Tennessee 811’s Post

https://lnkd.in/gQaNecq7 The current iteration of Seattle's tree ordinance, a politically motivated document, will lead to the removal of climate resilience gifting mature trees. In our conversations about Environmental Justice, we must work more assiduously to understand that mature tree removal (avoidable in most cases by redesign and integrated planning), harms frontline communities AND the rest of cities. Air quality is a common pool resource. #equity #urban forestry #trees

A really interesting look by 1859 Oregon's Magazine on how, in the last 30 years, changes in tax rules have been one of the largest factors in changing how Oregon's private forests are managed, why they are changing hands now more than ever before -- and why that matters. Yes, it does matter who owns Oregon's forests -- and when a local community wants to own and manage its own forests, we help them do so with our community forests program. https://zurl.co/qwFx

Where once wildness was seen as sublime, manifesting the beautifulness of life, allowing us to connect to our ancestral selves and find inspiration in the untrammeled, natural world, it is becoming, as it was prior to the environmental movement, a commodity that needs to serve us. To repackage this shift in thinking and accommodate the still influential biocentric perspective, purveyors of Nature exploitation have been successful in convincing much of the public into believing not only that Nature serves us, but that it can’t survive without our tending, our gardening. To further legitimize this human-centric paradigm, land management agencies, logging and biomass interests, and many environmental groups have appropriated Native American cultural burning practices. We addressed this growing threat to Nature in a letter we sent to the California Coastal Commission this week. The letter is unconventional in that it takes a more personal approach than these folks are probably used to. Perhaps that will nudge them into paying closer attention. Our letter, with a full description of how California State Parks will be causing significant environmental harm at Tomales Bay State Park with their clearance of an old-growth Bishop pine forest, is available on our online journal, Chaparral Wisdom, linked below. If you are so moved, please consider writing your own email comment to the Commission. It needs to be in by April 5. Details are available at the end of the piece. https://lnkd.in/gz6P9RTR

Southern Kentucky citizens question the USFS project of clear-cutting 10,000 acres in the Daniel Boone National Forest. Southern Environmental Law Center filed a federal lawsuit alleging the USFS set the highest timber targets in decades and tied harvest volume quotas directly to job performance reviews. Previous clear cutting projects have caused disturbances such as invasive species, wildlife and ecosystem, erosion, flooding. Similar Land Management Plans are being questioned across the country as President Biden signed an executive order to conserve mature and old-growth forests on federal lands. Clear-cutting takes less time and is considerably cheaper than selective-cutting. In KY, local logging companies aren’t allowed to bid on this big-money project. Plans seem to undervalue “climate change” initiatives as understory plants and matter are often burned after a clear-cut, emitting enormous amounts of CO2. Clear-cutting of course reduces the number of trees absorbing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, therefore an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere. Thankfully, citizens across the country are paying attention and questioning before rather than after the damage is done. It takes 20-40 years for regrowth. #clearcutting #usfs #selc #climatechange #timbertargets #selectivecutting #ecosystem #wildlife #kentucky

On Monday 6/19, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory spoke at the #NAWM Annual Conference, urging states to compensate for the lack of federal wetland protections. Even before Sackett v. EPA, nationwide wetland losses have increased by 50%, amounting to a loss of 670,000 acres of vegetated wetlands. The Biden administration aims to overcome some of these gaps. Current initiatives include: * A goal to restore and reconnect 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of streams and waters. * A plan by US Army Corps of Engineers to use compensatory mitigation to offeset losses of aquatic resources and wetlands. Mallory was clear that these federal efforts won't bridge the gap sufficiently, and that additional efforts, including better public education on the status and importance of wetlands; collective cooperation between states, Tribes, local and global entities, and both the private and public sector; and an eye for innovative solutions. Read our summary of the effects of Sackett v. EPA, one year out from the decision: https://lnkd.in/exAUZsXG Summarized from Inside EPA: https://lnkd.in/exjVy9QC [paywalled] National Association of Wetland Managers

We were in it for the WIN. And we got there! The newest conservation law in Colorado, SB24-126, amplifies conservation by increasing the amount of available tax credits by $5 million, eliminating the waitlist, removing critical repeal dates of the tax credit program, and many other advances. What does it all mean? More landowners can receive incentives to conserve; smaller, lower-income landowners can more equitably benefit; there is greater representation and equity in the program; and the program continues its systems of accountability and integrity over the long term. Ultimately, that means more lands and waters are protected, benefiting people and wildlife for years to come. Read all about it in our new fact sheet. https://lnkd.in/gJdPFHTR

Land Under BLM Management to Get New Protections: The measure elevates conservation in a number of ways, including by creating new leases for the restoration of degraded areas. https://lnkd.in/dTmMR4NZ

Anyone who has seen overhead shots of what "sustainable" logging practices have done to our western forests can see that human damage in trying to over-manage natural spaces is far reaching and often permanent. It is natural that mankind's connection to the natural world and everything in it should be human-centric - we're humans! However, what I think society at large has failed to see on a larger level, is how crucial the untouched natural world is to our wellbeing. Not only in the obvious sense - that we need a home that is not polluted and un-liveable - but also for our mental wellbeing and understanding of ourselves as a part of something much larger. You can call it spirituality or mindfulness or grounding or any number of things - but being still and fully present in nature, observing the activities of the plants and creatures, without technology or trying to label and categorize - is crucial to mankind's wellbeing in ways that run much deeper than I think we fully realize. Without these natural, untouched spaces, where do we go to experience that sense of wonder and connection? https://lnkd.in/gWEPBvEi

Reminder: The Ontario Gov. still plans to build two new highways over pristine agricultural and conservation land - HWY 413 through Vaughan and Caledon, as well as the Bradford Bypass. To make this happen, the Ontario government has over the past few years systematically removed most regulatory, environmental, planning rules to accelerate approvals and begin putting shovels in the ground. "Get it Done" policies to limit oversight and transparency on this, and other, large infrastructure projects included dissolving the Region of Peel, removing planning authority from Regional Governments, restricting Conservation Authority powers, etc... In this time of fiscal constraint...can we really afford to build more highways?