New Tahoe Forest Products Sawmill (courtesy of Bloomberg) There were many interesting things to explore with the hearing on the Westerman Bill yesterday. As we saw in previous posts, it’s a compendium of many different ideas we can explore in greater depth. What I thought was one theme in Chris French’s testimony was what we might call another Wood Wide Web (broader than the mycological one discussed here a few weeks ago), this one of people, workers and organizations making useful products of wood. Certainly mycorrhizal fungi help trees. But also people help trees, at least around here, by th ..read more

Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Strategy to Guide Balanced Management, Conservation of Public Lands Public Lands Rule will help conserve wildlife habitat, restore places impacted by wildfire and drought, expand outdoor recreation, and guide thoughtful development  A skeptic might wonder how the Forest Service could possibly “conserve wildlife habitat, restore places impacted by wildfire and drought, expand outdoor recreation, and guide thoughtful development” without such a rule? Here’s a link to the Rule. There are also fact sheets and other information here. So let ..read more

Chris French, the Forest Service’s deputy chief, on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Natural Resources Committee/YouTube via E&E News The Westerman bill is a compendium of policy ideas from various sources, some of which have been floating around for a long time. I think this E&E News story did a pretty good job of focusing on some of the main themes of the hearing. I don’t think the 10am idea is going anywhere. I fully respect individuals who disagree, and I hope they move on to more detailed ideas for “being more careful.” If this Xprize or other technological innovations are successful, p ..read more

I think if you click on the blue arrow below you will get the trailer for this series of podcasts. The first episode of Forestcast Season 4 is now available! Join Forest Service researchers as they delve into the multifaceted world of fire. Available online or wherever you get your podcasts.https://t.co/rKRufIBLNd pic.twitter.com/8fNmau1CUx — Northern Research (@usfs_nrs) April 10, 2024 ..read more

The Westerman Draft bill wants to support biochar research. It seems that many folks are already studying biochar. An idea would be to round these up, and look for gaps and overlaps before we send any more funding. I tried the search terms forest and biochar for a variety of federal research organizations. Apparently, search terms select a broader group than I intended. I looked at NSF (National Science Foundation) and searched on biochar and forests and got this.. but many of them don’t seem to have biochar or forests, so maybe my searching is at fault. I looked at Department of Energy and f ..read more

Here’s a link, thanks to Forest Business Network.   Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have developed a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable way to make a popular pain reliever and other valuable products from plants instead of petroleum. Building on a previously patented method for producing paracetamol—the active ingredient in Tylenol—the discovery promises a greener path to one of the world’s most widely used medicines and other chemicals. More importantly, it could provide new revenue streams to make cellulosic biofuels—derived from non-food plant fibers—cos ..read more

Subtitle C actually says “addressing frivolous litigation” and Section 121 is titled “Commonsense Litigation Reform” Here’s the text. We’re going to need help from lawyers out there.. a) IN GENERAL.—A court shall not enjoin a fireshed management project under this Act if the court determines that the plaintiff is unable to demonstrate that the claim 7 of the plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits. 8 (b) BALANCING SHORT- AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF FOREST MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES IN CONSIDERING INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—As part of its weighing the equities while considering any request for an injunct ..read more

  This is under the tab for “other”. I think most of them are rural schools funds but maybe not. NFF seems to have two $100 mill ish and one 50 mill ish all started in 2023. *************** Also the Great Basin Institute is not a Keystone but did get 59 mill. Looks like that was for some NEPA, perhaps: In recent years, GBI has scaled support for several post-fire planning needs for the US Forest Service.  In 2022-23, the Sequoia, Inyo, Eldorado, Plumas, and Lassen National Forests have entered into agreements to provide specialist support and scoping services for Categorical Exclus ..read more

The above is a screenshot from USAspending.gov. You can click on it to make it easier to read. Update on Questions From Last Week Dave Mertz has heard back that the Forest Service will answer the questions he posed last week. So we can look forward to that. Suggestions for the Forest Service in Communicating I’d put out a table that shows the agreements thus far, and how much has been obligated over what time period.  Once specific agreements for each project are approved,   I’d have each funded project with a project description, how much money, timeline, and accomplishments when t ..read more

Well actually, Smokey never left, although he was defamed in certain circles. Here’s BCm and here’s Burnie the Bobcat. As I said on XTwit or TwitX last weekish. Thanks to Wildfire Today for this: Air quality publication HouseFresh analyzed NIFC data from 2023 and ranked the causes of wildfires by number of occurrences. Of the recorded fires, 72.6 percent were directly caused by humans. The bulk of last year’s wildfires were caused by debris burning and open burning, resulting in 1,302 wildfires. That is an increase from the 1,120 fires started by debris and open burning in 2022. Equipment an ..read more