Posts by Bekah Mamola
Forests Are Still on the Chopping Block During Shutdown Season
Shutdown season may freeze federal employees’ pay, but it does nothing to stop logging agendas and forest destruction as both remain on the fast track, exposing where the true priorities lie. Many federal employees are furloughed, offices sit empty, and essential government functions grind to a halt. Security and stability for ordinary Americans hang in…
Read MoreWhen the Trees Don’t Quit, and the Seasons Keep Teaching
A walk through fall colors reminds us of resilience, the wisdom of trees and their networks, and what is still possible. I headed out to Golden Gate Canyon State Park this week to catch some of the local Colorado fall colors. The trail was paved in yellow, a soft carpet of fallen leaves that guided…
Read MoreTrump Wants to Open Up 45 Million Acres of Roadless Wilderness to Logging
TRUTHOUT
By Mike Ludwig
Supporters of rescinding the Roadless Rule argue it creates barriers to active forest management and efforts to prevent wildfires that are intensifying with climate change, such as clearing potential fuel for fire. However, like [Jennifer] Mamola, Huffman says this is misleading.
Read MoreKNX Radio Interview of Dr. Chad Hanson, September 2025
KNX Radio | Dr. Chad Hanson shares his insights on the ‘Zone 0 Plan,’ i.e., defensible space measures, that CalFire has gotten backwards. He believes the existing defensible space rules are unclear at the moment.
Read MoreForest Protection Forums | Stop Clearcutting CA | Chad Hanson
Currently, disinformation about this relationship is being used as a primary political talking point to promote destructive logging measures and environmental rollbacks, including national bills and policies that mostly pertain to non-sequoia forests.
Read MoreLetter: What’s happening in Jefferson County Open Space should alarm anyone who cares about public lands and public trust in Colorado
September 10
By Bekah Mamola-Hill
Longmont Leader
“If we let agencies and industry partners co-opt the language of resilience while advancing projects that industrialize, fragment, and degrade these landscapes, we lose more than trees. We lose the integrity of public lands and the meaning of conservation itself.”
Read MoreLosing Sight of Wilderness Fuels Misguided Fire Policy
When abstract reasoning ignores the science: how lofty ideas about wilderness mislead wildfire policy. Last week, the Los Angeles Times’ Noah Haggerty published a Boiling Point newsletter piece titled, “To solve the wildfire crisis, we have to let the myth of ‘the wild’ die.” It argues that John Muir’s belief in protecting wilderness as “untouched”…
Read More‘Fix Our Forests Act’ Misrepresents Wildfire Solutions
September 4, 2025
By Jennifer Mamola
VTDigger
Vermonters deserve solutions grounded in science, not legislation that industrializes forests. The “Fix Our Forests Act” diverts resources, weakens protections and undermines ecosystem resilience. Protecting Vermonters means strengthening communities and homes while letting forests function naturally, supporting both ecosystem and climate resilience.
Read MoreAs Trump moves to undo ‘Roadless Rule,’ enviros ask Congress for stronger wilderness protections
TusconSentinel.com
By Paul Ingram
“We need more wild, intact ecosystems—vibrant landscapes that include everything from bustling post-fire snag forests to ancient old growth,” said Jennifer Mamola of the John Muir Project. “Nature has governed itself for eons and must continue to do so if we’re to protect biodiversity, store carbon, and sustain air and clean water.”
Read MoreIs ‘clear-cutting’ the way to cut down on Utah’s raging wildfires?
FOX13 Now
By Chris Reed
But ecologist Chad Hanson, the co-founder of the John Muir Project, said it’s a myth that forest mitigation prevents wildfires. “The most current research is telling us that the speed of fires is the key factor,” said Hanson. “And the one thing that almost all the science agrees on now is that removing trees from forests increases the speed of fires, typically by a large degree.”
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