May 21, 2026 HFHC News Round Up
‘Practical stewardship’: House Republicans release Interior-EPA spending bill (Greenwire)
The House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee released a $38.9 billion spending bill for fiscal 2027, which includes a 20 percent cut to EPA, or about $1.8 billion. Interior’s funding would go up by about 2 percent. The House’s bill includes $1.54 billion for the consolidation of Interior firefighting forces under the new Wildland Fire Service. Nearly 4,000 employees across agencies including the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service have already been merged into the new organization, which Interior Secretary Doug Burgum indicated could grow to 13,000 staffers. But that number includes absorbing certain Forest Service employees, and debate remains about whether Congress must sign off on such a cross-agency deal. Notably, the fiscal 2027 spending bill provides the Forest Service with $5.2 billion for wildland fire management and suppression. (Subscription Required)
This wildfire season could be hotter, drier and pricer, Utah officials say (Utah News Dispatch)
The 2026 wildfire season is shaping up to be not just hotter and drier but also more expensive after the cost of gasoline soared in the three months since the Iran war began. Usually, when state officials refer to “fuel” in wildland firefighting, they’re talking about grass, brush and trees at risk of burning in dry winds. And they warned about that too, on Wednesday, emphasizing that vegetation across the state dried out a month or more ahead of schedule. But Gov. Spencer Cox also called attention to the kind of fuel powering wildland firefighting engines. “We routinely have fires that are at least a million dollars a day, and with fuel prices, that’s going to cost even more this year as we try to fight these fires,” Cox told reporters at a news conference at a new state wildfire response center in South Salt Lake.
The Case for Immediate Suppression and Active Forest Management (Evergreen Magazine)
The devastating wildfires that now characterize the Western landscape do not simply represent a natural disaster. They are the consequence of decades of flawed and politically engineered federal policy. The catastrophic damage wrought by these fires – including the wholesale destruction of wildlife, habitat, and infrastructure – is compounded by a profound crisis in post-fire land management. To secure the future of our national forests and protect communities in the wildland-urban interface, we must immediately abandon the failed ideology of “managed fire” and implement a strategy of swift suppression followed by aggressive, responsible forest restoration.
Wildfire Smoke Exposure for a Week and Its Impact on Lungs and Heart (Medical Daily)
Wildfire smoke health is an increasing public concern as longer wildfire seasons expose more people to polluted air. Even one week of breathing wildfire smoke can affect both the lungs and heart, with effects that may last beyond visible haze. Understanding how wildfire, smoke, lungs, and heart health are connected helps explain why even short-term exposure matters.
Idaho hunter kills charging grizzly bear while protecting son (NBC Montana)
A hunter shot and killed a charging grizzly bear in defense of life while hunting with his young son near Cave Falls Road on the Caribou-Targhee National Forest outside Ashton, according to Idaho Fish and Game. The incident happened the evening of May 16 while the pair was hunting black bears near a meadow. Officials said the grizzly bear appeared to catch the hunters’ scent, changed direction and began moving directly toward them. The hunters tried to alert the bear to their presence, but the animal charged from a short distance away. The man fired at the bear with a sidearm before switching to his hunting rifle, killing the bear within about 5 yards of where he was standing.
Montana locals rally against logging near Yellowstone National Park (SFGATE)
The U.S. Forest Service formally announced the Bear Palmer Forest Health Project in January. It would entail 4,401 acres of logging and thinning, including 2,126 acres of commercial logging — with 824 acres of that clear-cut — as well as prescribed fire operations in the Custer Gallatin National Forest. The project would span four creek drainages and authorize the construction of 7 miles of new roads. The proposed logging operation is one of several that have been suggested near the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park recently. The proposals have gotten considerable pushback, though, in part because much of what makes the country’s first national park special — namely, its wildlife — moves between the park and nearby lands. Logging projects would fragment their habitat, opponents point out, and they worry that humans, too, would see impacts in areas where they recreate.
Trump directives stymie wildfire funding for Western forests ahead of difficult season (E&E News)
The Forest Service is withholding tens of millions of dollars in wildfire and forestry assistance from states that haven’t signed onto Trump administration directives prohibiting diversity initiatives and climate change programs. As weather forecasters predict an especially severe wildfire season, the Forest Service is in talks with Western states about the holdup on the wildfire mitigation grants and cooperative agreements on forest management, according to state and federal officials. …The new requirements are a particular problem with Democratic-led states, which won’t sign onto the new requirements, in some cases because state laws conflict with the restrictions like the ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. But forestry leaders in Idaho have also raised concerns, saying requirements to make sure subcontractors are also following the Trump directives put an undue burden on states.
