Tag: forest health

Nearly every Western elected official with a clump of shrubby cottonwoods in his or her jurisdiction claims to be a forest expert. They're not experts.

The announcement late last week that three Colorado sawmills are being let out of pre-recession timber contracts with the U.S. Forest Service was met with relief from U.S. Sen. Mark Udall and skepticism among some in the conservation community who say the move will only have short-term impacts.

While Al Gore’s passion for the environment helped him ascend to the highest political offices – and earned him a Nobel prize and an Oscar — he told a symposium audience in Aspen Friday night that the Colorado forests he learned to love on a road trip 40 years ago have plunged into despair no thanks to rising temperatures, poor political will and tiny insects.

Former Vice President Al Gore will be in Aspen in February to attend what’s believed to be one of the first major public symposiums linking global climate change to the deteriorating health of forestland in the American West due to ongoing insect infestations and the growing threat of wildfire.

Some key Colorado politicians seem to like the state’s controversial roadless rule – submitted last week to the Obama administration – but a lot of scientists and environmentalists clearly aren’t convinced.