March 14, 2023 HFHC News Round Up 

Patagonia, Enviros Say Calif. Forest Plans Needed Review (Law360)
Conservation groups, including the holding company for outdoor clothier Patagonia, urged a California federal judge to find that a government tree-clearing project in the Golden State's Los Padres National Forest deserved broader environmental review, arguing that the project is more like a commercial logging operation than a fire suppression tool. In their request for summary judgment on Friday, the conservation groups and Patagonia Works reiterated the position laid out in the April lawsuit, that the U.S. Forest Service erred in approving the so-called Reyes Peak Forest Health and Fuels Reduction Project without a thorough environmental review. The agency has argued that the logging operation is merely a byproduct of its primary objective: fire suppression in a state that has faced deadly and destructive wildfires in recent years. (Subscription Required)

Wildfires turn world’s largest forests into carbon emitters (EarthSky)
The vast boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere stretch from Scandinavia through Siberia, Alaska and Canada. They cover 1/10 of the world’s land but hold 1/3 of the land’s carbon. This substance – the primary greenhouse gas when released into Earth’s atmosphere – is stored mainly in organic-rich soils and in trees. Now, a new study dated March 2, 2023, in the peer-reviewed journal Science provides further evidence that carbon emissions from wildfires in high northern latitudes are already increasing at an alarming rate. In the future, as Earth warms and wildfires increase still more, it’s possible these northern forests will release more carbon than they hold.

Wildfire Smoke: Opportunities to Strengthen Federal Efforts to Manage Growing Risks (Government Accountability Office)
Smoke from increasingly frequent catastrophic wildfires has created unhealthy air quality for tens of millions of Americans. The EPA has partnered with other federal agencies to help communities deal with the smoke. One effort with the Forest Service produced an online map showing air quality, fire locations, and smoke direction. But, EPA's actions have been ad hoc and spread across program and regional offices. Better coordination could help target resources. EPA could also improve its work with other agencies on using land management tools, like "prescribed burns," that could ultimately reduce smoke. Our recommendations address these issues.

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to visit Bend during Oregon trip, talk outdoor recreation, wildfire prep (KTVZ)
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland plans to visit Bend at the end of the week during an Oregon visit spotlighting investments in wildfire preparedness and outdoor recreation. "From March 17-19, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland will visit Oregon to highlight Biden-Harris administration investments to support wildland fire preparedness and outdoor recreation opportunities across the state," Monday's media advisory stated.

Biden administration increases Interior Department budget by 12% (KJZZ)
Analysts say that agencies in the Department of Interior are frequently under-funded. The Biden administration has taken steps to address the problem. The president’s budget calls for a 12% increase for the agency, which oversees the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Reclamation and other departments. The administration set goals for climate change, wildfire management, drought, conservation and renewable energy. The agency’s budget will be nearly $19 billion and includes funding for changes in wildland firefighting.

Forest Service funds Black Hills, prairie restoration projects (SDPB)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service has announced over $1,000,000 of funding in support of the Tribal Forest Protection Act. The act provides over $700,000 dollars to projects in the Black Hills region. The projects will operate under a partnership involving multiple South Dakota and North Dakota tribes. Tribes include the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes of North and South Dakota.

Guest Column: Go back to the drawing board on habitat conservation plan (Daily Astorian)
In the late 1930s, Clatsop County became the first county in Oregon to deed forestland to the state. It did so under the promise that land would be managed to benefit the local community. Oregon’s ensuing management has been a national model for sustainable forestry. But now, the Oregon Board of Forestry has proposed cutting nearly 35% of the timber harvest in our state forests. Under the proposal — the draft habitat conservation plan — harvest levels could drop from 73 million board feet to 48 million to 52 million board feet annually in the Astoria district alone. Taxes from these working forests contribute more than $19 million annually back into local Clatsop County communities. The habitat conservation plan threatens a 33% — $8.5 million — cut of those revenues with no plan to backfill it, devastating police, fire, schools, elections and other critical local government services and jobs.

