Posts by Bekah Mamola
Protecting Forests Increases Jobs and Income in Rural Economies
Debunking “Fix Our Forests Act” Misinformation Factsheet
Desmintiendo la desinformación sobre la “Ley para Reparar Nuestros Bosques”
Bennet Logging Bill, S. 670: $60 Billion to Subsidize Destructive Logging
S. 670 is a wasteful logging industry Trojan Horse–one that ignores the fact that hundreds of climate scientists and ecologists are telling Congress that “thinning” and other commercial logging makes climate change worse and tends to increase wildfire intensity.
Read MoreProyecto de ley de tala de Bennet, S. 670
JMP et al. comments on Draft EIS, Northwest Forest Plan Amendment
Trump’s Plan to Cut Down More Trees Faces a Host of Problems
USA Today
By Elizabeth Weise, Terry Collins, Zach Urness, and Joel Shannon
“Logging doesn’t curb fires, it intensifies fires. Trump falsely claims that more logging will curb wildfires and protect communities, but there’s an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence showing the exact opposite,” said Chad Hanson, a co-founder of the John Muir Project. “The more trees you remove, the faster wildfire flames sweep through the forest. It gives less time for people to evacuate and less time for first responders to react.” Wildfires move faster because removing trees reduces wind resistance, allowing winds to sweep through faster, Hanson added.
Read MoreTrump Orders Swathes of US Forests to be Cut Down for Timber
The Guardian
By Oliver Milman
Donald Trump has ordered that swathes of America’s forests be felled for timber, evading rules to protect endangered species while doing so and raising the prospect of chainsaws razing some of the most ecologically important trees in the US. The president, in an executive order, has demanded an expansion in tree cutting across 280m acres (113m hectares) of national forests and other public lands, claiming that “heavy-handed federal policies” have made America reliant on foreign imports of timber.
Read MoreThe Business of Wildfire Prevention
Big Bear Grizzly
Environmental groups say thinning forests can actually increase the threat of forest fire. And in 2023, the John Muir Project and Friends of Big Bear Valley submitted a lawsuit against USFS to halt the project.
It’s unclear where the North Big Bear Landscape Restoration project stands. The USFS is unable to comment on the issue due to a national freeze on media relations. Both the John Muir Project and Friends of Big Bear Valley say they have not received a substantive update on the project.
Read More‘Forest Management’ Misdirection Worsens Community Wildfire Threats
February 2, 2025
By Chad Hanson
The problem is that, as a society, we cannot seem to have that essential conversation. There is a sort of cultural anomaly, like a spell, that inexorably steers the discussion and the funding for wildfire policies toward “forest management.” This misdirection is putting lives and communities at risk.
Read More