The Classic Rock Rewind Monday 10 - Noon

If the internet holds up my show The Classic Rock Rewind will air on www.HighQualityRock.com This Monday from 10 am to Noon Pacific at the link above. Just click for the free player. 

Follow me at www.TomSebourn.rocks/contacts for more info. 

Tell Me Why?

  The guitar is not my instrument. I struggle with as I do with the English language. However, I did happen to write this song on an acoustic guitar. So with that said, I feel this is a song that I need to share before I try to finish it because I have a tendency to put things off . It's just me and the guitar live into a couple of microphones. The song shares the simple struggles of life and relationships. I hope you enjoy it. Click here for my soundcloud link. 

https://soundcloud.com/tom-sebourn/tel-me-why-take-3

California, U.S. Forest Service Establish Shared Long-Term Strategy to Manage Forests and Rangelands

 Agreement will improve coordination to reduce wildfire risks on federal and state lands

Funding included in the federal Great American Outdoors Act

Agreement comes as Lake Fire burns in Angeles National Forest

SACRAMENTO — In a key step to improve stewardship of California’s forests, the Newsom Administration and the U.S. Forest Service today announced a new joint state-federal initiative to reduce wildfire risks, restore watersheds, protect habitat and biological diversity, and help the state meet its climate objectives.

The Agreement for Shared Stewardship of California’s Forest and Rangelands includes a commitment by the federal government to match California’s goal of reducing wildfire risks on 500,000 acres of forest land per year. To protect public safety and ecology, experts agree that at least one million acres of California forest and wildlands must be treated annually across jurisdictions.

A historical transition toward unnaturally dense forests, a century of fire suppression and climate change resulting in warmer, hotter and drier conditions have left the majority of California’s forestland highly vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire and in need of active, science-based management. Since the federal government owns nearly 58 percent of California’s 33 million acres of forestlands, while the state owns 3 percent, joint state-federal management is crucial to California’s overall forest health and wildfire resilience.

Improved coordination also is key since nearly half of the state dollars invested in fuels management in recent years was spent on federal land.

“Wildfires don’t stop at jurisdictional boundaries. As we respond to wildfires in real-time this summer, improving coordination between the major stewards of California’s forested land will help us protect communities and restore forest health across California,” Governor Gavin Newsom said. “We are grateful to secure the U.S. Forest Service’s commitment to help us more effectively address the scale of California’s current wildfire crisis.”

“Collaboration between state and federal agencies on issues of forest health and resiliency is critical,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen. “The Forest Service is fortunate to collaborate on restoration projects across the state and share science and research to address issues to help care for the land and serve people. We are excited to expand our partnership with California to enhance our collaboration though this Shared Stewardship agreement with California.”

The Shared Stewardship Agreement builds on existing coordination between state and federal agencies, and outlines six core principles and nine specific actions that will drive improved state-federal collaboration:

• Prioritize public safety;
• Use science to guide forest management;
• Coordinate land management across jurisdictions;
• Increase the scale and pace of forest management projects;
• Remove barriers that slow project approvals; and
• Work closely with all stakeholders, including tribal communities, environmental groups, academia and timber companies.

Specifically, through this agreement California and the U.S. Forest Service commit to execute the following activities together:

• Treat one million acres of forest and wildland annually to reduce risk of catastrophic wildfire (building on the state’s existing 500,000-acre annual commitment);
• Develop a shared 20-year plan for forest health and vegetation treatment that establishes and coordinates priority projects;
• Expand use of ecologically sustainable techniques for vegetation treatments such as prescribed fire;
• Increase pace and scale of forest management by improving ecologically sustainable timber harvest in California and grow jobs by tackling structural obstacles, such as workforce and equipment shortfalls and lack of access to capital;
• Prioritize co-benefits of forest health such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity, healthy watersheds and stable rural economies;
• Recycle forest byproducts to avoid burning slash piles;
• Improve sustainable recreation opportunities;
• Enable resilient, fire-adapted communities; and
• Share data and continue to invest in science.

The Great American Outdoors Act, signed by President Trump on August 4, will provide critical funding for the Forest Service’s work in California.

North Coast Congressman Thompson Online Town Hall Thursday

 Dear Friend, 

Unfortunately, Republican leaders have walked away from the negotiations on the next Coronavirus relief bill at a time when people in our nation badly need our help. It’s my top priority right now to get those talks back on track so we can deliver the help that working families and small businesses urgently need. House Democrats passed the Heroes Act over two months ago and we have been trying to get this bill passed in the Senate ever since. 

That’s why this Thursday, August 13 at 7:00pm PT, I will hold my thirteenth Virtual Town Hall with special guest Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. You will need to register for this event by emailing your name to Thompson. 

Townhall@mail.house.gov. Shortly before the event you will receive an email with instructions on how to join and we will also simulcast the event on my Facebook page. 

I hope you will join me for this Virtual Town Hall. Know that you can always call my office if you need immediate assistance. 

Sincerely,

 Mike Thompson

Member of Congress

What Happened When a Public Institute Became a De Facto Lobbying Arm of the Timber Industry

This is from ProPublica 

As Oregon Gov. Kate Brown crafted a bill in 2018 to enact sweeping limits on greenhouse gas emissions, leaders at an obscure state agency worked behind the scenes to discredit research they feared would persuade her to target one of the state’s most powerful industries.

The research, published that March, calculated for the first time how much carbon was lost to the atmosphere as a result of cutting trees in Oregon. It concluded that logging, once thought to have no negative effect on global warming, was among the state’s biggest climate polluters.

Read much more at the link below. 

https://www.propublica.org/article/what-happened-when-a-public-institute-became-a-de-facto-lobbying-arm-of-the-timber-industry