U.S. Forest Service

The U.S. Forest Service announced revisions to its oil and gas leasing rules on Tuesday that the agency promises “modernizes and streamlines” the permitting process to drill for fossil fuels in the nation’s forests and grasslands.

A local nonprofit affordable housing developer has worked out an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service to build 36 affordable workforce rentals on national forest land on the eastern edge of Jackson. But the project is raising some eyebrows in the community.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) has formally announced the establishment of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS), a development that came the same week that the U.S. Congress declined to fund it.

Local elected officials across the region are worried that changes in federal policy are putting their communities at risk from wildfire. But public land agencies say some of the concerns are overstated.

Proponents see Bridger-Teton National Forest project as a novel approach to keep vital forest workers close to the lands they manage. Critics see a “slippery slope.”

A group of mostly Western U.S. Senators is demanding answers on why the U.S. Forest Service has fallen behind on efforts to reduce hazardous wildfire fuels. The 12 senators – all Democrats – are from Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and other wildfire-impacted states.

The U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Wyoming Forestry Division offer lost-cost tags for folks wanting to harvest their own yuletide boughs.

During the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, evaluations for federal research grants ground to a halt and thousands of federal scientists at agencies were sent home without pay. Many are still catching up after the 43-day pause, and some fear the ripple effects could last much longer.

Data analyzed by the advocacy group Grassroots Wildland Firefighters shows that prescribed fires and other hazardous fuel reduction efforts have fallen by nearly 40% across the West this year.

The U.S. Senate version of the Fix our Forests Act (FOFA) is advancing with strong bipartisan support. If signed, it would bring big changes to the country’s approach to wildfires.