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☆ Fact Check: Gates-backed venture will not chop down 70 million acres of trees
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Rather, it is developing a project that handles throwaway biomass from forest thinning for the U.S. Forest Service. The article, entitled “Bill Gates Pushes Plan to Chop Down 70 Million Acres of Trees to ‘Fight Global Warming,’” was published on a website called Slay on Aug. 31. “Our company is developing technology to help public agencies like the US Forest Service, stewardship non-profits, and private landowners meet their wildfire mitigation and forest thinning goals," he said. Kodama Systems, a company that received funding from a fund owned by Bill Gates, is not planning to cut down millions of acres of U.S. forests. The company has received a grant from the U.S. Forest Service for a project to handle throwaway biomass from forest thinning.

Persons: Bill Gates, ”, Slay, Scott Owen, Owen, ” Owen, Robert York, KODAMA, James Sedlak, Read Organizations: Systems, U.S . Forest Service, Kodama Systems, Microsoft, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Western, U.S . Department of Agriculture, USFS, Department of Interior, Berkeley Forests, UC Berkeley, Oregon State University, University of Melbourne, Kodama, US Forest Service, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, Western United States, California

☆ New Mexico trail clash echoes culture war across US West
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Andrew Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Andrew HayTALPA, N.M., July 7 (Reuters) - Physiotherapist Spencer Bushnell lives less than a mile from farmer Carlos Arguello in Taos, New Mexico. But they are worlds apart on proposals to lace the foothills they love with up to 71 miles of mountain bike and hiking trails. That put the neighbors on the frontline of a culture war raging across the West as multi-generational families, conservationists and sometimes conservatives fight trail systems sought by incomers and recreationist locals. Two bike trail projects have been nixed in as many months on public land in Oregon and Colorado. Across the United States, Americans are moving to places with trees and trails, many working remotely.

Persons: Spencer Bushnell, Andrew Hay TALPA, Carlos Arguello, Arguello, Bushnell, Carl Colonius, Darryl Maestas, Hispanos, Emily Matheu, Michael Lujan, Andrew Hay, Donna Bryson, Alistair Bell Organizations: . Forest Service, REUTERS, Division, U.S ., USFS, mamas, Thomson Locations: Taos , New Mexico, U.S, Oregon, Colorado, The Taos, Taos, Bend , Oregon, United States, South Korea, Afghanistan, Oakland , California, California

☆ Wildfire smoke hits New York again: 'We are truly the first generation to feel the real effects of climate change,' Gov. Hochul says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A screenshot of a map from AirNow.Gov shows air quality and smoke plumes on June 28, 2023, at 11:30 a.m. The AirNow Fire and Smoke map is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Forest Service. Kathy Hochul tweeted Wednesday afternoon that air quality health advisories were in effect for the state. City administrators will be working to alert residents of the hazardous air conditions on public transit and via cell phone alert systems. But Hochul advised residents to look up their zip codes on AirNow.gov for localized air quality readings.

Persons: Kathy Hochul, Hochul Organizations: U.S . Environmental Protection Agency, U.S . Forest Service, New York Gov, Western Locations: Canada, New York, U.S . Forest Service ., York, Western New York, Central New York, Eastern Lake Ontario

☆ In New Mexico, an unlikely wildfire thinning alliance
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Andrew Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Near Taos in northern New Mexico, Vicente Fernandez, a mayordomo, or forest caretaker, cut saplings and seedlings crowding a mature fir tree. In an about-face, the Forest Service is now paying local woodcutters or leñeros $300 an acre to cut these trees for personal use or sale. Some environmentalists oppose Taos County's so called Mayordomo Program, and other thinning, saying it is a waste of time, harms forests and is often a guise for logging. "The Forest Service believes in helping communities to wisely use the forests," the agency said in a statement. "We cannot fireproof forests, we can fireproof communities," said Horning, who has lived in northern New Mexico for 30 years.

☆ 'Firmageddon': Researchers find 1.1 million acres of dead trees in Oregon
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“We’re seeing forms of stress in all of our species of trees,” said Christine Buhl, a forest entomologist with the Oregon Department of Forestry. Trained observers peer outside both sides of the plane, looking for noticeable damage to trees. “You definitely have to have a stomach of steel.”This year, the aerial observation program flew over about 69 million acres of Washington and Oregon forest in about 246 hours. Oregon’s average temperatures have risen about 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1895, according to a 2021 state climate assessment delivered to the state’s Legislature. “It was the combination of the high temperatures in the afternoon with the sun boring down,” said Chris Still, a professor in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University.

☆ Forest Service 'burn boss' arrested after prescribed fire torches private land in Oregon
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dennis-Romero-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Dennis Romero | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A U.S. Forest Service employee was arrested after the prescribed fire he was managing torched 18 acres of private land in Oregon, authorities confirmed Friday. The U.S. Forest Service did not respond to multiple requests for comment. In notifying residents about the fire this week, the Forest Service said in a statement that atmospheric parameters existed for a relatively safe prescribed burn, which had been planned at 300 acres. Christopher Adlam, regional fire specialist and assistant professor at Oregon State University Extension Service's fire program, said a prescribed burn hadn't torched private land in Oregon in 20 years until Wednesday. The arrest might not lead to more burn bosses in custody, but it could affect how officials work with prescribed burns, the scholar said.

☆ Oregon sheriff arrests Forest Service employee for controlled burn that spread
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Daniel Trotta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 20 (Reuters) - A county sheriff in Oregon has arrested a U.S. Forest Service employee on suspicion of reckless burning after a controlled burn escaped and scorched about 20 acres (8 hectares) of private land. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterRelations between New Mexico communities and the Forest Service were strained earlier this year when a controlled burn sparked a large wildfire. A Forest Service review found that pressure to meet objectives may have led the agency to ignore risks posed by a controlled burn. In Oregon, Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley said in a statement on Wednesday his office arrested a 39-year-old "burn boss" after a controlled burn escaped and torched 20 acres belonging to a cattle rancher. Forest Service representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

REUTERS/Fred Greaves/File PhotoCompanies PG&E Corp FollowSept 26 (Reuters) - Californian utility PG&E Corp (PCG.N) said on Monday it was cooperating with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) after the federal agency started a criminal investigation into the U.S. state's largest wildfire this year. The power company's equipment has been blamed for sparking numerous wildfires, including some of the state's most deadly and destructive. The Mosquito Fire, which is 60% contained, has destroyed 78 structures and damaged 13, as of Sept. 25. PG&E said the USFS had indicated to it that the fire began in an area of the company's power line on National Forest System lands. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Ruhi Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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