Typical pole size of trees in the South Plateau “treatment” area. Photo George Wuerthner
The Custer Gallatin National Forest (CGNF) proposal to log the South Plateau area bordering Yellowstone National Park near West Yellowstone is another example of the Forest Service’s quack chainsaw medicine policies.
The CGNF says the goal of the […]
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Previously logged Plum Creek Timber Company lands which didn’t stop 36,ooo acre plus Jocko Lakes Fires. Photo George Wuerthner
Recently Governor Greg Gianforte praised forest management for limiting the spread of two fires near Helena.
Gianforte suggested that active forest management (i.e., logging) helped firefighters to keep two blazes, the […]
Continue Reading →Clearcuts along the McKenzie River corridor east of Eugene, Oregon did little to slow the Holiday Farm Fire. Photo George Wuerthner
The Holiday Farm Fire began on September 7, 2020. The fire charred 173,000 acres along the McKenzie River Valley in western Oregon’s Cascade Range, possibly due to a fallen power line. […]
Continue Reading →Fuel reductions are a major part of the Forest Service’s wildfire reduction plan. Photo George Wuerthner
Recently the Federal government released its Confronting Wildfire Crisis plan to control wildfires in the West. As with all previous programs, it focuses on removing “fuels” as its solution and calls for escalating fuel reductions […]
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 →Thinning/logging at Newberry Crater National Monument, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon. Photo George Wuerthner
One of the arguments alleged by proponents of thinning or logging forests is that it will reduce the size of wildfires and hence carbon emissions from blazes. Proponents argue that more trees survive a fire if there has […]
Continue Reading →In May, 2021 I happened to be traveling through northern California on my way to Lassen National Park. When I drove out of Chester, California, I encountered a number of forest thinning projects along the highway. So I photographed some of them, in part, because in many cases large fire-resistant trees were being removed.
Then […]
Continue Reading →The 400,000-acre Bootleg Fire created a mosaic burn pattern from unburned to high severity. Photo George Wuerthner
The Capital Press, an Agricultural emphasis newspaper, recently ran a story about the 400,000-acre Bootleg Fire and the influence of forest management on the fire’s impact upon trees. In particular, the 26 Nov 2021 issue […]
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This site by Chester, California was treated by thinning and even clearcutting (seen in the background) and later burned in the Dixie Fire. Photo George Wuerthner
A recent article in the Los Angeles Times on November 8th (Prescribed burns are crucial to reducing wildfire risks) Los Angeles Times highlights a […]
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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 […]
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