Threats
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Lodgepole pine forests like these in the South Plateau Timber sale tend to burn at fire rotations of hundreds of years, yet the FS wants to log them to preclude a future fire that may not occur for a century or more. Photo George Wuerthner The Custer Gallatin National Forest proposes to log and otherwise…
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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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The wind-driven pattern of fire in the 1988 Yellowstone fires. Photo George Wuerthner A new documentary titled The West Is Burning continues to promote a flawed narrative that large blazes are a consequence of “fire suppression” and “fuel build-up.” Starting from this perspective, it promotes policies like thinning the forest and prescribed burning to counter…
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Old-growth forest like this on Admiralty Island, Tongass National Forest should be protected as a carbon reserve. Photo by George Wuerthner The Biden Administration supports protecting 30% of US lands by 2030 or what is termed the 30 x 30 proposal. One of the best ways to meet that 30 by 30 goals would be…
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President Biden today issued an Executive Order outlining a broad and ambitious policy to tackle the climate crisis. It contains plenty of ambitious provisions, couched within an all-hands-on-deck approach to climate change, which will commit every federal bureau and department to doing its part to slow or even reverse the unfolding climate catastrophe. Decisive action…
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Dear Oregon Bureau of Land Management staffers, I am writing today to ask you to please defend the proper administration of public lands. The recent decision to award Hammond Ranches, Inc. a livestock grazing permit and grazing preference to use four allotments in the Burns Field Office appears to have been politically influenced, and we…
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A week ago, eight prominent scientists sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) declaring that the agency’s proposed Tri-State Fuel Break (TSFB) is flawed and will endanger sagebrush ecosystems. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (“FEIS”) and other project documents are available on the agency’s website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/42341/510. To quote the scientists: “If…
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High elevation forests like the mountain hemlock seen here at Crater Lake have long intervals between fires. They only burn when there is the right combination of climate/weather. Fire suppression has had little influence on such forests. Photo George Wuerthner The recent piece published in the December 22 Guardian titled: Heat, wind, and a…
