A few years ago, the Custer Gallatin National Forest thinned the area on Kirk Hill by Bozeman to reduce fuels.
As has been reported, one of the problems with any fuel reduction is that the probably that a fire will encounter it during the period when it’s potentially effective is very small–usually around 1%.
A […]
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The word Kobuk means “Big River” in the local native language. Photo George Wuerthner
I just returned from floating the Kobuk River in Alaska’s Brooks Range. The Kobuk headwaters are north of the Arctic Circle in the Gates of the Arctic National Park and flow west to the Bering Sea near […]
Continue Reading →Logging roads are a major negative impact on ecosystems. Photo George Wuerthner
The latest attempt by the Forest Service to make timber cutting palatable is using the terms “temporary” and “closed” to describe logging roads. The implied message is that road impacts are magically eliminated if they are temporary or closed. Roads, […]
Continue Reading →Wildfire ravaged the community of Lahaina on the Hawaiian Island of Maui, and the death toll mounts. Are there any lessons to be learned from this tragedy?
The Lahaina fire offers some insights into why the current Forest Service policy of focusing on fuel reduction is misguided.
The wildfire began in grasslands and, driven by […]
Continue Reading →The media and many others, including conservation groups, suggest the cause of today’s wildfires is the result of fire suppression. They point to the cessation of Native American cultural burning as a primary reason for larger blazes. This has led to expensive and often ecologically destructive forest management policies.
A Charles M. […]
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Juniper and grasslands--How Cattle Grazing Impacts Ecosystems
Ungrazed juniper and grass in Sutton Mountain Proposed Wilderness, Oregon. Photo […]
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