Reps. Neguse and Huffman Introduce the Public Lands Workforce Stability Act (Neguse Press)
Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse, Ranking Member of the Federal Lands Subcommittee and Congressman Jared Huffman, Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, recently introduced the Public Lands Workforce Stability Act, a bill to prohibit mass terminations at our land management agencies, including the Department of Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Since the start of 2025, the Trump administration has eliminated tens of thousands of jobs through the Reduction in Force (RIFs) of federal employees, leaving agencies unable to meet basic obligations due to staffing shortages. With fewer personnel across the board, DOI and USFS are in weakened positions to address threats such as wildfires; complete important construction and maintenance projects; continue programs designed to protect communities, vital watersheds, and wildlife habitats; and more.
Water in the West is life (DVIDS)
The Grand Mesa Watershed Resiliency Partnership is built around a simple idea: if you want to protect water, you must first take care of the forest. “Eighty percent of Coloradans drink water that originates on the forest,” said Dave Payne, assistant general manager with the Ute Water Conservancy District. “Managing those watersheds has been one of the greatest philosophies of the Forest Service.” This effort brings the U.S. Forest Service, Colorado State Forest Service, local governments, industry partners and nonprofit organizations together to help strengthen the landscape. While reducing wildfire risk is a major part of the work, the broader goal is watershed resilience. It is creating forests that can better handle fire, drought and changing conditions while continuing to provide clean, reliable water to communities. On the Grand Mesa, the partnership is focusing on watersheds that directly supply municipal and agricultural water. Several creeks and drainages in the area, including the primary sources for water in Grand Junction, are all part of that effort. These areas are facing increasing pressure from development near forest boundaries and the changing conditions across the landscape. To improve conditions, crews are thinning dense areas, using prescribed fire and supporting commercial timber harvest. The goal is to reduce overcrowding of trees, restore a more natural forest structure and give the ecosystems a better chance to withstand natural occurrences, including wildfire.
Voters reject ‘watersheds bill of rights’ initiative (Your Oregon News)
Voters in Oregon’s Lane County have overwhelmingly rejected a ballot initiative that would have allowed residents to file lawsuits against alleged polluters on behalf of watersheds…The ballot initiative would have established rights for watersheds to “exist, flourish, regenerate and naturally evolve, free from contamination and degradation.” Those protections would’ve been enforced by allowing county residents to file lawsuits to “prosecute and remedy violations” committed by “corporate, government or other business entities.” Critics of the measure feared that farmers and small businesses would have faced litigation for violating watershed rights that weren’t clearly defined in the initiative’s language.
Trump’s Reversal of Biden-Era Land Rule Is a Warning to China (National Review)
Last week, the Trump administration repealed the Bureau of Land Management’s Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, commonly known as the Public Lands Rule. This regulatory change occurred on the same day that the Senate voted to advance Steve Pearce’s nomination to lead the agency. Pearce, a former Republican congressman from New Mexico, has been vehemently criticized by environmentalists for wanting to privatize and develop public lands and use the proceeds to reduce the national debt. The BLM administers approximately 244 million surface acres of public land and approximately 713.3 million acres of federal subsurface mineral estate in the United States. In all, the assets under the BLM’s control encompass 30 percent of the nation’s total mineral resources and 10 percent of America’s public land. But the 2024 Biden-era Public Lands Rule effectively kept a third of the nation’s minerals behind legal barriers by elevating “conservation” above historical uses such as energy development, mining, grazing, logging, or recreation. This effectively locked vast portions of U.S. public lands out of the U.S. economy — all to appease left-wing environmentalist activist groups. Worse, compared to private land, the land restricted by the rule was by far the least explored area with the largest potential mineral finds.
Carbon markets underestimate the risks U.S. forests face from climate change (UCSB)
The world’s forests form a vast network of carbon reservoirs, keeping carbon sequestered from the atmosphere where its presence is disrupting Earth’s climate systems. Many corporate, national and sub-national climate policies rely on forests’ essential ability to store carbon, often tracked and funded through a system of “carbon credits” issued to polluting industries in exchange for protecting and restoring forests. But if trees die — from wildfire, drought or insect infestation — large amounts of greenhouse gasses are released, exacerbating ongoing climate change. And the warming climate is accelerating this problem by making such disturbances more frequent and severe, but only in some places and not in others. Scientists at the University of Utah and UC Santa Barbara, in collaboration with international experts, sought to determine which forests are most likely to release their stored carbon over the next 100 years, and whether current carbon-credit systems accurately account for those risks.
