A round of climate change news for the military, Great Lakes and birds

Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and the environment. I'm Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent with Paste BN.

A new order to expand lumber production in national forests is receiving a lot of attention, especially in the western United States, where the most forest acres are likely to be affected.

The United States announced sweeping changes to encourage more logging in the country's national forests, writes Paste BN'S Elizabeth Weise. A new emergency order requires rolling back environmental protections on almost 60% of the national forests, more than 112 million acres of land, predominantly in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming.

The secretarial memo issued by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins established an "Emergency Situation Determination" and will allow the Forest Service to bypass many existing environmental rules. Protections against wildfires and the need to boost the U.S. timber industry were cited as reasons. The order follows two earlier executive orders in March by President Donald Trump to expand U.S. timber production and address wood product imports.

The order has been panned by some experts who say it's infeasible in Southern California's sprawling national forests due to a lack of quality wood and nearby sawmills, writes Janet Wilson with the Desert Sun in Palm Springs, California. The map showing the increase includes the Angeles, San Bernardino, Los Padres and Cleveland national forests.

Warriors and warming: Recent statements by members of the Trump administration that the U.S. military won't be focusing on climate change raised some eyebrows among folks that keep track of the military's activities across the United States and around the world. News stories and photos show the nation’s warfighters – sworn to protect the nation against enemies both foreign and domestic – increasingly serve on the front lines of the battle against the impacts of climate change. And the department has been active in documenting the risks and impacts for decades.

In a video, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department was eliminating “woke climate change" programs.

Climate change is “a fundamental force,” said Tom Ellison, deputy director of the Center for Climate Security. “It really affects everything the military has to do, from the very smallest thing to very long-term strategic planning, Ellison said. For example: training when it's dangerously hot, how ocean chemistry affects sonar and how to keep airfield runways from melting in extreme heat. “These are all things that are already happening,” Ellison said.

Water changes in the Great Lakes: A new study found climate change is erasing an annual phenomenon in Lakes Michigan and Huron, with potentially serious consequences for life in the water. Typically, deep lakes mix during the spring and fall to circulate oxygen and nutrients, then separate into distinct layers in the summer and winter, writes Caitlin Looby in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

But with overall warming due to climate change, the study found the two lakes don't consistently separate into layers in the winter anymore. The consequences for nutrients, oxygen levels, and life within the lakes isn't yet fully known.

Worrisome wading bird numbers: In South Florida, state biologists recently released a report card on wading birds and found a downward spiral continues for some species, according to Chad Gillis, with the News-Press. The colorful and graceful birds that once flocked to the region in untold numbers have dwindled in population over the past 100-plus years. Sea level rise, development and climate change all factor in to their futures.

Hurricane history: With hurricane season looming ever closer, names from last year's legendary landfalling hurricanes on the U.S. coastline are being retired after causing hundreds of deaths and billions in damages. Meanwhile scientists are watching to see how changing conditions in the Pacific Ocean may affect this year's outlook.

Read on for more, including a historic new wildlife corridor in California and what's going on with cicadas in New Jersey. Some stories below may require a subscription.  If someone forwarded you this email and you'd like to receive Climate Point in your inbox once a week, sign up here.