And another shot against logging in the U.S.

[forestryworks]

Wildfire suppression leads to bird becoming endangered

Excerpt...

RENO, Nev. — Smokey Bear has done such a good job stamping out forest fires the past half-century that a woodpecker that's survived for millions of years by eating beetle larvae in burned trees is in danger of going extinct in parts of the West, according to conservationists seeking U.S. protection for the bird.

Four conservation groups filed a petition with the U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday to list the black-backed woodpecker under the Endangered Species Act in the Sierra Nevada, Oregon's Eastern Cascades and the Black Hills of eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota.

 

[madhatte]

That's a side-handed shot against logging; it's really a shot against the Forest Service and aggressive fire suppression policies. Might even be good for forests in the long run. Maybe stimulate some jobs in fuels reduction and later in underburning to reintroduce fire into ecologies that require it. I'm jaded enough that I'm not willing to get my back up over this one just yet.