Your “Science” is Wrong, BLM
Do Mechanical Vegetation Treatments of Pinyon-Juniper and Sagebrush Communities Work? The short answer: no.
News
Interview about Pinyon-Juniper Forests on KGNU, Boulder
Will Falk was interviewed by Jennifer Murnan about Pinyon-Juniper Forests for KGNU, Boulder’s Morning Magazine Program. The interview originally aired on Tuesday, June 27, 2017.
Pinyon-Juniper Deforestation, Pine Nuts, and True Sustainability
By Will Falk / June 2017 A windmill blade knocks the head off a Cooper’s hawk interrupting the late afternoon peace in Spring Valley. The blade tosses the hawk’s body onto yellow gravel the power company spread, over living soil, in circles around their windmills. The ever-present Great Basin breeze, who usually whispers with a soothing tone through pinyon needles, juniper branches, and sage tops, becomes angry. Grazing cows pause their chewing and look up to consider the scene. Heads…
Layla and the Owl’s Eyes: Ecopsychology and Being Human
By Will Falk / December 2016 Recently walking up Main Street in Park City, Utah, I saw in the Visitor’s Center doorway what looked like a man holding a great-horned owl surrounded by children. As his voice carried across the street, I heard the man explain that this owl had been found with an injured wing after being struck by a car. I love owls. I love the haunting sound of their hoots in the darkest hours before dawn. I…
The Swamp Cedars vs. The SNWA Water Grab
By Will Falk / June 2016 The Swamp Cedars in Spring Valley, Nevada have grown long memories. They stand on the valley floor under the bright Great Basin stars where the skies are still unspoiled by the encroaching glow of electricity. Beneath the trees’ branches, the blue petals of wild irises flutter in the breeze. All of them – the trees, the flowers, the stars – sway to the soft melodies played by the valley’s bubbling springs. Most of the…
Interview about Pinyon-Juniper Forests
Will Falk is a former public defender turned grass-roots environmental activist, and a member of Deep Green Resistance. His first passion is poetry. The natural world is speaking and his work is an effort to listen. He currently lives in Park City, Utah. Today we talk about Pinyon-Juniper forests.
Pinyon-Juniper Forests: The Language of Trees
By Will Falk / 2016 After two months of struggling to write anything coherent about pinyon-juniper forests, I was on the verge of giving up. Members of the group I am campaigning with to stop pinyon-juniper deforestation began brainstorming about applying for grants to support the campaign. Many of the grants they discovered required us to demonstrate that pinyon-juniper deforestation harmed wildlife populations, poisoned water supplies, or had a tangible effect on human populations. Thinking that I could support our…
From Pinyon-Juniper to Revolution
The Pinyon-Juniper Alliance was formed several years ago to protect Pinyon-Pine and Juniper forests from destruction under the BLM’s and Forest Service’s misguided “restoration” plan. Since that time, we have attended public meetings, organized petitions, talked with politicians and locals, coordinated with other groups, written articles and given presentations, and commented on public policy. Things now are worse than ever. The latest project we’ve seen aims to remove PJ forest from more than 130,000 acres of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument….
Proposed 2018 Farm Bill “Categorically Exempts” PJ Forest Removal from Environmental Review
The House version of the proposed 2018 Farm Bill contains a provision that would exempt forest destruction of Pinyon-Juniper forests from environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. This law is fundamentally insufficient to save the planet, but it does represent one of the few tools that conservationists use to protect rare and endangered species and to reign in wayward politicians and their destructive schemes. If you live in the western state, contact your representatives and demand that they…
Event: Sacred Water, Sacred Forests ACTION CAMP
You are invited to join us for the seventh annual Sacred Water, Sacred Forests Action Camp, May 25th – 28th, 2018 – A Gathering for Celebration, Community, Movement Building, Ecology, and Land Defense! Based in Spring Valley, Nevada (between the towns of Ely and Baker), the Action Camp is a gathering of organizers, ecologists, indigenous people, water grab opponents, forest defenders, concerned individuals, and Great Basin residents. Over Memorial Day Weekend, we will convene at Cleve Creek Campground, 12 miles…