Thinning/logging at Newberry Crater National Monument, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon. Photo George Wuerthner
One of the arguments alleged by proponents of thinning or logging forests is that it will reduce the size of wildfires and hence carbon emissions from blazes. Proponents argue that more trees survive a fire if there has […]
Continue Reading →Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear in the media and from the Forest Service that fire suppression is responsible for the intensity and size of wildfires.
According to proponents, a “hundred years of fire suppression” has permitted the build-up of fuels, and by their assertion, more fuel results in larger conflagrations.
However, […]
Continue Reading →The 400,000-acre Bootleg Fire created a mosaic burn pattern from unburned to high severity. Photo George Wuerthner
The Capital Press, an Agricultural emphasis newspaper, recently ran a story about the 400,000-acre Bootleg Fire and the influence of forest management on the fire’s impact upon trees. In particular, the 26 Nov 2021 issue […]
Continue Reading →Clearcut and thinning near Susanville, CA failed to halt the spread of the Dixie Fire. Photo George Wuerthner
I recently got a message from Oregon Senator Merkley announcing that he supported more thinning and logging of our forests to reduce large wildfires.
The irony is that logging/thinning is a primary source […]
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Subsidized logging in the name of fuel reductions on the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon. Logging accounts for 35% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Oregon. Photo George Wuerthner
Congress just passed the big infrastructure bill, and I expect President Biden will sign it—maybe before you read this commentary.
Funding is for […]
Continue Reading →The Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon spread across 400,000 acres, burning in a mosaic pattern of burned, lightly burned and unburned areas. Photo George Wuerthner
As another summer of large fires spread across the West including the Dixie Fire in northern California and the Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon, advocates of “active […]
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Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho. Photo George Wuerthner
Though most conservation groups focus on federal lands, a neglected area of concern are state properties. Throughout the West, most of these lands are either leased for timber cutting or livestock grazing.
Although there are limited ways that conservation groups can influence state management (or […]
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**Guest post by Adam Bronstein, Oregon/Nevada Director for Western Watersheds Project
In the past year, the gray wolf has once again been in the national spotlight due to terrible changes in federal and state policies. Last October, wolves nationwide lost protections under the federal Endangered Species Act despite their low numbers or complete absence […]
Continue Reading →Active forest management on private timberland just west of Chester, CA which was overrun by the Dixie Fire. Photo George Wuerthner
There has been a spate of pronouncements from politicians as different politically as Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines to California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsome arguing that we need more “active forest […]
Continue Reading →One hears continuously that the Forest Service doesn’t clearcut anymore. Of course, what constitutes a clearcut is subject to interpretation. The following photos are all taken on the Deschutes NF in Oregon. These are “forest thinning” projects designed to reduce wildfires and “improve” forest health. How many trees do you need to leave behind so […]
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