Habitat conservation plan could lead to cuts in county law enforcement (Yahoo)
Clatsop County law enforcement leaders are evaluating how the state's proposed habitat conservation plan could affect funding and are exploring other potential funding sources if the plan significantly reduces timber revenue. The 70-year habitat conservation plan being prepared by the Oregon Department of Forestry would designate protected habitat areas across nearly 640,000 acres of state forests, mostly in Clatsop and Tillamook counties. No-logging areas would be designated to protect species and keep the state in compliance with the federal Endangered Species Act.

Why Am I A Logger? (Montana Loggers Association)
There is more to logging than harvesting trees. Today, timber harvesters are stewards of our forests, committed to responsible forest management practices working to maintain healthy forests and protect our communities from destructive forest fires. The Montana Logging Association is a non-profit organization founded in 1976 that serves and represents more than 500 Montana timber harvesting and transportation professionals. 

Dreike: How New Mexicans can get relief from damage caused by Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire (New Mexico)
A total of $3.95 billion has been allocated for the expected cost of helping victims of the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. The U.S. Forest Service has assumed responsibility for the fire, and the federal government will compensate those harmed. The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Office is expected to open in late March or early April in Mora and San Miguel counties, along with mobile office services. Claims navigators will be available at that time to respond to claims already filed and to assist those who will be filing claims.

Under the hood of our steam turbine: how power is made (Freres Wood)
It’s often said that many people don’t know what it takes to make the food that ends up in packages on their grocery store shelves, or how the clothes on their backs are woven. The same is true for the electricity that powers our lives. This week, we had a unique opportunity to look under the hood of our steam turbine and show how power is made. Our steam turbine is a piece of equipment that runs continuously throughout the year doing an amazing amount of work to produce power for our communities. Every five years we tear the steam turbine apart to inspect, replace parts, repair wear points, and generally maintain it.

A Bar Harbor college residential hall is being built with new wood technology (BDN Maine)
A new residential hall being built at a Bar Harbor college is using a wooden structural design that is becoming more popular because of its environmental benefits, though the manufacture of such wood products has yet to catch on in Maine. College of the Atlantic, a school with roughly 350 students that focuses on the environment and sustainability, plans to have 46 more student beds on campus when the project is completed this fall, COA President Darron Collins said Monday. Not only will the three-story building help provide more on-campus housing to students in a town where housing costs have soared, it will help reduce the school’s carbon footprint, Collins said. It also will showcase emerging technology that could help boost Maine’s historic forest products industry.

Architects not adopting biomaterials are "dinosaurs" says Michael Green (Dezeen)
Canadian mass-timber pioneer Michael Green has hit out at architects designing unusually shaped buildings rather than embracing biomaterials in this interview as part of Dezeen's Timber Revolution series. Using engineered wood products to replace concrete and steel is a step in the right direction but should not be considered the endgame, said Green, principal of British Columbia-based Michael Green Architects and an early advocate for building tall with timber.

Eight Dubois County wood manufacturers among North America’s Largest (Free Press)
Nineteen wood manufacturing firms from Indiana have been included on the 2023 FDMC 300 list, which ranks the largest cabinet, furniture, millwork, store fixture, office/contract and component producers in North America. Eight of those are headquartered or located in Dubois County. “Indiana is proud to be ranked as a top producer for so many wood products and to supply a large number of Hoosiers with good paying hardwood manufacturing jobs,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “Wood is a renewable resource and provides a stability and quality to furniture like no other.”

Forest's outreach center ready for its debut (Oregon City News)
The Hopkins Demonstration Forest in Beavercreek will open its new Forestry and Natural Resources Outreach Center on Sunday, April 2, with an open house. The public is invited to the event, which will run from 2 to 4 p.m. with tours of the new facility at 16750 S. Brockway Road, Oregon City. Forests Forever, Inc. (FFI) - the community nonprofit that owns and manages the Hopkins Forest - broke ground on the new outreach center in January, 2021. “We are very excited to be opening the center,” said Colton’s Ken Everett, FFI’s executive director. “We’ve had great contractors who kept the project moving and amazing volunteer contributions to help reduce the cost of the building project by doing as much of the work ourselves.”

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