en-us Copyright Sightline Daily - all rights reserved newsfeeds@sightline.org newsfeeds@sightline.org Most recent Forests headlines from Sightline Daily, the Northwest news that matters http://daily.sightline.org Plone http://daily.sightline.org/logo.gif 427 69 British Columbia's forestry industry is about to find out who is really in charge of deciding what trees can be cut, and where. Hint: It isn't the Ministry of Forests. The Gitanyow First Nation has won a big legal victory in its six-year quest to exert control over forest licences being granted in what it sees as its territory - 1.7 million hectares in the province's northwest. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080829.RBRETHOUR29/TPStory/TPBusiness/BritishColumbia/ Environment Forests Native Peoples British Columbia Canada 08/29/2008 Toronto Globe and Mail More and more people are building homes along what specialists call the wildland-urban interface and few communities strictly enforce fire-prevention measures. The convergence of these factors is straining state and federal firefighting budgets. Now, lawmakers are coming up with proposals for everything from crafting firefighting budgets to regulating development in wildfire-prone areas. http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/08/27/as-wildfires-spread-so-does-the-red-ink/ Forests Policy United States 08/28/2008 The Christian Science Monitor Oregon still has more than 90 percent of the forestland that was here in the 1600s and has enacted environmental standards for forestry that are among the highest in the world. Oregon Forest Resources Institute's founding vision of an informed public and environmentally responsible forest landowners working together to make Oregon a great place to live and work no longer seems so distant. http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1219791333306320.xml&coll=7 Environment Forests Oregon 08/27/2008 Portland Oregonian A landslide in the Cascades is good news and bad news from a habitat perspective. On the downside, it can wipe out stands of mature trees, home to a range of critters from tree voles to northern spotted owls, birds at risk of extinction who can't really afford to lose habitat. On the upside, landslides are a principal method for putting downed trees into streams. Those trees provide a range of benefits, creating hiding places for young fish, nutrients for insects the fish feed on and filters that trap and hold gravel the fish need for spawning. http://www.registerguard.com/rg/Home/story.csp?cid=127968&sid=1&fid=1 Environment Forests Wildlife Oregon 08/25/2008 Eugene Register Guard Welcome to Alaska, where the blow of climate change will fall harder than on any other U.S. state. Records indicate that Alaska has already experienced the largest regional warming of any U.S. state -- an average 3 degrees Celsius since the 1960s and about 4.5 degrees Celsius in the interior of the state during winter months. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=c8dd6862-ef42-4229-9cd5-6cb05ec76635 Climate Environment Forests Alaska 08/25/2008 Vancouver Sun A stalled Sierra Nevada salvage-logging venture is sparking the Supreme Court's next major environmental showdown. What began as a 238-acre Sequoia National Forest timber sale has drawn in big players on all sides. The fight, pitting California officials against the Bush administration, will determine how easy it will be to challenge future forest decisions nationwide. http://www.sacbee.com/378/story/1180945.html Environment Forests Policy California United States 08/24/2008 Sacramento Bee More than eight years after the Clinton Administration created the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument, the federal Bureau of Land Management Thursday released a final plan to manage it. The plan intends to protect the monument's biological diversity by restricting human access. That means closing roads, and tightly regulating activities, like snowmobiling and logging. http://news.opb.org/article/2884-blm-releases-siskiyou-monument-management-plan/ Environment Forests Policy Oregon 08/22/2008 Oregon Public Broadcasting Gov. Ted Kulongoski will travel to Klamath Falls on Thursday and fly over a large swath of forest killed by a pine beetle outbreak. http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2008/08/governor_to_tour_dying_forest.html Environment Forests Oregon 08/20/2008 Portland Oregonian Among President Bill Clinton's signature environmental achievements was a regulation that prohibited new roads, and by extension, new commercial activity, in nearly 60 million largely undeveloped acres of the national forests. Last year, more than 140 House members and 19 senators introduced the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act. It is past time to provide permanent protection for the forests by turning the Clinton rule into firm law. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/opinion/21thu3.html?ref=todayspaper Environment Forests Policy United States 08/21/2008 New York Times