George Wuerthner
-
A recent article in the Arizona Republic, “The only way to save Arizona forests is to let them burn,” repeats the misguided idea that low-severity/high-frequency fires keep the forest open and park-like, with limited fuels to sustain tree-killing wildfires. In other words, if a fire kills most trees, it is “lost” and “destroyed.” In the…
-
A recent newspaper article noted that a large resort ranch along the base of Montana’s Crazy Mountains was using water for irrigation on a golf course. Worse, according to the news account, the ranch did not have water “rights” to use this water. Many people are outraged. While we can debate whether using scarce water…
-
The debate over provisions in the recently approved House tax legislation (Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill) has numerous environmentally destructive provisions which I will get to in a moment. However, one victory amid the unbridled promotion of resource development was the removal of an amendment that permitted the sale of 450,000 acres of public lands across…
-
Oregon State University (OSU) published a series of essays, “Not All Flames Are the Same,” on wildfire in Oregon. While the essays are written about Oregon forests, most of the main ideas about wildfire represented in the publications are similar to the propaganda found across the West. Like many forestry schools, the authors promote the…
-
The Gallatin Range, which runs south from Bozeman into Yellowstone National Park, is the largest unprotected roadless area in the northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). The range contains some of the best wildlife habitat in Montana. In particular, the Buffalo Horn and Porcupine drainages are critical lands for elk migration, grizzly bears, and numerous other…
-
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…
-
In March, President Trump declared a national emergency by Executive Order to speed up the logging of our national forests. The order affects more than 112 million acres, larger than the entire state of California. It would remove or nullify most environmental safeguards on our national forests. Trump’s order exempts objections to timber sales by…
-
The South Cottonwood drainage in the northern Gallatin Range proposed wilderness lies immediately south of Bozeman, to the west of Hyalite Canyon. The Forest Service’s nearly 8,000-acre Hyalite Cottonwood Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project threatens some of the proposed wilderness. Keep in mind that one acre is approximately equal to a football field. So, imagine what…
