Latest news with #USDAForestService
Yomiuri Shimbun
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Trump to Strip Protections from Millions of Acres of National Forests
A decades-old rule protecting tens of millions of acres of pristine national forest land, including 9 million acres in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, would be rescinded under plans announced Monday by the Trump administration. Speaking at a meeting of Western governors in New Mexico, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the administration would begin the process of rolling back protections for nearly 59 million roadless acres of the National Forest System. If the rollback survives court challenges, it will open up vast swaths of largely untouched land to logging and roadbuilding. By the Agriculture Department's estimate, this would include about 30 percent of the land in the National Forest System, encompassing 92 percent of Tongass, one of the last remaining intact temperate rainforests in the world. In a news release, the department, which houses the U.S. Forest Service, criticized the roadless rule as 'outdated,' saying it 'goes against the mandate of the USDA Forest Service to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands.' Environmental groups condemned the decision and vowed to take the administration to court. 'The roadless rule has protected 58 million acres of our wildest national forest lands from clear-cutting for more than a generation,' said Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation for lands, wildlife and oceans for the environmental firm Earthjustice. 'The Trump administration now wants to throw these forest protections overboard so the timber industry can make huge money from unrestrained logging.' The Roadless Area Conservation Rule dates to the late 1990s, when President Bill Clinton instructed the Forest Service to come up with ways to preserve increasingly scarce roadless areas in the national forests. Conservationists considered these lands essential for species whose habitats were being lost to encroaching development and large-scale timber harvests. The protections, which took effect in 2001, have been the subject of court battles and sparring between Democrats and Republicans ever since. The logging industry welcomed the decision. 'Our forests are extremely overgrown, overly dense, unhealthy, dead, dying and burning,' said Scott Dane, executive director for the American Loggers Council, a timber industry group with members in 46 states. He said federal forests on average have about 300 trunks per acre, while the optimal density should be about 75 trunks. Dane said President Donald Trump's policies have been misconstrued as opening up national forests to unrestricted logging, while in fact the industry practices sustainable forestry management subject to extensive requirements. 'To allow access into these forests, like we used to do prior to 2001 and for 100 years prior to that, will enable the forest managers to practice sustainable forest management,' he said. Monday's announcement follows Trump's March 1 executive order instructing the Agriculture Department and the Interior Department to boost timber production, with an aim of reducing wildfire risk and reliance on foreign imports. Because of its vast wilderness, environmental fragility and ancient trees, Alaska's Tongass National Forest became the face of the issue. Democrats and environmentalists argued for keeping the roadless rule in place, saying it would protect critical habitat and prevent the carbon dioxide trapped in the forest's trees from escaping into the atmosphere. Alaska's governor and congressional delegation have countered that the rule hurts the timber industry and the state's economy. After court battles kept the rules in place, Trump stripped it out in 2020, during his first term, making it legal for logging companies to build roads and cut down trees in the Tongass. President Joe Biden restored the protections, restricting development on roughly 9.3 million acres throughout the forest. Trump officials have gone further this time, targeting not just the rule's application in Alaska but its protections nationwide. In her comments Monday, Rollins framed the decision as an effort to reduce the threat of wildfires by encouraging more local management of the nation's forests. 'This misguided rule prohibits the Forest Service from thinning and cutting trees to prevent wildfires,' Rollins said. 'And when fires start, the rule limits our firefighters' access to quickly put them out.' The Forest Service manages nearly 200 million acres of land, and its emphasis on preventing wildfires from growing out of control has become more central to its mission as the blazes have become more frequent and intense because of climate change. Yet critics of the administration's approach have said Trump officials have worsened the danger by firing several thousand Forest Service employees this year. Advocates for the roadless rule said ending it would do little to reduce the threat of wildfires, noting that the regulation already contains an exception for removing dangerous fuels that the Forest Service has used for years. Chris Wood, chief executive of the conservation group Trout Unlimited, said the administration's decision 'feels a little bit like a solution in search of a problem.' 'There are provisions within the roadless rule that allow for wildfire fighting,' Wood said. 'My hope is once they go through a rulemaking process, and they see how wildly unpopular and unnecessary this is, common sense will prevail.'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Bear activity shuts down north GA shelter near popular Appalachian Trail
