CORRECTION: In the second paragraph, the term "mature forests" was replaced with language to more accurately describe the lands connected to the provided stastic. (1:53 p.m. CST, Oct. 30, 2024)

Did you check out fall colors in Wisconsin this month and wonder how old the trees are? There is a chance they are not in what's known as an "old-growth forest."

Regional voices are weighing in on a federal plan to expand these lands, to tap into their benefits. The U.S. Forest Service has gathered public input on a proposed National Old Growth Amendment, with a priority to conserve and restore these characteristics on federal lands. Only 17% of the acres within federally managed forest land falls under the category.

Jeff Niese, a Wisconsin-based forestry consultant, supports expanding the acreage, describing it as an underrepresented landscape in the Badger State.

"Foresters have a long-range perspective on managing ecosystems, not just trees," Niese explained. "We have a better concept of what we started with if we have saved all the pieces in some of our forest ecosystems and types."

Such pieces can include standing dead trees and multilayered canopies. Conservation advocates said they set the tone for more biological diversity and carbon sequestration. The amendment is expected to emphasize local solutions and Niese hopes the final plan sets aside some parcels of land where nature is in charge of the management, aside from forest supervisors. He cautioned political and economic factors can complicate efforts.

The initiative also strives to be more inclusive of tribal leaders.

Jason Schlender, executive administrator of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, sees promise in having a bigger voice.

"If it's to support wild rice restoration, or if it's to assist with deer populations, those are things that we can do based on research and based on knowledge transferred to us from an Indigenous perspective," Schlender emphasized.

As The Pew Charitable Trusts has pointed out, Schlender stressed climate change poses a threat to old-growth forests. Pew officials say among other things, the final plan should articulate a framework for establishing future generations of old-growth forests. Even in places where logging is no longer a primary threat, skeptics suggest the Forest Service has not placed enough scrutiny on the timber industry.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.


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An endangered bat species has been detected in southeastern Arizona.

Researchers say the discovery of the Mexican long-nosed bat in the Grand Canyon State expands the known range of these animals. They're important pollinators for desert plants such as columnar cactus and agave.

Kristen Lear, program director for Bat Conservation International's agave restoration program, said knowing that this endangered species has been found in Arizona opens up new avenues for research and conservation.

"Some of the work for the conservation of the species for the Mexican long-nosed bat are really two things," she said. "One is roost protection, finding the caves, the mines or wherever this bat is roosting along their migratory route and protecting those roosts. And then the second aspect is maintaining healthy foraging habitat."

Lear said the discovery of the tiny bat was made possible as project participants collected what's known as environmental DNA, or eDNA, by swabbing hummingbird feeders that bats also feed on. When bats feed, they leave traces of DNA behind through their saliva, which can then be analyzed.

As bats continue to struggle to survive because of disease and habitat loss, Lear said, it is important to study them using non-invasive methods.

Mexican long-nosed bats migrate annually from south-central Mexico to the southwestern United States, spending the summer months in southwest Texas and also in the bootheel of New Mexico. However, Lear said the bats' appearance in the Grand Canyon State could be a sign of the impacts climate change could be having on migratory practices.

"We're seeing more bat species using the edge of their ranges in areas that they aren't usually found," she said, "and so that could be what is happening here, is that climate change modeling with the agave plants, that are their food source, all of the modeling shows that that area is actually going to become more important for these bats in the future."

Lear said surveys have also increased in recent years, and it is possible the Mexican long-nosed bat has been in southeastern Arizona in low numbers but simply hadn't been detected yet. She said she wants to encourage Arizonans to plant native night-blooming plants, which attract insects for insectivorous bats to eat and agaves for nectar-feeding species, such as the Mexican long-nosed bat.


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California advocates for hunters and anglers are speaking out in favor of two public lands bills that were just reintroduced in the U.S. Senate. They're designed to maintain public access and conserve big-game migration corridors.

The Public Lands in Public Hands Act would require the Bureau of Land Management to get congressional approval in most cases to sell or transfer parcels to a non-federal entity, such as a state or private owner.

There's been a push in some parts of the West to hand control of large parcels of federal land over to the states, said Madeleine West, vice president for western conservation at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

"Certain parcels, if you got rid of those, it would block off access to really pristine hunting grounds," she said. "It's those sort of worst-case scenarios that we just want to be able to safeguard against."

Utah has petitioned - unsuccessfully so far - to force the BLM to sell the state more than 18-million acres of federal land, and House Republicans recently passed a rules package that makes it easier to sell off federal lands. States, faced with the enormous cost of managing the lands and fighting wildfire, could then elect to sell them to private interests.

A second bill, the Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act, would codify programs to protect wildlife migration corridors. West noted that the programs were created during the first Trump administration and continued during President Joe Biden's time in office.

"These are programs that can have real, long-term benefit," she said, "and so, some certainty that they will exist into the long term, regardless of future political changes, is really valuable."

The programs, which are currently voluntary, provide funding for state wildlife agencies, landowners and nonprofits that do habitat restoration work and map out wildlife migration patterns.

Minnesotans have until next Tuesday to offer their thoughts on the state's next Climate Action Framework.

Those tasked with protecting a distinct type of wetland hope the public learns more about their fate before speaking up.

Only trailing Alaska, Minnesota has the largest amount of peatlands in the U.S. They are waterlogged areas covered with dead plant materials, such as decaying leaves. Almost like a big kitchen sink on the landscape, they absorb carbon emissions while acting as ecosystems for a number of species.

Meredith Cornett, peatland resilience project planner for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said drainage ditches for unused farmland have turned into a problem because water from peatlands flows into them.

"We are currently doing a demonstration project to identify the best candidates for locking these ditches," Cornett explained. "Filling them in some cases and trying to restore the natural hydrology."

If successful, they can prevent more peatlands from drying out and releasing stored emissions back into the atmosphere. A recent estimate found nearly 850,000 acres of peatland in Minnesota are partially drained. Cornett noted federal grants have helped with restoration work but she encouraged public comments through the updated Climate Action Framework to create more urgency.

In northeastern Minnesota, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is making a strong push to protect and restore peatlands.

Nancy Schuldt, water projects coordinator for the Fond du Lac Environmental Program, said beyond the emissions effects, the wetlands have a deep connection to tribal communities.

"It's important habitat for moose, an incredibly culturally significant species, which is in a population decline up in this region," Schuldt noted.

Habitat for other plant and animal species prioritized by Indigenous populations also benefit from having a diverse group of wetlands in place. In recent decades, the Fond du Lac Band has enhanced water management to overcome the drainage effects traced back to colonization.

Schuldt alluded to the broader threats, such as droughts made worse by climate change, while also calling for a greater political will to limit land development near peatlands.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.


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