East, especially the Northeast, were looked at in the study because they are not PUBLIC LAND acres and, thus, are not part of national forests. I can think of a bunch of watersheds in my previous home state of Pennsylvania that are in very sorry state — both from development and the past excesses of coal mining.

Transparency in government and conservation issues

From Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility:

Dear Alan:

After the death of Osama bin Laden, the White House supplied a number of details they later retracted, blaming the “fog of war” for the inaccurate statements.  These hasty corrections were made before contrary briefing material reached Congress and the public.

In contrast to these quick retractions, at times when the White House believes it controls the record, it stubbornly sticks to its story – no matter how apocryphal.  A perfect example is incorrect official statements vastly underestimating the plume rate of the BP spill.  Low-balling the spill hampered the response effort, according to the presidential commission report.

Nearly a year after PEER requested the back-up messages from the technical team that developed the estimates of the spill flow-rate the Obama administration is still stalling release of the approximately 60 e-mails that tell the true story.  PEER has been in federal court for eight months pressing to find out who gave orders to deceive the public.  A key agency has even set up a Potemkin web display of e-mails that has only three of the least substantive e-mails we are seeking.

Nor is the duplicity on the Gulf spill an isolated response.  Driven by whistleblower requests, PEER is currently in federal court seeking release of –

• Documents detailing the state of disrepair of dams and levees on the Mexican border and outlining evacuation plans (or lack thereof) in case of failures.  The Obama administration is arguing that all the material, including flood maps, are pre-decisional;
• Warnings by whistleblowers from the advent of the Obama administration about the disarray of vital whistleblower programs for tens of millions of American workers.  Unfortunately, the Labor Department has decided against meaningful reform of this deeply dysfunctional program; and
• What is behind a cover-up of a probe into corrupt National Park Service practices.

Even an initiative to develop scientific integrity and transparency policies is swathed in secrecy.  In response to a PEER suit seeking details as to why the emerging policies are so tardy and timid,  the Obama Justice Department evenrefuses to disclose which agencies will be covered by new policies – if they ever are completed.

Thus, it is not surprising that when some non-profits recently sought to give President Obama an award for transparency, he chose to receive it in private.  In our experience, despite all the agency blogs, web-chats and Twitter accounts, transparency in the Obama administration is merely an unobstructed view of the talking points.

Transparency will only reliably exist when officials believe they cannot successfully dissemble.  Help PEER enforce true transparency.

Sincerely,

Keep it country; keep it green

U.S. Forest Service begins new planning process

And the public – that’s you and me – is invited (urged!) to participate in the process and submit comments. This article nicely explains the endeavor and where to send comments. So get to it.

New study shows beetle-killed trees ignite faster

Well this finding is hardly a surprise to anyone with good botanical knowledge. A good follow-on question is this: Will timber outfits use the study’s findings as ammunition in pressing for larger logging operations? That would be really sad, but fitting, given industry’s power.

Scientist takes helm of national forest in New Mexico

This is especially noteworthy given the House Republicans’ straight denial of all things scientific. Note that this Santa Fe New Mexican article about the new supervisor of the national forest of that name also mentions “climate change.” This woman previously served as a public affairs officer in the U.S. Forest Service. That’s what my career was in the U.S. Air Force.

National Forest rules and the Obama administration

On that topic, the NY Times today editorialized, comparing Clinton-era and Bush W.-era rules with what the Obama team is up to. You can read the editorial right here.