March 16, 2026 HFHC News Round Up
House sets vote on lead ammo, sequoia protection bills (E&E Daily)
The House will vote on legislation this week to protect sequoias from wildfires and to safeguard the use of lead ammunition for hunting on public lands. The “Save Our Sequoias Act” would speed and expand forest thinning and related actions in and around groves of giant sequoia trees, which are threatened by worsening wildfires in California. Having passed the Natural Resources Committee by unanimous consent, H.R. 2709 is poised to get overwhelming bipartisan support when lawmakers consider it on the fast-track rules that require a two-thirds majority for passage. “When I was in forestry school, we were under the impression that you really couldn’t destroy a giant sequoia by fire,” said Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) during a markup in March. Westerman is a Yale University-trained forester. He added, “But nature proved us wrong as the fires got up into the crowns of these sequoia groves and took out whole groves.” As many as one-fifth of the giant sequoias — which grow in a narrow range in California — have died since 2022, Rep. Vince Fong (R-Calif.) said in introducing the bill last year. (Subscription Required)
Environmentalists Push Reluctant Courts to Probe Permit Reviews (Bloomberg Law)
Environmentalists continue to bring National Environmental Policy Act challenges to federal permitting reviews despite a US Supreme Court decision reining in judicial scrutiny. Litigators say there’s been a “chilling effect” on courts’ willingness to question the scope of those reviews since the justices decided Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County last May. Lower courts largely have upheld environmental studies backing an assortment of permits—including logging projects, pipeline expansions, and even a makeshift migrant detention facility. Only three have vacated an agency action in the wake of the unanimous Supreme Court opinion chastising an “overly intrusive” interpretation of NEPA that required consideration of the downstream impacts of the planned project, such as greenhouse gas emissions and habitat destruction.
Forest Service approves 7,700-acre West Reservoir timber project (Daily Inter Lake)
The U.S. Forest Service has approved a 7,700-acre forestry project west of Hungry Horse Reservoir. About 2,000 acres will undergo commercial treatments using mechanized ground or cable methods, resulting in the production of about 6.25 million board feet of timber over several years. About 93% of areas proposed for these forms of treatment have been historically harvested, according to the project’s environmental assessment.
Montana Logging Project to Continue as Groups Litigate Approval (Bloomberg Law)
A logging project in Montana will proceed after a federal appeals court ruled Friday that the US Forest Service adequately explained how the project complies with the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest management plan. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court’s opinion that the agency provided sufficient analysis and data behind its approval of the Wood Duck logging project in compliance with both the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act. (Subscription Required)
Forest Service to embark on 2,800-acre thinning, treatment project in north county (Idaho Mountain Express)
The U.S. Forest Service is set to embark on a project to thin and treat 2,800 acres of trees and plant life in northern Blaine County. The agency’s plan not to take public comment on the project has frustrated the Blaine County Board of County Commissioners, which sent a letter to the Forest Service on Wednesday urging it to reconsider. Their decision to send the letter followed a separate decision earlier this week to voice complaints about a national proposal by the Forest Service to limit the public’s ability to object to projects on land the agency manages.
Wyoming and Forest Service update shared stewardship agreement for Bighorn National Forest (Gillette News Record)
An updated shared stewardship agreement between the state of Wyoming and the U.S. Forest Service features the Bighorn National Forest as the site of a pilot program that will prioritize long-term, landscape-level, holistic planning over one-time timber sales. Wyoming State Forester Kelly Norris said that the work will be particularly focused in the southern Bighorn Mountains. The Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming will also be part of the pilot program, which will target certain areas for timber administration or vegetation work for longer periods of time, she said.
Montana takes on co-management of 200,000 federal acres (Bonner County Bee)
Signed in June 2025, the agreement seeks to increase the pace and scale of forestry projects on national forestlands in Montana through long-term state and federal partnerships. Under the plan, the state agreed to take on the implementation of certain restoration goals for an as-yet-unidentified tract of National Forest system land in Northwest Montana, “with a focus on areas with marketable timber.” Three units on the Flathead and Kootenai national forests were ultimately earmarked for co-management with the state. The “Libby Checkboard” encompasses 142,308 acres between the Thompson chain of lakes and Libby. The 25,432-acre Rand Creek Unit extends west of Ashley Lake, along the southern border of the Tally Lake Ranger District, and the Haskill Island Unit includes 46,171 acres on and surrounding Blacktail Mountain.
Lawsuit challenges USDA rule change that could impact public input on Tahoe’s national forests (Tahoe Daily Tribune)
Legal proceedings are challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new rule that modifies how it implements a longstanding environmental policy, potentially spelling ramifications for the Tahoe Basin. Conservation groups say the change could have significant consequences on the public’s ability to comment on what happens on National Forests, including those that make up approximately 78% of the area around Lake Tahoe. “We’re suing to make sure people have a say in what happens on their public lands, as they have for 50 years,” Wendy Park says, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation group joining the Sierra Club in suing the USDA.
