Blog

“It’s human nature to assume that what we have today is what we’ll have tomorrow.” — Twelve Trees, Daniel Lewis “Short-term memory is never a substitute for long-term evidence.” — Twelve Trees, Daniel Lewis These two lines capture exactly how we’ve gone wrong with forests. We assume today’s forest is normal and will persist. We assume wildfire,…

A response to SEEC’s climate-and-parks report, and the pantomime of progress around it. Yesterday’s rollout of the new report, America’s Best Idea in Peril, by the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition Institute (SEEC) and the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks (CPANP), is a case study in political branding eclipsing ecological reality. But what it…

Fast-tracking destruction for the wealthy while defunding endangered species recovery. Section 60026 allows project sponsors (i.e., the developers themselves) to pay to accelerate their own environmental reviews. If they pay 125% of the estimated cost, they can: Have their Environmental Assessments completed in just 6 months. Push through Environmental Impact Statements in 12 months. In…

Inviting mega wind and solar to carve up wildlands, with tax breaks and revenue kickbacks to states and counties. These sections unleash a wave of massive wind and solar energy projects across public lands, including National Forests, by formalizing acreage-based rent formulas and annual capacity fees tied to gross electricity sales. They: Set low per-acre…

While some of the most extreme public sell-off provisions were stripped from H.R. 1, buried within the bill are provisions for a massive expansion of extractive and industry activity across public lands. Beneath the slogans and rhetoric is a suite of policies that would accelerate habitat destruction, strip public oversight, and weaken species protections at…

The John Muir Project just returned from our annual retreat, a time to reconnect with each other—and with the landscapes we are fighting to protect. This year, our time in Sequoia country aligned with the summer solstice, the longest day of the year when light stretches across the landscape and the rhythms of the natural world feel most alive.

An ounce of prevention? Try a pound of industry greenwash. On June 26, the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Federal Lands hosted a hearing titled “Advancing Innovative Technologies to Improve Forest Management and Prevent Wildfires.” But in reality, it was a blaze of slick marketing and false panaceas dressed up as innovation. Rep. Tom…

It’s #NationalForestWeek, a time that, on paper, celebrates the beauty and importance of our national forests. But when the week is framed by the very institutions enabling industrial extraction on public lands, the celebration rings hollow. The National Forest Foundation, closely tied to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and industry interests, paints a glossy picture…

Carole King shows her support for ecological nonprofit, John Muir Project, in defending our public lands throughout the Western United States.

What Glossy Campaigns Miss: The Forest’s Future Depends on Defending Its Wild, Messy Beginnings In the growing movement to protect Mature and Old-Growth (MOG) forests, one truth keeps getting left out of the room: The MOG we’re scrambling to defend today began as post-fire habitat. Yes, there’s very little MOG left, and protecting what remains…