Counting what carbon markets don’t (IDR)
“We spend three to four hours in the forest every day… we know which leaves and flowers to pluck, and how many tubers to uproot,” Shanti,* a woman from Sahala village in north Odisha, told us during a conversation in 2023. Her statement captured the ethic of care that shapes how people in the village attend to the forest’s needs along with their own. These slow, careful, and dexterous everyday actions practised by women in tribal and forest-dependent communities have shaped forests across India for generations—improving biodiversity, reducing fire risks, and sustaining ecosystem service flows. However, over time, these knowledge practices have been dismissed and sidelined as ‘unscientific’. This has happened through both dominant state models of forest management and emerging climate discourses, policies, and crucially, ‘nature-based’ solutions such as carbon markets.
How NEPA Reform Affects Trails on National Forest Lands (IMBA)
Noncontroversial projects will move faster within the agency. Routine trail requests like re-routes and new singletrack in areas with existing trail infrastructure have always been strong Categorical Exclusion candidates. With Categorical Exclusion authority now more broad and more discretionary, a supportive District Ranger has more latitude to approve these projects quickly without preparing a full Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement. Major constraints are still based upon known key factors: willingness of the agency, level of public controversy, any significant wildlife concerns, or other discoveries found in the extraordinary circumstances review; and ultimately whether the project is consistent with the Forest Plan. Categorical Exclusions cannot approve projects carte blanche.
Award-winning documentary B.C. Is Burning now free on YouTube (YouTube)
An award-winning documentary about B.C.’s wildfire crisis is now available for anyone to watch free on YouTube. B.C. Is Burning went public May 20, released online after more than a year of community screenings across the province. The film, produced and directed by retired forester and filmmaker Murray Wilson, and Kelowna entrepreneur Rick Maddison, examines how forest conditions, climate, fuel accumulation and land management practices are driving wildfire risk in British Columbia. “This film started as an attempt to better understand why wildfire seasons are becoming more destructive and what practical steps may help reduce future risk,” said Wilson. The documentary features foresters, wildfire researchers, emergency management professionals and Indigenous voices, and looks at the growing toll fire and smoke are taking on communities across western Canada.
Portola City Council explores community forest idea (Plumas Sun)
Should the City of Portola accept a donation of 585 acres of land to establish a community forest? Community members interested in this question filled the Portola City Council meeting room during the council’s regular meeting April 22. Councilmembers heard public comment as well as a presentation by project organizers Linda Judge, of Plumas Sierra Partners, and Shelton Douthit, Feather River Land Trust’s conservation director. The discussion focused on a 585.24-acre tract of land northeast of Portola with a complicated history: The property was formerly slated for a 225-acre asphalt plant and mine under ownership by Hat Creek Construction and Materials Inc., based in Burney. The possibility of a mine in Portola’s backyard resulted in a surge of public opposition in 2021.
Safer wood for safer buildings (USFS Forest Products Laboratory Research and Development)
Wood is in most buildings you enter. But how do you know it’s safe? “The work we do here at the Forest Products Laboratory is really important for everybody’s everyday lives in terms of the buildings we live in, work in, and play in,” said Forest Products Laboratory materials research engineer Laura Hasburgh. Wood may be present in the structural part of the building, such as the wall or ceiling framing. Wood is also used for interior finishes, like trim, doors, furniture and cabinetry. That’s why the safety and durability of wood products are important for everyone—from the businesses making the products to the people using them. However, testing wood materials for durability and resistance to moisture, weight, and fire is largely unaffordable for industry and universities. The Forest Service’s Forest Products Laboratory offers a solution where government scientists, universities, technicians, and partners collaborate to affordably test new and existing wood products for safer, stronger wood-based buildings. And the findings are shared with everyone.
US Senator Tells Housing Department to Make Mass Timber Mainstream (Wood Central)
US Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has pushed the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make mass timber a mainstream building material as part of the federal response to America’s housing affordability crisis, with the Mississippi Republican using a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to press HUD Secretary Scott Turner for a commitment to engage the US Forest Service, state forest commissions, research universities and builders on adoption. Wood Central obtained the remarks as part of a Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, chaired by Hyde-Smith, on Tuesday to review the FY2027 HUD budget request, in which the senator argued that the housing side of the mass timber conversation had been ceded to the Forest Service.
New forestry store opens on historic SDS lumber site (Goldendale Sentinel)
Anew forestry products store has opened at 14 South Maple Street in Bingen, at the former SDS/WKO lumber sales office. Neal Creek Forest Products, owned by Paul Jones, CEO, has expanded business operations from Hood River, Oregon, across the river into Washington. The Bingen yard just opened on May 5, offering a range of forestry products for homeowners, contractors, landscapers, orchardists, and agriculture-related and other commercial businesses. According to Jones, the company has been serving customers throughout the Columbia River Gorge for years and has seen a need for a convenient location where customers can access quality landscape and forest products without having to travel long distances. Jones said leasing the office in Bingen “felt like a natural fit because we already had strong relationships in the area and wanted to better serve the local community.”
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