** Logging gets priority in Trump's Interior Department
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Monday, January 27, 2020
Wildfire in California, NOAA ([link removed])
The Trump administration's Interior Department intentionally emphasized climate pollution from California's wildfires to shift the focus away from fossil fuels and encourage increased logging in national forests. Internal emails from 2018 show ([link removed]) Interior officials attempting to craft a pro-industry narrative, including a request to "gin up" emissions data and selecting an option in variable data that would make a "good story."
The release of the Interior Department's California wildfire emissions estimate coincided with an executive order from President Trump directing agencies to increase logging. However, scientists say that logging does not necessarily help with wildfires, and simultaneously decreases carbon storage. These emails show that ([link removed]) "at best [they] used unfortunate language and the department cherry-picked data to help achieve their pro-industry policy goals; at worst he and others exploited a disaster and manipulated the data."
The Interior Department's attempts to help the timber industry don't stop there. Newly released documents ([link removed]) show the administration has partnered with the state of Alaska and the timber industry there, paying $300,000 annually for five years so that industry can pick which trees should be cut in an upcoming sale in the Tongass National Forest.
Quick hits
** Appeals court to decide fate of final Badger-Two Medicine lease
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Flathead Beacon ([link removed])
** Plan for hotels and shopping malls near Grand Canyon moving forward
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Phoenix New Times ([link removed])
** Trump administration deferring to timber industry in Alaska national forest sale
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Washington Post ([link removed])
** Trump administration exploited wildfire science to promote logging
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The Guardian ([link removed])
** Lawmakers pressure House leaders to schedule LWCF vote
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Trees along Arizona river marked for removal despite lack of plan for border wall
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Arizona Daily Star ([link removed])
** A pack of wolves spotted in Colorado for the first time in 90 years
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Forbes ([link removed])
** Opinion: Observe the BLM's displacement
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High Country News ([link removed])
Quote of the day
I am honored to welcome our canine friends back to Colorado after their long absence.”
—Governor Jared Polis, on wolves in Colorado, Forbes ([link removed])
Picture this
** @Interior ([link removed])
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Happy 105th birthday @RockyNPS ([link removed]) ! Established in 1915, the park protects 415 square miles of stunning alpine scenery. Sunrise pic courtesy of Drew Martin #Colorado ([link removed]) #FindYourPark ([link removed])
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