Logging

  • Record temperatures across the West, including a record 121 degrees in southern California by Los Angeles. Massive wildfires charring millions of acres including record large blazes in Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, and California, with the smoke that spread across the entire West. Half of the country is experiencing “severe drought”. Hurricanes ravage the Southeast. Do we…

  • The Lake Plateau, part of the 900,000-acre plus Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness. Photo by George Wuerthner Years ago, I moved to Livingston, Montana. Livingston strategically lies at the northwest corner of the Custer Gallatin National Forest’s Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness (known as AB Wilderness). One of the factors that attracted me to Livingston was the AB Wilderness.…

  •     Old-growth grand fir on the Ochoco National Forest could be logged if the proposed removal of the 21-inch rule is adopted. Photo by George Wuerthner   The Forest Service has begun a 30 day comment period on its proposal to eliminate the 21-inch rule or what is known as the Eastside screens. The…

  •     Far more ignitions start by roads than in the backcountry. Ironically thinning forests will create more roads, hence more ignitions. Photo by George Wuerthner Like zombies rising from the dead, legislators continue to push the flawed notion that logging can preclude large wildfires and protect communities. The “Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act…

  • Note the lack of plant diversity on the left side of the path which was “treated” to “restore” the forest. Photos by George Wuerthner These two images display a recent example of a forest “restoration” project designed to improve the “health” of a ponderosa pine forest. The area to the left of the path was…

  • Large old growth grand fir like this pictured could be cut if the 21-inch rule is discarded. Photo by George Wuerthner Old-growth fir trees in the Lookout Mountain Proposed Wilderness, Ochoco National Forest, Photo by George Wuerthner The Forest Service is proposing to remove the prohibition against logging trees larger than 21 inches that grow…

  • The Medicine Bow National Forest is proposing to implement the  Landscape Vegetation Analysis (LaVA) Project, one of the most massive logging operations in the lower 48 states.  As much as 320,000 acres (an area bigger than Grand Teton National Park) will be “treated” by logging and other “vegetation” manipulations. http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=51255 In the 1970s, the Targhee…

  • Hyalite Reservoir in Bozeman watershed. Photo by George Wuerthner   Safeway in ruin at Paradise California despite being surrounded by parking lot–lack of fuel didn’t save the building Photo by George Wuerthner   Back in the Middle Ages, it was a common practice for “doctors” to bleed the “bad blood” from sick patients. If the…

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