Logging opens forests to greater solar drying of vegetation and wind penetration, often resulting in greater fire spread. Photo George Wuerthner
The recent editorial by Kendall Cotton of the Frontier Institute represents the misguided assumptions surrounding wildfire. Cotton repeats the timber industry’s argument that logging/thinning can eliminate large blazes.
Reducing “fuels” is […]
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Together, the states of Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming rake in billions of dollars in tourism revenue, much of it coming from outdoor—as opposed to cultural—attractions. “If Utah don’t got it, you don’t need it,” Utah. Com’s website assures. “Open your mind and invigorate your senses. Because some things can’t be explained, only experienced,” […]
Continue Reading →Oh the horror!
Oppressed by the constant threat of covid, cabin fever, and, more recently, the freakish summer heat, a few days ago I did what many of my fellow Utahans do and drove north, first to Idaho and then to Montana. Interesting to think that after only five hours I could find myself in […]
Continue Reading →This is the last of a three-part series on this multi-faceted and important issue. Part one which explored the myths of Stewardship, Perpetuity, and Creation, can be found here. Part two, which explored the myths of Legality, Special Jurisdiction, History, and Economy, can be found here.
Myth of Popularity
It is […]
Continue Reading →This is part two of a three-part series on this multi-faceted and important issue. Part one, which explored the myths of Stewardship, Perpetuity, and Creation, can be found here. Part three, which will explore the myths of Popularity, Local Authority, and Process, will be posted soon.
Myth of Legality
Somewhat related to the myth […]
Continue Reading →Rending fact from fiction regarding ranching in our national park
Introduction: a critical controversy continues to simmer unnoticed on the West Coast. The question of how to administer one national park, and by extension how to manage public lands, is as-we-speak being answered at Point Reyes National Seashore, just north of San Francisco. So far, […]
Continue Reading →Wildflowers along the North Fork of the Salmon River near Salmon, Idaho. Photo George Wuerthner
High Country News tries to portray itself as a source of environmental news, but reporting on wildfire issues often leaves much to be desired.
In its recent June 1, 2021 article Wildfire and A Forest Worth Fighting […]
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Bison herd. Photo George Wuerthner
Many authors today suggest that Indigenous people somehow behaved differently from other humans, particularly western culture that now dominates the globe in their relationship and exploitation of natural lands. The general theme is that while the human influence pre-European contact was significant, human exploitation was tempered […]
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Stream in Bozeman Watershed in Gallatin Range where thinning is proposed to reduce wildfire. Photo George Wuerthner
The Montana Forest Action Plan recently awarded funding to the Bozeman Watershed logging project.
Flawed assumptions and science characterize all these state-funded projects. Even though numerous studies have documented that logging/thinning fails to […]
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