Trees Forests

  • Timber myths reemerge to plague Montana

    Ralph Maughan

    Senate Tester dissembles.- Senators Tester and Daines plot suppression of challenges to timber sales- Timber sales and timber harvest declined on the national forests in the Rocky Mountains during the Clinton Administration. The reason was the withdrawal of subsidies that supported higher levels of timbering. Unlike the Southern national forests and those west of the…

  • Ely BLM Withdraws Decision to Poison, Crush and Chop Sage-grouse Habitat

    Press Release

    White Pine County, Nev. – A Western Watersheds Project appeal forced the Ely BLM to withdraw a recent decision to destroy Wyoming big sagebrush, black sage, and pinyon-juniper communities across the Newark watershed and parts of the Huntington Valley in Nevada. The BLM planned to use the cheatgrass-causing herbicide Tebuthiuron, mowers, bulldozers and other heavy…

  • Logging one of the causes of giant Oso, WA mudslide

    Ralph Maughan

    Warning after warning was given- Although first reports from local officials after the lethal mud slide were basically, “we had no idea, a bolt from the blue, this came out of nowhere, an Act of God,” etc., many warnings were given over the years from experts, agencies and the state. There were actions to stop and…

  • Revisiting Fire History Studies

    George Wuerthner

    Revisiting Fire History Studies One of the cornerstones of current forest policy is the assumption that western forests are outside of their “normal” density and appearance or what is termed “historic variability” due a hundred years of mismanagement that included logging of old growth, fire suppression, and livestock grazing. This idea has been used to…

  • Wildfire season well underway in the West

    Ralph Maughan

    Black Forest Colorado fire destroys almost 400 homes- – – – – – – Update: On June 20 the Black Forest fire was contained after 500 houses had burned. RM – – – – – – The first day of summer is just about here, and wildfires are breaking out across much of the Western…

  • Challenging the Standard Paradigm for Fires

    George Wuerthner

    I’ve been studying fire ecology for decades, an interest which led to the publication in 2006 of my book WIldfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy. My interest in wildfire did not end with the book and I have continued to read and digest the fire-related literature, attend conferences, and most importantly visit and observe…

  • Study: Forests absorb much more greenhouse gas than previously known

    Ralph Maughan

    Another surprise. The real carbon absorbers are the temperate and boreal forests. Tropical forests are too compromised by humans- One of the best things that could happen to the future of our existence, IMO, would be the collapse of News Corps in the current scandal. Rupert Murdoch and crew have largely  taken Australia, the U.K.…

  • U.S. government will add whitebark pine to endangered species list

    Ralph Maughan

    Critical high altitude pine has been nearly wiped out by beetles, fire, blister rust- These trees with fat rich nuts are already getting federal government attention, but mortality is even worse than thought. The large majority of whitebark grow on U.S. public lands. The work will concentrate on protecting existing stands using pheromones to confuse…

Subscribe to get new posts right in your Inbox

‎”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

Latest Posts

×