A recent article in the Blue Mountain Eagle Finding Common Ground on Active Forest Management quotes several people about restoring forest health. None of these people have expertise in forest ecology, except James Johnson from the OSU forestry school. The irony is that all these people, including Johnson, ignore the science from other scientists […]
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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 […]
Continue Reading →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 […]
Continue Reading →Clearcuts in Montana
The Forest Service is once again demonstrating its Industrial Forestry bias with its proposal to treat 3,790 acres by Cruzane Mountain in the Lolo National Forest. An acre is approximately the size of one football field.
The District Ranger suggests that treatments will “address insect and disease impacts and improve […]
Continue Reading →In recent weeks, misinformed Douglas County politicians have expressed opposition to the 500,000 acre Crater Lake Wilderness proposal based on the misguided belief that wilderness designation poses a wildfire threat. They argue that “active management,” meaning logging, can preclude or prevent such blazes. But this demonstrates a fundamental failure to understand fire ecology.
Just as […]
Continue Reading →The proposed Darby Lumber Timber Sale Phase Two on the Bitterroot National Forest is a Trojan Horse being implemented under the guise of “forest health” based on numerous false assumptions. The proposal displays the Forest Service’s Industrial Forestry bias and its subterfuge of science.
The timber sale is being litigated by the Friends […]
Continue Reading →We often hear that our forests are “unhealthy” and among the indicators of forest ill-health are large acreages burning in wildfires. However, if you look back a few centuries or more, you find that we have a fire deficit.
Many paleoclimate studies document major wildfires long before there was “fire suppression”.
Indeed, one study by […]
Continue Reading →I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees.
It seems more and more there are fewer conservation organizations who speak for the forest, and more that speak for the timber industry. Witness several recent commentaries in Oregon papers which are by no means unique. I’ve seen similar themes from other conservation groups in the […]
Continue Reading →Traditional logging dwindled on the Bridger-Teton, Caribou-Targhee and Shoshone National Forests because it brought in only pennies on the dollar spent. Stimulus may be used to renew logging at a loss-
The stimulus bill has money for forests, parks, wildlife that can be used in a beneficial or negative way. It appears the supervisors for […]
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