Steve Wilent

Excerpt from an E&E Daily article, “BLM, Forest Service officials support contentious bills.”

Glenn Casamassa, the Forest Service’s associate deputy chief, indicated the service also supports the goal behind S. 2160, sponsored by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.).

Daines’ bill would require the Forest Service chief to establish a pilot program using “alternative dispute resolution,” most likely arbitration, in lieu of legal action “for certain projects” designed to reduce wildfire risks in Montana and parts of Idaho.

Only projects dealing with reducing wildfire risks, and developed “through a collaborative” process with various stakeholders, would be eligible for arbitration, he said.

“Combating chronic litigation doesn’t erode public input, it safeguards it,” he said. “It does so by ensuring that consensus-driven decisions of the majority are not obstructed by isolated dissenters, in most cases extreme environmental groups.”

Casamassa told Daines that litigation has harmed important forest management projects and is a concern for the Agriculture Department and Forest Service.

“USDA supports the idea of arbitration as a tool to help streamline project decisions while maintaining public engagement and input,” he said.

The USFS and state partners announced today an initiative called Toward Shared Stewardship across Landscapes: An Outcome-based investment Strategy, the USFS’s “plans to work more closely with states to identify landscape-scale priorities for targeted treatments in areas with the highest payoffs.” A report on the initiative is here.

From the press release:

A key component of the new strategy is to prioritize investment decisions on forest treatments in direct coordination with states using the most advanced science tools. This allows the USFS to increase the scope and scale of critical forest treatments that protect communities and create resilient forests.

The USFS will also build upon the authorities created by the 2018 Omnibus Bill, including new categorical exclusions for land treatments to improve forest conditions, new road maintenance authorities, and longer stewardship contracting in strategic areas. The agency will continue streamlining its internal processes to make environmental analysis more efficient and timber sale contracts more flexible.

Excerpts from the article: A counterpoint to folks who say the dead trees are entirely benign.

Researchers believe that the hundreds of millions of trees killed by bark beetles in the West — an estimated 129 million in California alone — will cause even more severe fires as they collapse. “A giant heap of dead forest is a new reality,” Dr. Finney said.

Another factor under examination is the “spotting” behavior produced by embers. Increasing amounts of deadwood are leading to more spotting — the shower of hot embers that high winds pick up from burning trees and scatter a mile or two in front of the flames. These showers set homes, forests and everything else in their path on fire.

A little insight on the costs of managing recreation sites…. Helps people understand why the USFS and other agencies charge day-use fees.It’s not just human waste, but dog-doo, too, and the doo-bags provided at trailheads. (Why do so many dog walkers dutifully bag their pet’s poop and then leave the bags by the side of the trail?)

Excerpt from Greenwire, “Jump in visitors creates smelly problem in Mont. forest”

Published: Monday, August 13, 2018

Rising numbers of visitors to Custer Gallatin National Forest in Montana are creating a poop problem, as officials look for cost-effective ways to deal with more and more human waste.

The forest has spent more than twice as much this year on pumping out toilets and having the waste taken away as it did in 2013. The total costs for this year are expected to reach $85,000, said Beartooth Ranger District outdoor recreation planner Jeff Gildehaus.

“It’s something really unanticipated how fast the costs have gone up,” Gildehaus said. “It cuts into other things, like hiring people or buying supplies.”

The forest might increase campground fees to make up for the added expense, Gildehaus said.

Article from Oregon Public Broadcasting: “When It Comes To Wildfire, Politics Lag Behind Science.”

The public doesn’t want smoke, period, and is leery of fire in the woods.

“Political barriers might explain why some forest restoration projects complete the thinning but not the burning part of the plan. “

Note the “About This Story” section at the bottom of the page.

Why Does This Story Matter?

Politicians have the power to influence how the West manages wildfire by directing tax dollars toward suppression and forest restoration. This story focuses on where politicians stand relative to the science that says forest managers should be letting more wildfires burn and using more prescribed fire to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic wildfires in the future.

