Daily Archives: June 7, 2012

Forest Service Adds More Air Tankers to Fight Fires

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ABC News Radio 6/7/2012
Excerpt:   ” (WASHINGTON) — Facing a season of potentially dangerous wildfires and a dwindling number of large air tankers to help fight them, the U.S. Forest Service Wednesday took steps to add four more planes to its fleet.

The additions will bring the federal fleet of large air tankers up to 13, still far below the number that critics — and the forest service itself — say are needed to fight fires adequately from above.

A series of high-profile crashes in 2002 and 2004 led to stricter safety standards that gradually eliminated dozens of older air tankers from the fleet, dropping the number of available air tankers from 44 in 2006 to only 11 this season.  …”
Read entire article at  http://www.100wapi.com/rssItem.asp?feedid=118&itemid=29859824

Lawsuit could be filed to try to stop sale of leases in national forest

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Talaladega Daily Home 6/7/2012
Excerpt:   ” The Southern Environmental Law Center has announced that it intends to sue the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service for violation of the Endangered Species Act if it goes forward with the sale of leases in the Talladega National Forest to oil and gas drilling interests.

The suit is being brought on behalf of Wildsouth and the National Resource Defense Council, as well as SELC.

The suit was prompted by the announcement that the BLM was planning to sell 36 parcels of national forest land totaling 43,038.3 acres, mostly in the Talladega National Forest. The sale is set for June 14.  …”
Read entire article at http://www.dailyhome.com/view/full_story/18887570/article-Lawsuit-could-be-filed-to-try-to-stop-sale-of-leases-in-national-forest?instance=home_news