BLM plan to rip up thousands of trees in NV can move forward, judge rules

Federal land managers were given the thumbs up to remove trees from thousands of acres of pinyon-juniper woodlands in Nevada in an effort to reduce fire risk, a move environmental groups are calling a “scorched-earth plan.”

Last month, a Nevada federal judge refused to block the Bureau of Land Management’s plan to clear more than 380,000 acres of pinyon-juniper woodlands from two watersheds near the Great Basin National Park following a lawsuit by two conservation groups.

Weeks before the federal government’s tree removal plan was set to start in October, the two conservation groups — the Center for Biological Diversity and Western Watersheds Project — filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in Nevada federal court to halt the project.  Read More…