Overturning the Ninth Circuit’s 2015 Cottonwood Ruling

The West Coast and East Coast apparently are getting closer. Those of us living in New England and beyond are getting a taste of what it’s like to experience western-like wildfires out of control. If the Canada fires aren’t controlled, smoke is expected to “linger” through the weekend on the East Coast, reports the WSJ.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday blamed climate change, which is the scapegoat for every government policy failure that magnifies damage from natural disasters.

A Record: Wildfires

The number of wildfires has been declining since the early 1990s, with 2020 reporting the fewest in three decades. So what’s happening now? Fires have occurred in Canada’s boreal forest– conifers, birch, and poplar – for thousands of years, explains the WSJ.

The acreage burned has nonetheless climbed as more timber fuel has accumulated, and this year may set a record.

The main culprit for raging fires in Canada and the U.S. is resistance by environmentalists to thinning overgrown forests. While a forest management awakening has occurred in government in recent years, U.S. Forest Service officials are hamstrung by the 2015 Cottonwood decision.

Hamstrung by the Cottonwood Decision

That decision requires the agency to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service on its land management plans whenever a new endangered species is listed or a “critical habitat” is designated. There are more than 1,300 species listed as threatened or endangered, and green groups push for new listings.

The Forest Service Hostage to the Left

Because of the Cottonwood decision, officials are buried in paper, delaying management projects.

It also conflicts with a Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decision.

This means the Forest Service may have to manage forests differently in Ninth Circuit states, including Alaska, Montana, Idaho, California, Oregon and Washington.

Politicians from Montana to Maine “have pushed legislation to reverse Cottonwood. The ruling has opened the door for frequent litigation, delaying critical wildlife habitat and forestry projects and diverting federal resources away from important conservation works,” they wrote to President Biden in January.

… but pleas to the White House have been heard like a tree falling in the forest.

The smoke blanketing Washington, D.C., isn’t new to Members of Congress from Western states. But here’s hoping it might cause Mr. Biden to wake up to the real problem.

Responsibly managed forests would help the ecosystem. But we are in the grips of a thoughtless momentum that doesn’t weigh balance or integrity, and results in dubious environmental benefits with devasting economic costs.