Senator John Thune (R-SD), chairman of the Senate agriculture committee’s energy subcommittee, held a public hearing this week in Rapid City, SD, on the potential of woody biomass in national forests for cellulosic ethanol projects and why it’s not currently included in the definition of “woody biomass” as written in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Butch Blazer, New Mexico State Forester, gave testimony on the western impacts of the 2007 Energy Bill, with particular focus on woody bioenergy opportunities and failings with the new Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). Copies of the testimony can be found at http://www.wflcweb.org/infomaterials/testimonies.php

A New West editorial finds hope in the House passage of the FLAME Act, though the author notes the State Foresters' call for a critical fix to the legislation currently under consideration by the Senate.

Press release - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) announced that at his request, the House of Representatives will consider on Wednesday, July 9, under suspension of the rules, the "Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act" (FLAME Act) (HR. 5541). Consideration of the much-needed legislation comes just weeks into the unprecedented forest fires that have scorched Big Sur, Santa Barbara County, and other communities up and down the coast of California, and have ravaged public lands throughout the Nation in past years.

Reuters: Congress on Wednesday overturned President George W. Bush's second veto of the $289 billion U.S. farm law, enacting 35 pages omitted from the original bill in the third veto override of Bush's tenure. The rest of the farm bill became law on May 22, when the first override was passed. A clerical error deleted farm-export and food aid programs which now are part of the law.