** Trump administration to open "America's Amazon" to roads, logging
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Friday, September 25, 2020
Tongass National Forest, U.S. Forest Service ([link removed])
Today, the Trump administration is expected ([link removed]) to finalize a plan to open 9 million acres of Alaska's Tongass National Forest to road construction and logging. The administration's efforts to open the Tongass National Forest to logging have been underway for almost two years. The U.S. Forest Service is scheduled to publish ([link removed]) its analysis on the impact of lifting protections that prohibit road construction in the forest, paving the way for the Trump administration to hold timber sales before the end of the year.
The Tongass National Forest is one of the world’s largest temperate rain forests. As climate scientists point out ([link removed]) , it offers an important service to humanity as one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, absorbing about 8 percent ([link removed]) of the carbon dioxide pollution emitted by the United States.
Adam Kolton, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League criticized the administration's expected decision ([link removed]) , saying ([link removed]) , “Make no mistake, this is about gutting protections for the largest carbon sink and the most biologically rich national forest in the United States. This is America’s Amazon.”
** Tomorrow: National Public Lands Day
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Saturday, September 26th is National Public Lands Day! The theme this year is "More ways to connect to nature." ([link removed]) Check here ([link removed]) for volunteer opportunities on public lands near you. Entrance to national parks and most public lands is free on Saturday ([link removed]) .
Quick hits
** Taxpayer advocates call for oil and gas leasing reform after report finds billions of lost royalty revenue
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Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed])
** Colorado regulators approve rule to track fugitive emissions from oil and gas activities
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Denver Post ([link removed]) | S&P Global ([link removed])
** Poet with ties to Myanmar has bought $3 million worth of oil and gas, geothermal energy leases in 12 states
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Bloomberg Law ([link removed])
** New Mexico announces council to assess equity in environmental protections
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Associated Press ([link removed])
** Climber Tommy Caldwell: Colorado deserves better than an antiquated oil and gas leasing system (Opinion)
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Loveland Reporter-Herald ([link removed])
** Trump administration to open Alaska's Tongass National Forest to roads, logging
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New York Times ([link removed]) | KTOO ([link removed])
** Lawmakers write to Bernhardt opposing road through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in southwest Utah
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Opinion: Time is running out to stop the Trump administration from drilling near Chaco
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Santa Fe New Mexican ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Logging makes fires worse, not better. One of the most fateful management choices Congress and our federal forest agencies made in the past was to allow logging corporations free reign on public lands to take the biggest, oldest, most fire-resistant trees with them and leave behind flammable piles of slash, dense plantations of young trees and networks of logging roads that would stretch from here to the moon and halfway back."
—John Talberth, Ph.D. ([link removed]) , president & senior economist for the Center for Sustainable Economy, & co-director of the Forest Carbon Coalition
Picture this
** @Interior ([link removed])
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Are you ready for #FatBearWeek ([link removed]) ? Next week, @KatmaiNPS ([link removed]) holds its annual competition so you can judge which chubby cubby takes this year's title.
Pic of last year's winner: 435 Holly #Alaska ([link removed])
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