Forest Owners Thank Congressional Leaders for Bipartisan Bill Preserving EPA Forest Roads Policy, Jobs, National Alliance of Forest Owners, May 16, 2013
The National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) today thanked Congressional leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate for introducing the Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act, preserving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 37 years of success regulating forest roads as nonpoint sources under the Clean Water Act (CWA)....
Endangered Species Act: On 40th anniversary, time to rethink how we protect wildlife, By Laura E. Huggins and David Currie Special to the Mercury News San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, May 15, 2013
Many organizations are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. One group of equity investors that will not be honoring the occasion is Google, NRG Solar and BrightSource. This trio has spent millions to keep a large solar thermal power plant from going dark before ever lighting a single home -- and all because of a tortoise listed as threatened under the species act.....
Brown taps cap-and-trade money, By John Howard, Capitol Weekly | 05/14/13
Gov. Brown’s rewritten budget borrows $500 million from California’s cap-and-trade auctions and diverts the money for use in other state programs – a move that drew immediate fire from clean-air advocates. The administration said the $500 million represents a one-time loan and will be paid back, with interest. Tapping the money was proper, the administration said, because the state needs more time to set up programs to coordinate the investments of the auction proceeds and nobody can predict how much the auctions will raise in the future......
Federal omission in closing oyster farm broke law, court told, The firm's attorneys say U.S. did not do an environmental review. The closing of the farm would lead to the first marine wilderness area on the West Coast. By Julie Cart, Los Angeles Times, May 14, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Interior Department violated federal law by failing to conduct an environmental review before ordering a Northern California oyster farmer to shutter his operation, attorneys for the farmer told a federal appeals court panel here Tuesday. In a case that has become a cause celebre across the political spectrum, oysterman Kevin Lunny had been ordered to close the farm late last year when his lease to operate within Point Reyes National Seashore expired.....
House farm bill has plenty for California growers, Michael Doyle, Sacramento Bee, MAY. 14, 2013
WASHINGTON -- California lawmakers will now help plant another farm bill, hoping it will bear fruit for the state’s frustrated growers. The last farm bill died on the vine. But on Wednesday, House Agriculture Committee members are scheduled to start trying again, with a draft 576-page package that would change rice and cotton subsidies, potentially shake up California’s dairy industry and open an olive oil debate, among other provisions.....
Wildfire risk runs high, but budget cuts mean fewer firefighters, The U.S. Forest Service will hire 500 fewer this year, officials say, although the cuts are expected to affect Eastern states rather than the drought-stricken West, By Wes Venteicher, Los Angeles Times, May 13, 2013
WASHINGTON — The drought that caused record wildfires in California and other Western states last year is expected to persist through the summer, but fewer firefighters will battle this year's blazes in other regions because of federal budget cuts, top federal officials said Monday.....
Environmental group's cable TV ad hits Jerry Brown on logging, Sacramento Bee, May 13, 2013
A Northern California environmental group has begun airing advertisements on cable TV stations criticizing Gov. Jerry Brown for allowing clear-cut logging on thousands of acres of forest land. Marily Woodhouse, co-founder of the Manton-based Battle Creek Alliance, said today her organization paid $3,000 to air spots this month on CNN, MSNBC and other cable networks in Sacramento.......
Wildfires 2013: A government-sponsored disaster, By Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, represents California’s 1st Assembly District. Redding Record Searchlight, May 10, 2013
When severe wildfires blazed through Southern California a decade ago some people started rethinking our forest management practices. So far there has been too much thinking and not enough action. Every year since 2003 we have seen millions of dollars wasted as Cal Fire responds to the annual ritual of trying to save people and property from out-of-control catastrophic wildfires. In the next 60 to 90 days we will again see millions of dollars spent on California wildfires. Unlike earthquakes and tsunamis, wildfires are a disaster that we can see coming well before they happen......