skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Will "Resilient Federal Forest Act" Really Protect ID Against Wildfires?

play audio
Play

Friday, November 3, 2017   

BOISE, Idaho – Passed by the U.S. House and moving on to the Senate, the Resilient Federal Forests Act is aimed at protecting forests from fires. But conservation groups in Idaho and across the country say it undermines the most meaningful efforts to do just that.

Among their many concerns is the threat the bill poses to environmental laws, including greatly-reduced public input on timber projects that cover up to 30,000 acres.

Jonathan Oppenheimer, government relations director for the Idaho Conservation League, says this bill looks to commercial logging as a path toward healthier forests, but that approach is too simplistic.

"We have been working very closely with the timber industry for years in Idaho, and we share many common goals, but just undoing decades of environmental law and removing protections for endangered species, and clear water and public involvement, is not the right way to go," he says.

Both Idaho Congressmen, Raul Labrador and Mike Simpson voted for the bill. Oppenheimer says simply cutting down forests won't reduce fires, and in some cases does just the opposite. His group contends it's more effective to provide the U.S. Forest Service with the funds for projects to reduce fuel loads and maintain forests. Under the current model, the agency must pull money from those projects in order to fight wildfires.

Oppenheimer says there's a better way forward, and that forest management should be a collaborative effort.

"Another aspect is to fund the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, which has been very effective in helping to boost some of these collaborative efforts, and really making sure that the Forest Service has the capacity and the staffing to carry out a lot of the work in the woods that needs to get done," he explains.

He notes that fires are a natural part of the landscape and can help rejuvenate forestlands. But with fires becoming bigger and more frequent, efforts should focus on protecting homes and communities.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021