Here is a weekly digest of California forestry news by Greg Giuisti:
US Forest Service awards nearly $2.5M for renewable energy projects, Federal grants support the development of clean renewable energy, help reduce the risk of wildfire and provide economic opportunities to rural communities, June 20, 2013
U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell today announced the award of nearly $2.5 million in grants to 10 small businesses and community groups for wood-to-energy projects that will help expand regional economies and create new jobs. “These grants help grow new jobs, support clean energy production and improve our local environments, especially in reducing fire threats,” said Tidwell. “Communities from Massachusetts to Alaska will benefit from the program this year.”.....
House defeats farm bill in surprise move, Paul Kane, Washington Post, June 20, 2013,
A broad five-year farm bill went down to a surprise defeat in the House on Thursday when Republican conservatives revolted against the legislation, arguing that it would cost too much, while Democrats defected, saying it would not spend enough on their priorities. The 234 to 195 vote was the latest rebuke to House GOP leaders, who have struggled to muster enough control of the chamber to pass major legislation......
As fires rage, feds cut funding on prevention, Sacramento Bee, June 19, 2013
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- As the West battles one catastrophic wildfire after another, the federal government is spending less and less on its main program for preventing blazes in the first place. A combination of government austerity and the ballooning cost of battling the ruinous fires has taken a bite out of federal efforts to remove the dead trees and flammable underbrush that clog Western forests. .....
Secretaries Vilsack and Jewell highlight federal preparedness for 2013 Western wildfire season, Forest Business Network, June 12, 2013
During a visit to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell outlined the Federal Government’s efforts to ensure collaboration in protecting Americans from wildfire, and urged homeowners and local communities to take steps to reduce their risks during the 2013 fire season. The outlook for the fire season is severe across much of the Western United States......
House boosts funding for prevention, Phil Taylor, Greenwire, Friday, June 7, 2013, (subscription required)
The House yesterday passed a bill boosting funding for projects that reduce the cost and severity of wildfires. The measure was included as an amendment to H.R. 2217, a $38.9 billion bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security that passed the chamber on a mostly party-line vote. The wildfire language by Reps. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) would provide an additional $7.7 million to the pre-disaster mitigation fund at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides grants to state, local and tribal governments and to universities to reduce the risks of disasters, including wildfires. Projects could include creation of "defensible space" around homes, the construction or retrofitting of structures with flame-resistant materials or the thinning of hazardous fuels around structures......
Climate expert takes on new Calif. job with adaptation focus, Anne C. Mulkern, ClimateWire, June 18, 2013 (subscription required)
A climate change expert has been named to the California Natural Resources Agency, where she'll work in part on adaptation planning. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) appointed Amber Pairis, 38, assistant secretary for climate change at the department. The La Jolla resident will be supporting the secretary for natural resources on climate-related work.....
Watering the forest for the trees’ emerging as priority for forest management, Forest Business Network, June 18, 2013
A new analysis led by the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station encourages resource managers to consider a broadened view of forests as consumers of water. A shift in thinking toward reducing the risk of water stress to vegetation can help forests maintain their resilience and health in a changing climate, according to a paper published online in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment......
Ninth Circuit Holds Cumulative Effects Analysis Not Necessary For Informal Consultation, Ben Rubin, | JDSUPRA Law News, 6/18/2013
In a published opinion (pdf) affirming the denial of preliminary injunctive relief, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that "there is no statutory mandate to consider cumulative effects during informal consultation." Conservation Congress v. U.S. Forest Serv., No. 12-16452 (June 13, 2012). In order to address issues in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service proposed the Mudflow Vegetation Management Project (Project). The Project included a variety of activities, including thinning, sanitation, and
regeneration. Because the Project area included designated critical habitat for the threatened Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), the Forest Service prepared a biological assessment (BA) analyzing the impacts of the Project on the Owl and its critical habitat......
Court agrees to drop Sierra logging case, Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, June 17, 2013
After fighting a government plan to increase logging in Sierra forests throughout California all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, a conservation group concluded it might hurt its cause more than it would help. On Monday, the court granted its request to drop the case. The plan allows logging to more than triple on 11.5 million acres in 11 Sierra forests. The Bush administration adopted the plan in 2004, saying it would reduce fire dangers, and the Obama administration has defended it in court......
Housing starts climb 6.8% in May, Andrew Khouri, Los Angeles Times, June 18, 2013
Home builders ramped up construction in May, providing an economic boost while they sought to take advantage of an improving housing market defined by low inventory. Housing starts increased 6.8% from revised April figures to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 914,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That was 28.6% higher than May 2012.......
TD forecasts lumber prices will rise 30% by end of 2014, John Shmuel
Trading Desk, 13/06/13
Lumber prices have fallen more than 25% since their peak in mid-April, but TD expects prices will rebound by 40% by the end of next year. A new report from TD predicts the recent slump in lumber, which has seen prices drop 25% in the past two months, will reverse course by next year. North American lumber prices reached a nine-and-a-half year high in mid-April, boosted by increasingly more optimistic numbers from U.S. housing. But several factors this year have conspired to wipe away most of the price gains seen in the past 12 months......
Senate panel OKs renewal of timber county funding, JEFF BARNARD, San Francisco Chronicle, June 18, 2013
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A U. S. Senate committee on Tuesday endorsed legislation to extend federal subsidies for timber counties one more year, and to protect more wilderness and wild rivers in Oregon. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the two bills are part of his effort to solve the funding crisis for Oregon timber counties, which are struggling to finance law enforcement, and other services, in the wake of expired subsidies and voter reluctance to increase taxes......
New tool determines areas at high risk of forest fire, Tahoe Daily Tribune, June 18, 2013
With California officials predicting the worst fire season in a century, finding areas at high risk of wildfire before the flames start is crucial. That’s how a new tool to help forest managers assess regions exposed to multiple threats could save lives and resources. A May study published in the “Journal of Forestry” offers a way to identify areas where wildfire, insects and disease, and
urban development threats intersect. “Rather than looking at these individual threats, they can see where these threats combine,” the study’s lead author Jeff
Kline said. “It matters where these threats overlap.”....
New Study: Adopting a Single Forestry Certification Standard Would Destroy American Jobs, Hurt Regional Economies, PR Newswire, June 17, 2013
ARLINGTON, Va.-- While some activist environmental groups push for a
monopoly, a new study released today found that a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) monopoly on forest certification in the U.S. could destroy tens of thousands of American jobs and hurt forest economies in the South and the Pacific Northwest. The study also found that a FSC monopoly would significantly reduce wood flows in the U.S., resulting in ubstantial economic losses for landowners and job loss for direct employees such as foresters, loggers, and millworkers......
Delimbinator makes its West Coast debut, Debra Moore, Staff Writer
Plumas County News, 6/13/2013
Forest Service personnel and timber industry leaders gathered June 5 just north of Graeagle to get their first look at the “delimbinator” — a device that can delimb a grapple full of logs at one time. According to Greenville logger Randy Pew, this is the first machine of its kind to operate west of the Mississippi and it is pivotal to the success of his family’s latest business venture. His son, Jared, has started a new logging company, J&C Enterprises. While the younger Pew is still bidding traditional logging jobs, he is also working with his father on the new venture, which involves the delimbinator......