Heads up, hikers. The USDA Forest Service is shutting down a camping shelter along the popular Appalachian Trail for the next couple of weeks. Officials say bears in the area of the Springer Mountain Shelter in Blue Ridge are getting bolder toward hikers and campers. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Because of their increased activity, the shelter will be closed until June 26 while the Georgia Department of Natural Resources assesses the situation. "Public safety is our highest priority. The Forest Service is working closely with Georgia DNR to monitor bear activity and implement necessary safety measures," officials wrote. TRENDING STORIES: SCOTUS rules on lawsuit from Atlanta family whose home was wrongly raided by the FBI Family kills woman's husband in self-defense at Buckhead apartment, police say Body found in a pond identified as Morehouse student who disappeared after crash The shelter is located near the Appalachian Trail, which stretches nearly 2,200 miles from Springer Mountain in north Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy says that more than 3 million people visit sections of the trail every year, and more 3,000 people will attempt to hike all 2,197.4 miles. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal support for wildfire prevention wanes as risk in Colorado grows
Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz, center, visits the Mizpah Campground on the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests on April 16. (USDA Forest Service photo by Preston Keres/Public domain) Wildfire experts say the best way for Colorado to reduce the destructive power of wildfires is to prepare a proactive response supported by the federal government. But it's uncertain whether federal resources will continue to support fire mitigation and resilience projects, and organizations that work on those projects are no longer sure whom to talk to at federal agencies they've previously worked with. In a fire-prone state that's entering the warm months, this has reduced momentum on fire prevention efforts some experts say are essential to protecting Colorado communities. The Trump administration has upended federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management with staff reductions and reorganizations. And the federal hiring freeze Trump implemented on inauguration day has meant many open positions are left unfilled. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Rebecca Samulski, executive director of Fire Adapted Colorado, a nonprofit that supports wildfire resilience professionals around the state, said the energy around proactive mitigation has 'kind of stalled right now,' as organizations determine how to stay afloat without the guarantee of federal support. With all of the moving pieces, prevention experts have again become reactive while trying to 'stay sane.' 'I just think it's really important that the federal government continue to have a role in the proactive wildfire resilience work,' Samulski said. 'We know that it's a lot more cost effective to do the work up front with communities than to wait and to respond to disasters or recover from them.' Matt McCombs, Colorado State Forest Service director, said that in what is expected to be an average wildfire season — which 'is a really bad year in Colorado' — work to improve resiliency and protect communities and watersheds is essential to safeguarding Colorado's billion dollar recreation and outdoor economy. The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control's 2025 Wildfire Preparedness Plan warned that Colorado may have 'slightly above-average wildland fire activity' this year, as well as the potential for delayed response times and fewer firefighting resources because of concerns around federal funding. That can jeopardize communities, natural resources and infrastructure in Colorado. The wildfire season is longer and more intense in Colorado and the West due to the effects of climate change, as well as prolonged drought and a buildup of dry fuels. The three largest wildfires in state history all occurred in 2020, and the most state's most destructive fire — the 2021 Marshall Fire — leveled entire subdivisions during winter in an urban area once thought relatively safe from wildfires. Vail Fire Chief Mark Novak said there are three tenets to the nationally recognized 'cohesive wildfire management strategy': resilient landscapes, fire adaptive communities, and a safe and effective response. In Vail — where the town is 4.5 square miles surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of U.S. Forest Service land — collaboration with the federal government is essential to successfully reduce the threat forests can pose in the event of a fire. 'In a community like ours where we're surrounded by the forests, there's a lot we can do to protect our community by creating that fire-adapted community and by having a good response, but ultimately we have to have all three pieces of the cohesive strategy and we need to have resilient landscapes,' Novak said. 'If that pipeline of the work that needs to be done slows down, it makes us more vulnerable, so that's very concerning.' Fire Adapted Colorado and the Colorado Forest Collaboratives Network wrote to Colorado's members of Congress in April asking them to intervene because of how funding freezes and executive orders are 'severely hampering' wildfire preparedness. That includes the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The state's Fire Prevention and Control was in the process of applying for the resilient communities grant under FEMA to support education and training for local jurisdictions as it looks to roll out its newly developed wildfire resiliency code. Christopher Brunette, chief of the division's fire and life safety section, said the division is looking for other ways to provide that training without federal funding. At the end of April, Colorado's entire Democratic delegation in Congress, as well as Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd of Grand Junction, wrote to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and asked her to reinstate Forest Service staff who were trained to respond to wildfire incidents outside of their primary work duties. 