National News

Dan Gibbs speaks to congress

Monday, 06 May 2013 14:04

County commissioner rallies Congress for forest assistance

Yea or Nay? Bolster Conservation/Weaken Environmental Laws?

Tuesday, 12 March 2013 15:27

There's renewed movement in Congress on some legislation that would affect our public lands in a big way. Bills to create wilderness areas, combat bark beetles and streamline mining and grazing will be debated, and despite having "improvement" and "protection" in their names, not all would not encourage sustainable or resilient ecosystems in the West.

Of the handful of land bills that passed in the last Congress, none protected public land or established new wilderness (for first the first time in decades). In this 113th Congress, whether or not they are controversial, the bills will compete for divided attentions and scant dollars. Public support and feedback can make a difference.

Pine beetle hearing set for Hill City

Sunday, 10 July 2011 15:27

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands will hold an oversight field hearing, at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 10, at the Rafter J. Bar Ranch in Hill City.

Participating in the hearing will be Subcommittee Chair-man Rob Bishop of Utah and at-large member S.D. Representative Kristi Noem. Other witnesses may be announced.

Noem described the epidemic as a "slow motion disaster for the Black Hills National Forest and the region's economy."

Congress needs to energize itself and protect the national forests

Tuesday, 28 June 2011 15:27

Wildfires have rampaged through much of Arizona's wild lands in recent weeks. They have killed firefighters, destroyed buildings and burned almost a million acres.

That tragic news should contain a lesson, but it's one that should have been learned by now. It's been taught over and over as massive wildfires ravage the West.

Oregon's turn came in 2002 when the Biscuit Fire tore through nearly 500,000 acres of Southwestern Oregon. It started in mid-July and wasn't contained until December.

Analysis: Wood fuel poised to be next global commodity

Friday, 20 May 2011 14:31

(Reuters) - Wood fuel, one of the oldest energy sources on the planet, could become the newest commodity market if it can overcome supply limits and green concerns as demand grows for renewable energy.

Supply constraints are starting to put wood fuel into competition with the paper industry, experts say, in an uneasy reminder of existing tension between the food industry and companies making biofuels from food crops.

In theory burning wood and crop waste emits less carbon than fossil fuels because it simply returns to the air carbon accumulated by plants as they grow, but that balance breaks down if stock is not replanted, or natural forests are logged.

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