A new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Forests and Global Change presents the nation’s first assessment of carbon stored in larger trees and mature forests on 11 national forests from the West Coast states to the Appalachian Mountains.
The Northern Spotted Owl is the quintessential canary in the coal-mine for older forest ecosystems. This medium-size nocturnal bird of prey was listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act in 1992 because of widespread logging of its old-growth forest habitat shared by hundreds of species.
Nearly 100 scientists call on the BC Government to protect Primary Forests. This was covered by The Globe and Mail and Canada Press and NRDC.
If we look hard we can find a patch of forests that had been thinned and burned with prescribed fire, and then burned at less intensity in wildfire. Yet when we look across the vast landscapes that burned in the Bootleg and Almeda fires (Oregon), and Caldor and Dixie fires (California), we see homes burned to the ground, despite the extensive fire breaks and massive amounts of money spent on thinning and fire suppression.
Earth Day turned 51 on April 22. Our Chief Scientist, Dr. Dominick DellaSala, points out the accomplishments and challenges ahead for a planet in peril.