The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views
Community Sourced, Shared and Supported
TThanks to an eagle-eyed (or hawk-eyed?) member of our circle… Here’s the link And here’s an excerpt: “Our forest plans require it,” he said. “But that would be a pain” if the existing guidelines don’t actually help the goshawks successfully rear more chicks. “We do have different prescriptions for the goshawk areas. In those breeding … Read more
This statement was release yesterday: The Center for Biological Diversity is a founding member of the Four Forests Restoration Initiative. The Center co-founded, participates in and supports the Initiative as a vehicle for corrective ecological restoration treatments that lead to the re-establishment of climate-entrained fire regimes and native biological diversity across landscapes dominated by ponderosa … Read more
The Southwest seems to be the area of interest of the week. Since yesterday, I have seen a couple of news stories on this “judge halts tree-cutting” order. This AP story in the Washington Post had more information and quoted someone with a different point of view. Here it is. The project that raised my … Read more
Thanks to Matt Koehler for this submission.. For Immediate Release, October 12, 2011 Contact: Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (928) 310-6713 Erik Ryberg, Western Watersheds Project, (520) 622-3333 Court Slams Forest Service’s Refusal to Monitor Southwestern Endangered Species TUCSON, Ariz.— A federal judge on Tuesday sided with the Center for Biological Diversity and Western … Read more
Proposed changes to the NFMA planning rule species viability provision were presented to the public at last week’s National Roundtable on the proposed planning rule in Washington D.C. The viability provision, intended to fulfill the diversity requirement of the National Forest Management Act, has been the most contentious element of previous attempts to change the … Read more
It has been 40 years since public land laws have been systematically reviewed by a land law commission, the longest period ever separating their use. Much of the gridlock in how public lands are managed can be traced back to statutory language. Lawyers and policy-makers met at the University of Colorado Law Center in early June … Read more
There are even a few court opinions dealing with plan-level decisions! FOREST SERVICE Apache-Sitgreaves/Gila NF grazing Court decision in Western Watersheds Project v. Perdue (D. Ariz.) On September 29, the district court upheld the Stateline Project, reauthorizing livestock grazing for ten years on fourteen allotments on the Apache-Sitgreaves and Gila National Forests. Plaintiffs had argued … Read more
I’ve gotten a little behind. Colorado oil and gas leasing Settlement in Citizens for a Healthy Community v. U. S. Bureau of Land Management (D. Colo.) On August 11, the BLM settled another case against its resource management plan decisions involving oil and gas leasing. Under the agreement, BLM will complete an amendment process for … Read more
No Forest Service Summary since July 8. FOREST SERVICE AND BLM CASES Wild horse removal Court decision in Friends of Animals v. Culver (D. D.C.) On June 28, the district court found that the BLM had violated the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act with its 2019 decision to remove over ten years (instead of … Read more
A while back, a commenter asked for (if I remember correctly) visions for the future of the Forest Service. I thought back to the book “193 Million Acres: 32 Essays on the Future of the Agency” edited by our own Steve Wilent (and with essays by many TSW writers and friends). It was published in … Read more