Forest Corps fights wildfire crisis, engages Utah youth / Public News Service

The federal government wants to tackle the climate crisis and protect public lands in Utah and across the country by empowering young adults.

Ken Goodson, director of the National Civilian Community Corps for AmeriCorps, said the recently launched partnership with the U.S. Forest Service will provide people ages 18 to 26 with hands-on experience in wildland firefighting, reforestation, conservation and resource management.

“The origin story here is largely based on the successful history of AmeriCorps programs and working in the environmental and conservation sector,” Goodson pointed out. “Then there’s the increasing risk that we’re seeing from increased frequency of fires and increased intensity of fires, particularly here in the Mountain West.”

Goodson pointed out that the U.S. Forest Service launched strategies to address the wildfire crisis and reforestation more than a year ago and reached out to AmeriCorps in an effort to increase “people power” to implement both strategies and invest in future personnel.

Goodson said the Forest Corps is one of the first new programs launched as part of President Biden’s American Climate Corps, an initiative aimed at training young people in high-demand skills for clean energy jobs.

“Under the Climate Corps initiative, you have the opportunity to get these disparate efforts largely rowing in the same direction,” Goodson emphasized. “Thinking about larger, collective impact and then also about individual programs that can share their successes and challenges.”

More than 100,000 acres have burned in Utah this year, significantly higher than last year’s 45,000 acres.

Goodson added that climate change is an additional reason why the Forest Corps program is so desperately needed.

“As fires become more frequent and intense, I believe the Forest Corps is the right program at the right time. I invite anyone between the ages of 18 and 26 to come check it out,” Goodson concluded.

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Environmentalists are applauding the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to allow the sale of a small piece of national public land for the development of affordable housing.

The sale of public lands is controversial, with Republicans and conservative groups seeing states as desirable stewards. Conversely, Democrats and conservation groups have argued that states cannot afford to protect public lands and would sell them to private companies.

Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities, said that in some western states, there are public lands adjacent to metropolitan areas that are well-suited for development, which could help solve the nation’s housing shortage.

“But that’s the kind of thing that happens five, 10, 20 acres at a time,” Weiss explained. “Not the massive transfer of tens of thousands or even millions of acres to states and private parties.”

For the first time ever, the BLM this week approved the sale of 20 acres of national public land near Las Vegas to the Clark County Department of Social Services for an affordable housing development. Weiss noted that the federal memorandum of understanding is specific to the Nevada parcel, but he believes there are others near Phoenix or Tucson that would be eligible for consideration.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Gov. Joe Lombardo, R-Nev., are the latest politicians to cite the housing shortage as a reason to sell off public lands to developers. In a letter to President Joe Biden, Lombardo urged approval for the transfer of 50,000 acres of public lands around Las Vegas with few restrictions, which Weiss said would create urban chaos. He argues that mixing housing is a new approach to how conservatives now talk about public lands.

“A large part of the Republican Party has finally recognized that calling for large-scale transfers was a political third rail in the West,” Weiss noted. “No matter how conservative the state, voters across the political spectrum do not want to part with national public lands on that scale.”

Weiss added that the sale of public land for housing should only be affordable and not result in “McMansions” or “trophy homes” for billionaires.

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More than $27 million is being made available to upgrade Northwest forests for recreational use.

The investment is the latest round of funding from the Great American Outdoors Act, which passed in 2020 and established the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund. The legislation is intended to address the maintenance backlog on public lands.

Tracy Calizon, assistant director of recreation, trails, wilderness and heritage for the U.S. Forest Service’s Northwest Region, said 23 projects in national forests in Oregon and Washington were selected.

“That’s for repairing campgrounds, replacing restrooms, updating trailheads, signage, kiosks, roads, providing access and accessibility improvements,” Calizon outlined. “In the places the public knows and loves in the national forests of the Pacific Northwest.”

There are now 76 Legacy Restoration Fund projects in the Northwest, 18 of which have been completed. The U.S. Forest Service said the Great American Outdoors Act has brought $77 million in contracts to Oregon and Washington to complete the projects.

Calizon added that there are many aspects that contribute to the conservation of the country’s forests.

“It’s not just about the trailheads or the public infrastructure,” Calizon explains. “It’s also about the infrastructure to support the whole picture and make sure we have the workforce to be able to provide these great opportunities.”

The Great American Outdoors Act is intended to address the $8.6 billion backlog of deferred maintenance on public lands.

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The court is expected to rule soon in a lawsuit between hunters and Wyoming landowners that could affect access to public lands.

When a group from Missouri went hunting near Elk Mountain in Wyoming in 2021, they navigated a checkerboard of land ownership, using a ladder to cross a private “corner” from one public parcel to another. The landowners, who live in North Carolina, sued the hunters for trespassing in a case now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Sam Kalen, a law professor at the University of Wyoming, said there are two major issues in the case. One involves what’s known as the Unlawful Inclosures Act, a federal law that prevents private landowners from blocking access to public lands.

“There’s a good chance that the 10th Circuit will, you know, maybe adopt some kind of ‘unreasonable’ test,” Kalen predicted. “Suggesting that landowners can’t do things that result in some kind of nuisance or unreasonable interference with access to public lands.”

The other problem, Kalen noted, is violation of the law, which is a matter of state law. A federal judge in Wyoming ruled last year that the hunters committed no violation. More than 8 million acres of public lands in the West are “corner-locked,” according to recent data.

The court’s decision could impact other states in the Tenth Circuit, particularly those with similar land ownership patterns, including Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. An appeal of the decision would then go to the U.S. Supreme Court, but Kalen noted that it likely would not be heard.

“The court doesn’t hear that many cases involving public lands,” Kalen acknowledged. “There’s no conflict in the circuits, which means the court would have to conclude that it’s really serious, it’s of national importance.”

Kalen added that the case is unique to typical Wyoming hunting parties, as both parties are from out of state.

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