'The Forest Service is now entering peak fire season in a compromised position, placing an even greater fire danger on communities across Colorado,' the lawmakers said in their letter. U.S. House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse of Lafayette and U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, both Democrats, also sponsored legislation that would reinstate all staff at the Forest Service and the National Park Service who were 'wrongfully terminated' by the Trump administration. Novak said he's heard estimates that 25% of the Forest Service's resource positions in Colorado, such as those who conduct environmental analysis on projects and verify field work is being done properly, are open and likely won't be filled. 'People have left them or there're seasonal positions that won't be filled, so we're very concerned about being able to actually implement projects, even projects that already have approval,' Novak said. We know that it's a lot more cost effective to do the work up front with communities than to wait and to respond to disasters or recover from them. – Rebecca Samulski, executive director of Fire Adapted Colorado A statement from the U.S. Forest Service said that wildland firefighting positions are considered public safety positions, which are therefore exempt from the federal hiring freeze under an April order from Rollins. The forest service 'remains operationally ready to support wildfire response efforts' with state and local partners, the statement said. About 5,000 'non-fire' Forest Service staff have left their positions or are in the process of doing so across the country, the statement said, but it did not provide more information on those positions or what they did. While many of the 'primary fire' positions have been exempt from reduction in force efforts, Novak said many 'secondary fire' positions, like biologists who could help as a resource adviser in the event of a fire, have left their roles. 'So if we look at fire suppression as a system, we know that system has less capability than it did just last year,' Novak said. Vail Fire hires seasonal foresters to help with projects during the warmer months, and Novak said it just hired someone who left a full-time forest service position for a six-month seasonal position. 'I don't want to speak to their motivations, but I think it's pretty telling when people are leaving full-time positions to take seasonal positions,' Novak said. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Interior, which oversees the BLM, cited a 'joint fire memo' signed by Rollins and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to ensure wildland firefighting in the U.S. is 'highly coordinated and focused on fighting wildfires quickly and effectively.' That order allows an exemption from the federal hiring freeze for certain positions. 'The Department is working to hire key positions that will continue to protect public and tribal lands, infrastructure, and communities from the impacts of wildfires through hazardous fuels management, wildfire preparedness, and close collaboration with interagency partners,' the spokesperson said in a statement. McCombs said Trump's budget proposes a wholesale elimination of an arm of the U.S. Forest Service that provides support on non-federal lands and is a core component of the state forest service's funding. He said Colorado State Forest Service is proud of how it uses the resources it receives from the federal government, which it and other state forestry services have done for decades. In the 2024 fiscal year, running through the end of June 2024, the CSFS spent about $11.1 million from federal grants, which is just under 36% of the state forest service's budget. Samulski said many wildfire prevention organizations do their work with the support of federal funding, with several becoming reliant on those federal funds to continue operating. Some groups have reduced their work or shut down entirely because of the fear that they will lose funding, or because there aren't projects being funded right now, she said. Many long-standing grant programs shifted to receive funding from the Inflation Reduction Act under the Biden administration, even though they were previously funded from other sources, and were frozen by the Trump administration, Samulski said. While some grant programs have been unfrozen, others haven't, and the uncertainty has led some groups to search for other revenue sources. 'Many of the organizations are trying to figure out how to pivot and be less reliant on federal funding, and I've already had to pause … projects on the ground or cancel projects because they don't know if they'll get the reimbursement,' Samulski said. Those projects include removal of hazardous fuels on the ground or vegetation surrounding state, federal or private lands near communities, homes or watersheds, Samulski said. She said organizations focused on wildfire prevention have been growing in recent years as they realized they need to be more proactive. 'No amount of firefighting is actually going to change the outcomes that are happening on the ground that much,' Samulski said. 