Clearcuts in Swan Range near Seeley Lake, Montana. Photo George Wuerthner
Several editorials have been published widely in Montana papers and elsewhere by supporters Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act (BCSA) sponsored by Senator Tester. Many are attacking Senator Daines for his attempt to put a poison pill in the legislation that […]
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 […]
Continue Reading →The North Bridger Timber Sale is removing old growth forests to “promote” forest health. Photo George Wuerthner
After reading the article in the October 7th Bozeman Daily Chronicle titled “Timber Treatment” about the North Bridger logging project on the Custer Gallatin National Forest of Montana one gets the idea that until […]
Continue Reading →Clearcut in the Ten Mile Drainage near Helena, Montana. Photo George Wuerthner
In a recent editorial in the Helena IR, an employee of RY Timber presented misleading commentary in his essay “Forest Service is Right to Restore Forest Health” that deserves a response.
First, keep in mind that the timber industry […]
Continue Reading →The northern end of the Bridger Range is proposed as wilderness by some organizations like the Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance. Photo George Wuerthner
I recently visited the North Bridger Timber sale (euphemistically called the North Bridger Forest Health Project) on the Custer Gallatin NF outside of Bozeman, Montana. Like so many timber […]
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 […]
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Thinning is often justified on the assumption that reducing “fuels” will slow or stop large blazes, but there is more nuance to the issue than just fuels. Photo George Wuerthner
One frequently hears from proponents of thinning that active forest management can reduce fire intensity and thus is a beneficial policy […]
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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