Forests Archives - Legal Planet

Forests

By Our Powers Combined, We Are Captain Planet

Facing climate disasters, the GCF Task Force is putting the network theory of governance into practice.

I don’t need to tell you that the last several months have seen an increasing number of climate-related disasters, including severe heatwaves throughout Europe and droughts that are impacting water supply and reducing ship passages through the Panama Canal. This year’s super El Niño has exacerbated the ongoing fires across Indonesian Borneo. It is projected …

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The Bottleneck in Forest Monitoring Isn’t in Orbit

Satellite image of Bosawás Reserve outlined in white, showing deforestation in colored dots: yellow (2020), orange (2021), red (2022), dark red (2023), and black (2024). Scale and north arrow included.

Groups on the frontlines fighting deforestation are held back by institutional constraints – not just technological barriers – according to a new study from UCLA, NYU, World Resources Institute, and the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force.

There are 16,000 satellites circling the Earth right now, and a growing share of them capture images of our planet in unprecedented detail at every moment of the day. One of the many things they measure, monitor, and observe are forests. Being able to measure forests is the foundation for protecting them and for decades …

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A Better Approach to Wildfire on Public Lands

Why our proposal improves on Fix Our Forests.

This blog post was co-authored with Dave Owen, at UC Law SF. The draft article this blog post series is based is here. This is the seventh in a series of blog posts on our proposal to reform wildfire law in the United States. The first post is here. The second post is here. The …

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Wildfire and Air Quality Law

Reforming how the Clean Air Act handles smoke from wildfires

This blog post was co-authored with Dave Owen, at UC Law SF. The draft article this blog post series is based is here. This is the fourth in a series of blog posts on our proposal to reform wildfire law in the United States. The first post is here. The second post is here. The …

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Wildfire and National Forests

Reforming federal forest management to address wildfire

This blog post was co-authored with Dave Owen, at UC Law SF. The draft article this blog post series is based is here. This is the third in a series of blog posts on our proposal to reform wildfire law in the United States. The first post is here. The second post is here. Federally …

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The Challenges of Wildfire

Why wildfire management is so difficult to reform

This blog post was co-authored with Dave Owen, at UC Law SF. The draft article this blog post series is based is here. This is the second in a series of blog posts on our proposal to reform wildfire law in the United States. The first post is here. Why is fire such a hard …

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Ronny Chieng Explains All The Wildfires

A man in a white shirt passionately sings or shouts into a microphone, eyes closed and fists clenched, expressing intense emotion.

It Really Isn’t That Complicated

Here:

Enough With The Doomscrolling

Line graph showing wind and solar surpass fossil fuels in electricity generation in Germany in 2025. Fossil fuels decline while wind and solar rise. Nuclear and other renewables remain lower. Source: CarbonBrief.

Environmental Progress Does Exist – And So Does Good News

So much is awful nowadays, that we need to share good news at Legal Planet, and there actually is some. For the first time ever, German solar and wind electricity production outpaced that of fossil fuels. In 1987, forest cover in Costa Rica, one of the famously most biodiverse nations on the face of …

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Canada in Flames

A large wildfire engulfs a dense forest, producing thick clouds of smoke and visible flames, with a road cutting through the trees in the foreground.

What’s causing the fires? What harm do they do? What should we do?

One of the world’s great disasters is unfolding, as fires have covered millions of acres in Canada, destroying pristine ecosystems and poisoning the air for millions of people. Something like seven million acres have already burned. The U.S. government’s response is to threaten Canada with tariffs, apparently as punishment for allegedly having poorly managed its forests. Instead, we should be partnering with Canada on forest management, and we should cut the greenhouse gas emissions that are ramping up the fire risk.

The GCF Task Force Expands at 16th Annual Meeting

A large, diverse group of people pose and smile on stage at an event in front of a screen displaying GCF Task Force and a scenic forest background, with banners and flags on both sides.

Photo by Government of Caquetá, Colombia.

The Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force has grown from 45 to 54 member jurisdictions to cover even more of the world’s tropical forests.

The world’s largest subnational network dedicated to protecting forests, reducing emissions, and enhancing livelihoods across the tropics just got a lot bigger. Following a vote at our 16th Annual Meeting in Caquetá, Colombia from May 18 – 22, 2026, the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force) grew from 45 to 54 member …

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Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.

The Drain is a roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet delivered to your Inbox once a week.

Permitting Reform Bill: NEPA Remedies

Efforts to tailor remedies for NEPA violations address an important issue, but may have misfired

Permitting Wars

Environmental groups should engage constructively with permitting reform

How to Deconstruct Federal Regulation

Section 1401 of the Permitting Reform Bill is a stealth repeal of a wide swath of federal regulatory law, not just environmental law

Improving permitting reform

Suggestions to make the permitting reform bill work better and avoid unintended results

NEPA Remedies Revisited

Guest contributor Justin Pidot writes that the permitting bill known as BAAJA would end judicial review of most NEPA claims — but it sure is hard to figure that out.

Forests

Facing climate disasters, the GCF Task Force is putting the network theory of governance into practice.

Groups on the frontlines fighting deforestation are held back by institutional constraints – not just technological barriers – according to a new study from UCLA, NYU, World Resources Institute, and the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force.

Why our proposal improves on Fix Our Forests.

Reforming how the Clean Air Act handles smoke from wildfires

Reforming federal forest management to address wildfire

Why wildfire management is so difficult to reform

It Really Isn’t That Complicated

Environmental Progress Does Exist – And So Does Good News

What’s causing the fires? What harm do they do? What should we do?

The Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force has grown from 45 to 54 member jurisdictions to cover even more of the world’s tropical forests.

Join Our Mailing List

Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.

The Drain is a roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet delivered to your Inbox once a week.

TRENDING

Environmental groups should engage constructively with permitting reform

This October, we officially celebrate the coal and oil industries. Says President Trump.

What can we expect if Dems flip the governorships in red states?

Section 1401 of the Permitting Reform Bill is a stealth repeal of a wide swath of federal regulatory law, not just environmental law

Suggestions to make the permitting reform bill work better and avoid unintended results

Guest contributor Justin Pidot writes that the permitting bill known as BAAJA would end judicial review of most NEPA claims — but it sure is hard to figure that out.

The permit certainty provision in the permitting reform bill appears to (inadvertently) change the basic standard for enforcement of most federal law

Concerns about passing 1.5C and ‘global dimming’ are driving attention to the prospect of large-scale interventions in Earth systems.

The Trump Administration once again proves shortsighted and spiteful.

Part of it is a move in the right direction. But one provision raises serious questions.

Efforts to tailor remedies for NEPA violations address an important issue, but may have misfired

Environmental groups should engage constructively with permitting reform

Section 1401 of the Permitting Reform Bill is a stealth repeal of a wide swath of federal regulatory law, not just environmental law

Suggestions to make the permitting reform bill work better and avoid unintended results

Guest contributor Justin Pidot writes that the permitting bill known as BAAJA would end judicial review of most NEPA claims — but it sure is hard to figure that out.

The permit certainty provision in the permitting reform bill appears to (inadvertently) change the basic standard for enforcement of most federal law

Concerns about passing 1.5C and ‘global dimming’ are driving attention to the prospect of large-scale interventions in Earth systems.

The Drain is a roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

NEPA provisions are substantial in their changes, but (mostly) leave the core of the Act in place

What began as a war on science has now reached your kid’s doctor.