'We need to do more in advance of the fires, and so there's kind of been this recognition and a shift in terms of trying to build up that capacity.' On top of its primary responsibilities of overseeing state and private forestry projects in Colorado, the CSFS has agreements with the federal Forest Service and the BLM under the Good Neighbor Authority, a concept McCombs said started in Colorado. The Good Neighbor Authority allows federal agencies to establish agreements with state agencies to conduct forest management activities such as fuels reduction, forest health improvement and habitat improvement on federal lands. The CSFS has about 25 active projects under the Good Neighbor Authority, with 15 full-time employees staffed through funding from the GNA. The state forest service has completed over 15,000 acres of forest treatment through the GNA on federal, state and private land. 'I don't think there's a national forest in the state where we are not under agreement to do some work to support and build capacity for the (U.S. Forest Service) so they can accelerate the critical forest health wildfire mitigation work that needs to be done,' McCombs said. 'Our people know each other, they trust each other. Sometimes it's not easy for federal and state entities to work well together. We do this really well in Colorado.' As agencies potentially affected by financial cuts at the federal level wait to see the final outcomes, McCombs said CSFS leaders remain in consistent communication with their USFS counterparts to determine how state foresters can best help and continue working together. 'That's a really positive thing that even amidst all of this rapid and in some instances, unwanted or unwelcome change, we're still striving to try to stay in communication and keep moving things forward, because the wildfire is not going to wait,' McCombs said. 'We've got to keep driving forward under whatever context we're operating in.' Coalitions and Collaboratives, a Colorado-based nonprofit that advocates for resilient ecosystems, also works under a cooperative agreement with the Forest Service to help with wildfire resilience and mitigation. Jonathan Bruno, CEO of COCO, said the group helps local programs working on resilience and mitigation efforts ensure they have long-term sustainability. The nonprofit also distributes grants funded by the Forest Service. After the Trump administration took over, Bruno said all of his organization's grant agreements with the Forest Service were put under review and frozen. He said about 90% of the funding his organization works with comes from the federal government. 'That delay thankfully was short-lived, thanks to the courts, but I'm scared because it feels as though maybe those court rulings may not hold up,' Bruno said. 'How do you budget if you don't know that you're going to even have a dollar?' The challenge is that the internal people that I've worked with for years and the people that I've trusted, they don't know either. There's a lot of uncertainty in the system, which makes everyone really nervous and uncomfortable. – Jonathan Bruno, CEO of Coalitions and Collaboratives Bruno said his organization is 'being really cautious' about entering into any new agreements since he's unsure they will get all the funding they have been promised. While COCO already selected recipients for their spring grant cycle this year, they haven't executed any contracts yet. Under the five-year agreements COCO historically enters with the Forest Service, Bruno said it makes adjustments every year depending on actual funding needs and developments in its projects. As he is planning adjustments to those agreements with his federal partners this year, both parties are unsure what to expect. 'The challenge is that the internal people that I've worked with for years and the people that I've trusted, they don't know either,' Bruno said. 'There's a lot of uncertainty in the system, which makes everyone really nervous and uncomfortable.' Bruno said the mitigation work of many people in the Forest Service is already thankless, and they do it simply because they care about protecting their communities. He's had to pivot from working with those local, on-the-ground Forest Service staff to working with the higher-ups now making the decisions. 'It's never what we wanted, because those that have the most to lose and gain are those people in a community, not the politicians,' Bruno said. 'We need to make sure that those that are in these powerful, decision-making positions have the information they need to make well-defined, well-reasoned sort of judgments on who's going to live and who's going to die.' Historically, Vail Fire has collaborated with the Forest Service to get federal approval for fuels reduction projects, and the two entities split the costs for the review process as well as the actual fuels management once projects are approved. Recently, it's become unclear whether funding previously guaranteed to projects with Vail will come through. 'Pretty much every kind of landscape-level project we've done has been on Forest Service land,' Novak said. The process can take years and can cost millions. One project Vail Fire is currently working on with the Forest Service took about three and a half years to plan and get approval, Novak said, and Vail paid about $300,000 throughout that process with the understanding that the Forest Service would pay for the actual treatment. They've received 'some direct funding,' but not nearly all of the funding needed to fully implement the $3 to $5 million project, he said. While apprehension around federal fire mitigation, prevention and suppression capabilities continues, local government firefighters will still be there to protect their communities, Novak said. For about 80% of all fires, the initial response comes solely or partially from local firefighters and responders — though prevention should be prioritized, he said. McCombs said he views the success of the Forest Service and the BLM's work in Colorado as Colorado's success, and less funding and staff for those agencies is 'an explicit translation to less work.' 'The alternative is uncharacteristic wildfires that have damaging, just wildly disruptive impacts and long-term impacts to things that are really important to Coloradans,' McCombs said. 'We're communicating through our partners and engaging with those that have a vested interest to make sure that folks are aware of some of the trade-offs that exist when funding is reduced and when staffing in particular is reduced.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New trails and parking unveiled at Old Fort post-Hurricane Helene
