Logging lodgepole pine on the Deschutes NF in Oregon. Photo George Wuerthner
Across the West, the Forest Service and logging proponents continue to mischaracterize forest health by the standards of the Industrial Forestry Paradigm. Under this logging juggernaut paradigm, any natural evolutionary agent that kills a tree, such as a drought, […]
Continue Reading →Ponderosa pine in New Mexico Blue Range Wilderness. Photo George Wuerthner A new paper, Indigenous fire management and cross-scale fire climate relationships in the Southwest United States from 1500 to 1900 CE, was recently published. Based on solid scientific research, it makes the important point that indigenous fire management was local rather than landscape […]
Continue Reading →The Rewilding the West proposal calls for the restoration of wolves across federal lands. Photo George Wuerthner
The current Farm Bill, which Congress passed in 2018, is set to expire in 2023. Congress will undoubtedly enact a new Farm Bill.
The Farm Bill provides an opportunity to incorporate the provisions of the […]
Continue Reading →The Bridger Canyon Fire by Bozeman burned during a period of high winds and extreme drought. The resulting snag forest is considered by some to be an example of a “bad” fire. Photo George Wuerthner
I continuously read articles by journalists and others who expound on fire issues that promotes several inaccuracies. […]
Continue Reading →Active forest management is viewed as a solution to large blazes, but fails to acknowledge that climate is driving wildfire. It is true that if you completely remove forests, you won’t get a forest fire. Photo George Wuerthner
Proponents of “active forest management” or logging as a means of reducing […]
Continue Reading →Prescribed burns are perceived to be a panacea for reducing wildfire, but there are many problems with implementation. George Wuerthner
Many people in New Mexico are calling for an investigation of the practice of prescribed burning in light of the recent immense Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak wildfires that began as […]
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Forest Service using drip torch for prescribed burning. Photo by George Wuerthner
There has been a spate of articles in various newspapers and magazines, asserting that if the Forest Service were following burning practices of Indigenous people, the massive wildfires we have seen around the West would be tamed.
Here are some […]
Continue Reading →In a message on wildfires I just got from Congressman Greg Walden, he asserts, “A lack of management has left us with overstocked federal forests full of fuel just waiting to burn.” Unfortunately, his statement is full of misinformation.
He neglects to put this into context. In the decades between the 1940s and 1980s, the […]
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