From timber to tinder: NC forestry officials worry about growing fire dangers, fewer workers (Citizen Times)
When Hurricane Helene swept through western North Carolina, forestry officials conservatively estimated the storm damaged 822,000 acres of timber. Now satellite imagery showing changes in forest cover suggests the extent of damage was much greater. Nearly 18 months after Helene, forestry officials and the state fire marshal warned legislators Thursday that North Carolina needs to be much better prepared to battle wildfires. Deputy Forester Kevin Harvell with the North Carolina Forest Service said from the air, it’s easy to spot areas where complete stands of trees were flattened, making forest roads and logging roads impassable.
Senate committee takes up scrutiny of Endangered Species Act (E&E Daily)
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will take stock of the Endangered Species Act during a hearing Wednesday as House Republicans pursue a major rewrite. The EPW Subcommittee on Fishing, Water and Wildlife — chaired by Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) — will dissect the “challenges and opportunities” of the landmark law, enacted in 1973 to protect plants and animals from extinction through critical habitat designations and recovery plans. The discussion comes as the Trump administration pursues sweeping changes to how agencies implement the ESA and the House Natural Resources Committee works to limit the statute’s scope. Introduced by Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), the “ESA Amendments Act of 2025,” H.R. 1897, would give states more power over protecting endangered species. The bill would also limit the meaning of “foreseeable future” when deciding whether a species will likely become extinct in the period covered by the law. (Subscription Required)
Interior Secretary Summons ESA “God Squad” For Gulf Of Mexico Drilling (National Parks Traveler)
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has summoned the Endangered Species Committee in an evident move to allow oil and gas drilling to proceed in the Gulf of Mexico without having to avoid harm to threatened or endangered species. In a notice to be published Monday in the Federal Register, the Interior Department said the committee, colloquially referred to as the ‘God Squad’, will meet on March 31 in Washington to consider an “exemption under the Endangered Species Act with respect to oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities” in the gulf. While the notice said the meeting would be open to the public via a YouTube feed, staff at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) said “[A]ll meetings of the God Squad are required to be open to the public
In a Wild Corner of the West, Elk Are Everywhere and Causing Conflict (The New York Times)
Traveling through the Blue Mountains, where Washington, Idaho and Oregon meet, elk are everywhere — on road signs, restaurant menus, home decor and, increasingly, the 4,300 acres where Shaun Robertson raises cattle. On a recent winter afternoon, he drove his pickup slowly down Grant County Road 88, the gravel dividing line between his property, where thinned stands of trees sloped down into a wide valley, and the Malheur National Forest, thick with trees and overgrown. Animal tracks stood out on the snow-dusted road between them, elk, coyotes, a mountain lion, and more elk. “These elk are just moving all the time to find someplace safe,” said Robertson, who turned to ranching after a career as a biologist, including working for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. “We’re seeing them more often because there’s nowhere they feel safe.”
Several species of owls and nightjars appear to be declining in Iowa (News from the States)
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ results from 2025 moonlit surveys of owls and nightjars show that some of the bird populations are declining. DNR’s Monitoring of Owls and Nightjars, or MOON, survey has monitored population trends of nocturnal owls and nightjars, another nocturnal bird. Many of the species are listed as threatened in the state or as species of greatest conservation need, since 2016…The report said additional data will be necessary for the department to make “specific links” between owl and nightjar populations and habitat management in the state, but the long-term route data showing declines in Eastern whip-poor-will and Chuck-will’s-widow indicate that those areas “may need additional habitat management.” The report said forest management strategies like invasive shrub removal or understory thinning, could increase open canopy areas in the forest which can help support those species.
Greenpeace Judge Might Just Beat the Dutch (Greg Walcher)
My granddad had a great expression when something was remarkable or astonishing: “Well, if that doesn’t just beat the Dutch!” It was a linguistic heirloom of the 17th Century when England and the Netherlands were commercial and naval rivals. Something had to be extreme to surpass even the Dutch, so that eventually became a common saying even on the American frontier. It crossed my mind this week when a North Dakota judge ordered Greenpeace to pay the substantial damages awarded by a jury for the group’s organization and funding of protests at the Dakota Access pipeline. The pipeline owners, Energy Transfer Partners, sued and the jury found Greenpeace guilty of conspiracy, trespass, nuisance and tortious interference. The latter refers to a standoff that lasted months, with protesters chaining themselves to equipment, destroying pipeline parts, and throwing feces and burning logs at workers. The chaos delayed the project and cost pipeline owners an estimated $7.5 billion. The jury originally awarded damages totaling $666.9 million, which the judge eventually reduced by half.
