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Saving the forests of the American Southwest
Forest Guardians is a charity that works to preserve and restore the forests, streams and grasslands of the American southwest, particularly New Mexico. Most of their work is aimed at improving management of government land as they own so much of the land in the Southwest. Of partcicular interest are getting the forest service and Bureau of Land Management to reconsider policies that are destroying the Southwest's forests. Beyond simply discouraging excessive logging and overgrazing, they also lobby to change overall policies. One of their current projects is to encourage the forest service to sometimes let the forest burn. Studies by the forest service itself indicate that for the health of southwestern forests they MUST burn occasionally. Thousands of years of evolution have adapted these trees to need fire to open their seed pods. No burn, no new growth. Yet the forest service continues to extinguish fires, even those burning in the backcountry roadless areas nowhere near human habitation. They are also working to protect the roadless status of many federally managed areas. Once the roads come, it makes the area accessible... and exploitable. Logging, grazing, and pollution soon follow.The Bush Administration has made it difficult to enforce roadless status anymore, so instead Forest Guardianss has found a way around by protecting the rivers that run through New Mexico under the Clean Water Act. Once it it receives a designation of Outstanding National Resource Waters (the highest level of protection), road building, logging, gas drilling, and mining are strictly prohibited. As 75% of New Mexico native species depend on the 1% of the landscape occupied by streams and rivers, they can maximize their protection. Only a little protection makes a big differance! As part of getting the maximum effect out of the smallest effort, Forest Guardians also leases grazing lands near from the government and plants natives trees along the rivers and streams in them as part of its Stream Team program. Taking the land out of the hands of ranchers and restoring the native habitat benefits not just the local area, but everything downstream too. Forest Guardians has recently partnered with two other conservations groups to form Wild Earth Guardians.
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Forest Guardians
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May, 2012
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