Tag: thinning

  • Cause of Today’s Giant Wildfires. Overly dense forests, or is it drought?

    A high severity blaze on the Boise National Forest. Almost all large fires occur during extreme drought conditions. Photo George Wuerthner One continuously hears from the timber industry and its allies that the present occurrence of large wildfires is primarily the result of 100 years of “fire suppression” and thus “abnormal” fuel accumulations. We are…

  • Logging Contributes to Climate Warming

    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 been “active forest management.”…

  • Before and After Photos of Dixie Fire

    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…

  • Fire Suppression Myths

    Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear in the media and from the Forest Service that fire suppression is responsible for the intensity and size of wildfires. According to proponents, a “hundred years of fire suppression” has permitted the build-up of fuels, and by their assertion, more fuel results in larger conflagrations. However,…

  • The 99-year-old Grandmother Effect—How To View Fuel Reductions On Bootleg Fire.

    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 story titled Lessons…

  • LA Times Fire Article Lacks Context

      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 California study that advocates…

  • Infrastructure Bill Promotes Subsidized Logging

      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 numerous projects including…

  • Response to Timber Industry Comments

    Clearcut in the Ten Mile Drainage near Helena, Montana. Photo George Wuerthner  In a recent editorial in the Helena IR, an employee of RY Timber presented misleading commentary in his essay “Forest Service is Right to Restore Forest Health” that deserves a response. First, keep in mind that the timber industry and forestry profession (both…

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