Trees Forests
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Revisiting Fire History Studies One of the cornerstones of current forest policy is the assumption that western forests are outside of their “normal” density and appearance or what is termed “historic variability” due a hundred years of mismanagement that included logging of old growth, fire suppression, and livestock grazing. This idea has been used to…
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Black Forest Colorado fire destroys almost 400 homes- – – – – – – Update: On June 20 the Black Forest fire was contained after 500 houses had burned. RM – – – – – – The first day of summer is just about here, and wildfires are breaking out across much of the Western…
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I’ve been studying fire ecology for decades, an interest which led to the publication in 2006 of my book WIldfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy. My interest in wildfire did not end with the book and I have continued to read and digest the fire-related literature, attend conferences, and most importantly visit and observe…
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Another surprise. The real carbon absorbers are the temperate and boreal forests. Tropical forests are too compromised by humans- One of the best things that could happen to the future of our existence, IMO, would be the collapse of News Corps in the current scandal. Rupert Murdoch and crew have largely taken Australia, the U.K.…
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Canadian tar sands are not just about turning Alberta’s boreal forest into a wasteland. Transport of the product has many dangers, ill-effects. ____________ They haul their giant equipment around the world disrupting the roadside environment to dig tar sands in Alberta, turning hundreds of square miles into lifeless pits. Ah, but they produce oil! They…
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Predators help disperse salmon, nutrient on streambanks This article describes the results of a study suggesting another “trophic cascade” mechanism by which predators and salmon interact, enriching the diversity of plant-life in the world’s largest old-growth temperate rainforest: Pacific salmon run helps shape Canada’s ecosystems – BBC News The annual migration sees salmon return to western Canada…
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The most abundant of all Western pine falls at astounding rate- Every Western pine from the Yukon to New Mexico is suffering high mortality from unusually severe attack by native insects, diseases and direct mortality from drought and heat. Lodgepole pine, which often grows in vast almost monocultural stands, is dying too. Almost anyone who…