OPINION: The most important wildlife reform in a generation (ABQ Journal)
In August of 1910, 500 miles off the coast of the United States, sailors on ships in the Pacific Ocean were unable to navigate by the stars due to thick black smoke blotting out the night sky. That smoke was coming from the Great Fire of 1910, the largest fire in U.S. history, which burned more than 3 million acres of land in northern Idaho and western Montana over the course of just two days. The Big Burn, as it’s also known, scorched an area the size of Connecticut and killed 85 people, 78 of them firefighters, making it the second-deadliest event for firefighters in American history behind the Sept. 11 attacks. The Great Fire of 1910 also transformed wildfire fighting policy and practices in the United States, ultimately leading to the creation of the full-time and multifaceted wildfire fighting profession we know today, which now involves a coordinated response of firefighting aircraft, bulldozers and hotshot crews of frontline firefighters.
EarthTalk – Are some forests starting to release more CO2 into the atmosphere than they are absorbing? (Kiowa County Press)
Forests are vital carbon sinks: They absorb more carbon dioxide (CO2) than they emit, playing a crucial role in regulating the climate. Through photosynthesis, trees pull CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in their trunks, branches, leaves and roots. This helps slow climate change by reducing greenhouse gases. But a concerning trend has emerged: Some forests now release more CO2 than they absorb, shifting from carbon sinks to sources. This is being driven by pest infestations, wildfires, and climate change. Forests naturally fluctuate between absorbing and releasing CO2, but long-term trends matter. “It’s natural for forests to cycle through times where they are carbon sinks and then carbon sources,” says Tony Vorster, a research scientist at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory. Rising temperatures exacerbate stressors like pest outbreaks and drought. When trees reach critical temperature thresholds, they release more CO2 than they absorb, increasing warming in a dangerous feedback loop.
How Rising Energy Prices Affect Timberland Investments and the Forest Products Industry (Forisk)
On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel initiated joint strikes on Iranian and regional infrastructure targets. Ongoing airstrikes, cyber operations, and retaliatory attacks have spread, affecting families, trade, travel, and markets around the world. In particular, ongoing fears related to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and how this war disrupts energy supplies increased the price and volatility of global oil prices. On March 11th, the oil price once again exceeded $100 per barrel, even as governments attempted to pacify markets by announcing plans to release emergency oil reserves. While extended higher oil prices translate into increasing costs throughout the economy as manufacturing and transportation of all goods become more expensive, how do they affect forestry products and timber?
EU bioeconomy aspirations require an increasing supply of renewable wood (EU Observer)
The European Union’s strategic agenda responds to clear and present challenges facing member states and European citizens. We are to reinforce a prosperous and competitive Europe, extend our alliances, achieve a green transition, and defend democratic values. At the same time we must handle external threats and reduce unwanted dependencies. These priorities require solutions that build on Europe’s own strengths and resources. One obvious cornerstone are opportunities offered in the bioeconomy where long traditions and favourable conditions form a backbone of European prosperity and growth. It’s about food and agriculture, of course, but given current directions we must also look to the critical importance of the forest-based bioeconomy.
Hormuz conflict unlikely to hit Arkansas timber industry hard (Times Record)
Conflict in the Strait of Hormuz is disrupting timber shipments to the Middle East and North Africa, but the impact on Arkansas’ timber industry is expected to be minimal, according to a forestry expert. Matthew Pelkki, professor and George H. Clippert Chair of Forestry at the University of Arkansas at Monticello and director of the Arkansas Center for Forest Business, said Arkansas wood products are primarily shipped to domestic markets and nearby countries rather than the Middle East. “Arkansas sends about 17 percent of its production of wood out of state,” Pelkki said on March 12. “Most goes to mills in surrounding states, especially Louisiana.”
Arkansas’ overseas timber sales largely unaffected by war in Iran, expert says (Pine Bluff Commercial)
The conflict in the Strait of Hormuz is restricting imports to the rapidly growing timber markets in the Middle East and northern Africa, according to an industry outlet, but impacts on the Arkansas timber industry will likely be minimal, said Matthew Pelkki. Pelkki is a professor and George H. Clippert Chair of Forestry at the University of Arkansas at Monticello and director of the Arkansas Center for Forest Business. He’s also part of the Arkansas Forest Resources Center of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
‘Anything’s gonna help us’ | Timber farmers say industry still broken as Georgia opens Hurricane Helene relief applications (WMAZ)
Georgia farmers, ranchers and foresters impacted by Hurricane Helene can begin applying for state relief money Monday, nearly two years after the storm tore through the state and devastated the timber industry. The Georgia Department of Agriculture opens the application portal March 16 for the Georgia Hurricane Helene Block Grant Program, which distributes $531,236,000 in federal relief funds. The application window closes at midnight on April 27.
Sustain Penn State hosts forester and author Ethan Tapper on March 23 and 24 (PennState)
Sustain Penn State will welcome forester and author Ethan Tapper on March 23 and 24 for a series of events exploring the intersection of ecology, land stewardship and storytelling. Tapper, author of the bestselling book “How to Love a Forest,” is known for his hands-on approach to forest management and his work restoring a 175-acre forest in Vermont that he named Bear Island, where he addresses challenges such as invasive species and long-term ecosystem health.
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