Tag: prescribed burns
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Fix Our Forests Act Doesn’t Fix Forests
Senators Curtis, Hickenlooper, Padilla, and Sheehy introduced Senate 1462 Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) legislation. Similar legislation has already passed the House of Representatives. FOFA is a solution looking for a problem. Unfortunately, our forests do not have problems; even if they did, FOFA would not fix them. The idea that logging and prescribed burns…
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The Fix Our Forests Act – A Trojan Horse For Logging
Congress is considering Fix Our Forests legislation. The legislation is a Trojan Horse that seeks to increase fuel reductions on public lands through logging and prescribed burns. However, large wildfires are ultimately not controlled by fuels. Fires need fuel to ignite, but they only spread when the climate/weather is conducive to ignition and the spread…
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How To Reduce Fire Fighting Costs
A recent paper from the Forest Service predicts higher costs for fire fighting. The title: Economic Risks: Forest Service Estimates Costs of Fighting Wildfires in a Hotter Future. The Climate Financial Risk report published by the White House Office of Management and Budget provides some estimates. A middle-of-the-road estimate is a 42% increase in suppression…
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Community Hardening Instead of Logging the Forest
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,…