OLD FORT, N.C. (WNCT) — After months of Helene-related repair work, new trails and additional parking areas have opened in Old Fort, N.C. Thanks to the USDA Forest Service's Grandfather Ranger District and McDowell County, the 8 miles of trails will provide new connections in the Old Fort Trail system. In total, 20 of the 42 miles under the Old Fort Trail project are now open for hikers, bikers and equestrians. The new trails include: Catawba View Trail. Deep Cove Trail. Camp Rock Trail. Jerdon Connector. Stagecoach. The Old Fort Trails Project hopes improve the health and wellness of residents, grow the local economy through outdoor recreation, and build community through shared spaces on public lands. New parking areas will also be open at the Gateway Trailhead (new Meadows Parking) and at Camp Grier's Allison Trailhead on Mill Creek Road. Hazards are still present in the forests due to Hurricane Helene, so be sure to lookout for trees that may be weakened or washouts on access roads while you explore these trails. For more information on trail conditions in the Grandfather Ranger District, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Newsweek
24-05-2025
- Newsweek
California Wildfire Near Yosemite National Park Sparks Evacuation
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. About 300 people in California have been evacuated due to the Inn fire near Yosemite National Park, Lisa Cox, public affairs officer for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, told Newsweek by phone Saturday. The wildfire started Thursday afternoon about 60 miles east from the entrance to Yosemite National Park. The blaze grew to just over 700 acres in two days due to "dry, erratic winds," according to the latest fire update issued Saturday morning by InciWeb, an information management system that provides information about active incidents, including wildfires and other emergencies. One structure has been damaged so far, InciWeb shows. So far, no injuries or deaths have been reported on the website. Roadways in the area have shut down due to the rapidly spreading fire, including US 395, which drives right into Yosemite. Cox told Newsweek that this is the first fire they've had in the area this year. Why It Matters The wildfire season has grown longer, from four to about eight months, due to environmental impacts, according to a 2019 report from the USDA Forest Service. Studies have shown that climate change has resulted not only in a longer wildfire season but also an increase in the frequency of wildfires and acreage burned, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a report citing data tracked from 1983 to 2022. Yosemite National Park saw more than 4 million visitors last year and now requires reservations to visit during Memorial Day, according to the National Park Service website. What To Know Hundreds of firefighters are currently on the scene working to combat any fire growth, Cox told Newsweek. Along with ground crews, aircrafts were immediately requested when the fire was spotted around 3:36 p.m. local time on Thursday, according to InciWeb. Once smoke was spotted, the Mono County Sheriff's Office went door-to-door evacuating residents ahead of the quick moving fire. Within six hours of the fire being spotted, more than 538 acres had been scorched, InciWeb said. Resources from multiple agencies, including the Inyo National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, CAL FIRE, Mammoth Lakes Fire Department, Mono City and Lee Vining Volunteer fire departments have all gone to the scene to help with the firefight. Hotshot crews and strike teams are also responding to the area. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined as firefighters continue to battle the blaze. Entrance sign to Yosemite National Park, California, is seen on September 30, 2005. Entrance sign to Yosemite National Park, California, is seen on September 30, 2005. Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/MichaelWhat People Are Saying Lisa Cox, public affairs officer for the USDA Forest Service, said in a Friday press release: "Evacuations and repopulations will not occur until this northern flank of the fire is secured by firefighters and the predicted winds out of the south no longer threaten this community with potential spot fires." Mono County Tourism wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday: "US 395 is closed between Lee Vining & Mono City. Expected to stay closed into the weekend. Detours: SR 167, NV 208, US 6, Benton Crossing, US 120 E. Businesses OPEN. Minimal smoke outside fire area. Thank you, first responders." What Happens Next? Cox told Newsweek that the firefight is going well, with about 15 percent containment overnight. "Looks like it laid down a lot last night," she added. It's unclear when evacuees can return to their homes, but InciWeb says that Highway 395 will be closed until all downed power lines are fixed and the roadway is safe to drive.
