Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** It's not too late to protect America's old growth forests
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Monday, October 21, 2024
Old growth forest, Oswald West State Park, Oregon; USFWS/Flickr ([link removed])
Old growth forests are some of the earth's best carbon sinks, which are made up of natural elements (like soil or trees) that absorb more carbon than they emit. Unfortunately, the majority of earth's carbon sinks are currently failing ([link removed]) due to climate change and deforestation. Old growth forests are also essential to the earth's water cycle, which scientists say ([link removed]) is out of balance for the first time in history.
For these reasons and many others, forest scientist Dominick DellaSala argues ([link removed]) that President Joe Biden should prioritize the protection of mature and old growth forests in the United States before leaving office. DellaSala is the chief scientist at Wild Heritage and has authored over 300 scientific publications and nine books on nature, wildfires, and forest protection. In an op-ed in the Seattle Times ([link removed]) , he warns that the country's older (mature and old growth) forests are not safe.
Despite some progress made under the the Biden administration, like the first-ever national inventory of old growth ([link removed]) , the federal government is moving ahead with plans to log mature and old growth trees in over a dozen national forests from the Pacific Northwest to Appalachia to the Tongass in Alaska, DellaSala writes. According to some estimates ([link removed]) , over 50 million acres of older forests on federal land could be cut down in the coming decades under this plan.
It's not too late to change course. President Biden can still direct the Forest Service to end commercial logging of mature and old growth trees on federal land. "The president can close out his administration with a much-needed legacy gift that would show the world that we are serious about our international forest climate commitments," DellaSala concludes ([link removed]) .
** Quick hits
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Prolonged Montana fire season complicates prescribed burns
Montana Free Press ([link removed])
The state wants to hear how Wyomingites would reduce oil and gas air pollution
Wyoming Public Radio ([link removed])
The earth’s colors are changing—and climate change could be to blame
Inside Climate News ([link removed])
Klamath River salmon are spotted far upstream in Oregon after dam removal
Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
Could Elko’s Ruby Mountains be home to Nevada’s next ski resort?
The Nevada Independent ([link removed])
Wilderness Act anniversary highlights successes, limits to protecting public lands
Aspen Public Radio ([link removed])
Opinion: Protecting public lands is good for national security
Arizona Daily Star ([link removed])
Supreme Court NEPA case involving Utah oil train gets a calendar date, train opponents file briefs
E&E News ([link removed]) | Colorado Newsline ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” Our salmon have returned home... It’s a beautiful thing.”
—Yurok Tribe Chairman Joseph L. James, Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@nationalparkservice ([link removed])
My toxic trait is that I’m toxic.
Is that plant looking at me? 👀 Actaea pachypoda, the white baneberry or doll’s-eyes, is a species of flowering plant of the family Ranunculaceae. The plant’s most striking feature is its fruit, a 1 cm diameter white berry, whose size, shape, and black stigma scar give the species the name, “doll’s eyes”. Did it just blink? No. You did.
A variety of birds, which are not affected by the toxins, or the creepy eyeball aesthetic, eat the berries and help disperse the seeds. However, the berries and the entire plant are considered poisonous to humans and can lead to vomiting, delirium, and stomach cramps. On that note, don’t eat it and have a good one.
Image: Eye am what eye am…👀 A flowering white baneberry with a pinkish-red stalk and white berries with black dots and fall foliage at Shenandoah National Park
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