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Contact: (202) 205-1005
Twitter: @forestservice

 State of Alaska, USDA Forest Service begin official work on Alaska Roadless Rule

JUNEAU, ALASKA, August 2 – The State of Alaska and the USDA Forest Service signed a memorandum of understanding this week to develop an Alaska state-specific roadless rule.

An Alaska state-specific roadless rule will determine which currently designated roadless areas would require a different management designation to further Alaska’s economic development or other needs, while still conserving roadless areas for generations to come.

The state-specific rule will amend the 2001 Roadless Rule, which prohibits road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvesting on certain National Forest System lands across the country. Currently, in Alaska, 67 percent of National Forest System lands are inventoried roadless areas. An additional 26 percent are designated Wilderness, where road construction is also prohibited.

In establishing this new rule, the USDA Forest Service is responding to Alaska’s petition for a full exemption from the 2001 Roadless Rule. The petition was accepted by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in April 2018, with the decision to pursue a state-specific roadless rule. National Forest System lands in Alaska that are designated Wilderness would be unaffected by this rulemaking.

“We will continue to work with the people of Alaska, the state government, industry, tribes and Alaska native corporations to maintain the health and vibrancy of our National Forests,” said Secretary Perdue. “The national forests in Alaska should be working forests for all industries.”

The Forest Service and state will work closely together, as the Forest Service did with Colorado and Idaho to develop their state-specific roadless rules.  An important part of this process will be working with stakeholders from across the region to inform development of this state-specific rule.

“The State of Alaska is ready to begin this work. I am confident that state and federal officials will be responsive to input from local residents every step of the way and that together we will account for the diverse needs of people who live, work, and recreate in the forest,” Governor Bill Walker said of the project.

Secretary Perdue aims to sign a final Alaska Roadless Rule within the next 18 months. The preparation process will involve National Environmental Policy Act environmental review and disclosures, gathering public feedback, conducting public outreach, and consultation with Alaskan Tribes and Native Corporations.

A notice of intent to prepare an EIS for the rulemaking is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register later this summer.

For more information please contact Dru Fenster, Alaska Region Media Coordinator at 907-209-2094.

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From the Eugene Register-Guard: “Fire-prone area of Kalmiopsis ablaze again.”

“They are using some of the old lines from the Chetco as well as the Biscuit fire,” said Katy O’Hara, public information officer for the Klondike and Natchez fires.

The Klondike fire is burning within the boundaries of the 500,000-acre 2002 Biscuit Fire and on the edge of the Chetco Bar Fire, a 192,000-acre conflagration that rocked the region last year. The area was also the site of the 150,000-acre Silver Fire in 1987, which like the others was ignited by lightning.

In the years since the Biscuit Fire, light vegetation that is extremely flammable has sprouted, providing abundant fuel for the Klondike, which doubled in size last week.

FYI, from the US Forest Service, “Forest Health Monitoring: National Status, Trends, and Analysis 2017.”

This article, “5 years after massive fire near Yosemite, forest restoration may be in peril,” quotes Chad Hansen; John Buckley, executive director of the nonprofit Central Sierra Nevada Environmental Resource Center; some USFS staffers; and Malcomb North, a scientist at the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Research Station. I wish the article had included more info from North on the science!

“Its centerpiece is a federally funded community and watershed resilience program touted as a model for helping small town economies and wildlife habitats bounce back after wildfires throughout the western United States.

“But now, five years after the fire, there is growing concern that the grand partnership is crumbling due to delays, frustration and a tug-of-war between preservationists and logging advocates backed by the Trump administration.”

This article from the Coos Bay World explains that the 5,400-acre Coquille Tribal Forest in Oregon is no longer “coupled” to BLM management practices — including Northwest Forest Plan restrictions on harvesting. Maybe the agencies ought to consult with the tribe as it considers revising the Northwest Forest Plan.