Old growth forests took centuries to become what they are. The rules for protecting them are getting rewritten over the next 90 days, and the public gets a say.
The USDA Forest Service published a draft environmental impact statement for a proposed national old-growth forest plan amendment, advancing its commitment to conserve old growth across the National Forest System. The draft calls for consistent stewardship standards nationwide, with an emphasis on proactive management to reduce wildfire risk and adapt to climate-driven threats – drawing on both current science and Indigenous Knowledge.
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A stubborn storm parked over Death Valley on November 15, 2025, and the desert didn’t know what hit it: Furnace Creek recorded 0.6 inches of rain — a number that’s more than a quarter of the park’s usual annual total. In terrain that sheds water off bedrock and washes it down into narrow canyons, that half-inch-plus didn’t soak in; it ran hard and fast, turning arroyo channels into destructive flows of mud, rock, and debris that have chewed up road shoulders and left pavement buried or gone.
The Johnson Valley community has been holding its breath these past months as the U.S. Marine Corps’ Special Use Airspace proposal, R2509, moves through the public process. After an intense wave of local comments and outreach, momentum slowed during the government shutdown — but the Marines have since released public fact sheets about the proposal. That put new material in front of the public, and it’s precisely the sort of moment when clear information matters most.
Forest Service restoration work begins on Burke Creek and Rabe Meadow near South Lake Tahoe
Beach managers and volunteers gear up for another summer of protecting the lake