Category Archives: National Forests

Automatic federal budget cuts could increase risk of wildfires

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Absent resolution this week from Congress, across-the-board spending cuts are slated to hit just about everything the federal government does beginning March 1.

Known in some circles as the “sequester,” the policy – enacted in 2011 as part of a deal to address the nation’s debt payments – will take 5.3 percent from domestic discretionary spending, including the U.S. Forest Service portion of the Department of Agriculture budget.

In Nebraska, the across-the-board agency cuts would result in a $1.3 million reduction in clean air and water programs, among other impacts, wrote the Lincoln Journal Star’s Don Walton.

“The sequester does not target or prioritize,” he added.

As a result of this absence of priorities, programs that support preventive steps against wildfires in our nation’s forests will be affected, with $134 million taken out of the U.S. Forest Service’s Wildland Fire Management Program.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, in a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee last week, warned of “increased risk to communities from wildfires, with as much as 200,000 fewer acres treated for hazardous fuels.”

Added Sandra Postel of the National Geographic Society: “That means dead trees, dry brush and other fire-starting materials will not be removed.

“That would be worrisome even in a normal year, but in a severe drought it could prove calamitous,” she continued.

Officials have already struggled to keep up with prevention in Colorado and the Mountain West. Abrupt budget cuts would likely make matters worse.

Here’s hoping for a timely solution that gives our hard-working forest professionals the budget certainty they need to do their jobs.

Fighting the pine beetle will help in the next fight against forest fires

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The pine trees that populate our national forests – particularly in the Mountain West – are in continued need of protection. Critical to the ecosystem, their decline would be felt in a number of areas, starting with the very real threat to safe and secure drinking water.

The U.S. Forest Service and state and local partners are series about the preservation of pine trees. Some of their strategies were the focus of a Washington Post article last month.

We know how important this work is for the long-term. What we are seeing this week is how much these steps can save lives and property in the short-term as well.

The pine beetle is arguably “enemy no. 1″ of pines trees. For years, the pest has been quick and resilient, and forest professionals have struggled to keep up. As firefighters in Colorado continue to tackle what has become one of the largest forest fires in state history, the Associated Press reports that beetle-stricken trees – many of them dead or dying – have become an increasing safety concern. The challenge was particularly apparent in the foothills about 15 miles from Fort Collins:

Fire managers said the blaze’s west side was a concern because 70 percent of the trees had been killed by pine beetles, leaving drying wooden poles with branches and red pine needles that pose a hazard for firefighters.

The pine beetle is a pest that must be contained, for our own safety and security. Through comprehensive forest management, that looks possible. An honest discussion about the role of climate change – warmer winters make it easier for the pine beetle to survive and breed – will also be critical.

Pine beetle devastation in Wyoming. Courtesy of the University of Wyoming.

The issue is starting to receive more attention in Washington, DC, where Colorado Senator Mark Udall (nephew of Arbor Day Award winner and former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall) has been leading the charge for additional resources to fight the pine beetle. His effort is attracting bipartisan support, including from South Dakota Senator John Thune.

The Associated Press has more information on the latest developments in Colorado.

Washington Post surveys efforts to preserve pine trees and the ecosystem they support

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One of last month’s recipients of a 2012 Arbor Day Award was the Greater Yellowstone Whitebark Pine Committee, a multi-agency partnership to alleviate threats to the critically endangered whitebark pine tree in America’s mountain west.

The stakes are high. Without sufficient action to keep pine trees vital, a major source of our nation’s fresh water is at risk.

Earlier this week, Washington Post environmental reporter Juliet Eilperin wrote about a variety of strategies the U.S. Forest Service has pursued to protect pine trees and the critical habitat they support. The challenge has been heightened by an increase in beetle infestation brought on by a warming climate

Drought, whitebark blister rust and competition with other tree species are related threats facing both the whitebark and several other species of pine.

The whitebark pine tree was recently determined to be warranted for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act. A number of groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, are working toward getting the species officially added to that list.

According to Eilperin, federal officials are in a race against the climate to figure out how to best protect and preserve vital benefits.

Scientists know that global warming will reshape these forests, which provide crucial habitat and food for key species, curb soil erosion and slow melting snow destined for local water supplies. What they don’t yet understand is which trees are best poised to survive under these changed conditions and how they can help them adapt in the decades to come.

One strategy currently being pursued is the deployment of pheromones to send insects a false signal that a tree has already been mass-attacked, prompting the beetle to move on. “It’s like we draw them in and we tell them, ‘The hotel’s full,’” Jeff Witcosky, a Forest Service official, told Eilperin.

Another strategy Eilperin discusses is the collection and storage of seeds from high-elevation pine trees, one of the areas in which the Greater Whitebark Pine Committee has participated. The seeds are an insurance policy in case direct combat against infestation is unsuccessful.

Read the whole story here. And, check out our short video about the Greater Yellowstone Whitebark Pine Committee below.