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The article reports on political controversy over a research study related to post-fire timber harvesting. Political controversy over the article 'Post-Wildfire Logging Hinders Regeneration and Increases Fire Risk' related to forest restoration practices in Pacific Northwest has put the credit worthiness of researchers on stake. The fellow researchers of Oregon State University headed by Dan Donato has been in news since they have published the report that post-wildfire timber have not facilitated forest regeneration in the Siskiyou Mountains. They said that to reduce the risk of fire dead trees should be left in the same position as they are rather than harvesting them. The grantor of the research study blamed Donato for violating the provisions of the Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act (FERRA). Environmentalist groups including National Environmental Trust has argued that the FERRA Act is not adequate enough to support the benefits of standing dead wood for fish and wildlife habitat.

The article reports that in May 2005, Washington became the ninth U.S. state to adopt vehicle tailpipe standards that are tougher than the federal government's. Washington's standards would not go into effect until Oregon approves the low-emission vehicle (LEV) rules for its automobiles, which could happen in the next few years. More controversial is California's update of its LEV-II rules in September 2004 which addresses greenhouse gases. LEV supporters are delighting in what they call the creation of clean-car corridor.

A key function of forest inventory is to detect changes in the area of forest land over time, yet different definitions of forest land are used in different regions of the world. Changes in the definition of forest intended to improve international consistency can affect the ability to quantify true changes over time. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a definitional change from relative stocking to canopy cover on the area classified as forest land and its relationship to species and forest density in California, Oregon, and Washington. Both western Juniper and ponderosa pine will yield higher estimates of forest land area using a canopy cover definition in comparison to a stocking-based definition, with the difference being most pronounced where land is marginally forested. The change in definition may result in an additional 146,000 ha of forest land identified on the West Coast. Measuring marginal forest lands with both metrics for the first cycle after implementation should make it possible to distinguish real change from definitional change.

Reports that a recent decision by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco may provide environmentalists with a major new legal tool--biological corridors. Details on the case involving a proposal to log the 3,325-acre Grider Creek watershed in northern California's Klamath National Forest.