The Wildlife News

home hardening

  • Lesson from Maui

    George Wuerthner

    Wildfire ravaged the community of Lahaina on the Hawaiian Island of Maui, and the death toll mounts. Are there any lessons to be learned from this tragedy? The Lahaina fire offers some insights into why the current Forest Service policy of focusing on fuel reduction is misguided. The wildfire began in grasslands and, driven by…

  • Community Hardening Instead of Logging the Forest

    George Wuerthner

    Thinning the forest is often less effective than eliminating human sources of ignition. Photo George Wuerthner  The Deschutes National Forest wildfire policies are misdirected towards logging while ignoring the real threats that could lead to blazes on Bend’s doorstep. Anyone driving around the national forest near Bend will note the abundance of homeless camps, RVs,…

  • Missing the Mark–A New Wildfire Report by Headwaters Economics

    George Wuerthner

    The burnt-out Safeway Store in Paradise, California. Even a big parking lot with no fuel could not prevent the loss of this structure due to wind-blown embers. Photo George Wuerthner  A new report from Headwaters Economics titled: “Missing the Mark: Effectiveness and Funding in Community Wildfire Risk Reduction” misses the mark in many ways regarding…

  • The Logging Juggernaut

    George Wuerthner

    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, wildfire, insects, or…

  • Hermit Peak Blaze, New Mexico’s Largest Wildfire, Goes Out With A Whimper

    George Wuerthner

    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 (read logging) up to…

  • Why Prescribed Burning Is Not A Panacea

    George Wuerthner

    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 prescribed burns. The combined…

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‎”At some point we must draw a line across the ground of our home and our being, drive a spear into the land and say to the bulldozers, earthmovers, government and corporations, “thus far and no further.” If we do not, we shall later feel, instead of pride, the regret of Thoreau, that good but overly-bookish man, who wrote, near the end of his life, “If I repent of anything it is likely to be my good behaviour.”

Edward Abbey

“The continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is important to the quality of life of humans.”

Jim Fowler

“Our forests offer much more than just beautiful landscapes and wildlife. Each one has a different story to tell.”

Raveena Tandon

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