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Old Faithful erupting, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Photo George Wuerthner I just saw the movie Wild Life about Doug and Kris Thompkins’s efforts to protect wildlands in Patagonia. Doug and Kris Tompkins at Renihue Chile. Photo George Wuerthner I am very familiar with that effort as I worked for Doug and Kris for more than…
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The burnt-out Safeway Store in Paradise, California. Even a big parking lot with no fuel could not prevent the loss of this structure due to wind-blown embers. Photo George Wuerthner A new report from Headwaters Economics titled: “Missing the Mark: Effectiveness and Funding in Community Wildfire Risk Reduction” misses the mark in many ways regarding…
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Harsh winter weather forces bison to seek forage outside of Yellowstone National Park where tribal people slaughter them. Photo George Wuerthner https://helenair.com/outdoors/buffalo-field-campaign-yellowstone-national-park-bison/article_613ca670-2fbf-501c-b7a4-987bcff200ac.html#tracking-source=home-top-story A press release from the Buffalo Field Campaign described a proposal for the tribes to develop a plan to assume “primary jurisdiction” over Yellowstone National Park’s bison. The first question anyone should…
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This “thinning” is a clearcut all but in name. Wallowa Whitman National Forest, Oregon. Photo George Wuerthner I recently gave a talk on wildfire issues in Baker City, a small town in Eastern Oregon. On my way home, I drove the Elkhorn Scenic By-way, traversing the Wallowa Whitman National Forest (WWNF), and encountered shocking…
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Remains of a home burned in the Camp Fire which destroyed 19,000 structures in the town of Paradise, California. Photo George Wuerthner State Farm Insurance Company announced it would no longer take on new insurance clients in California due to the rising cost of fire-related losses. The company cited “rapidly growing” catastrophe risks like wildfires,…
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Heavily logged lands failed to preclude the 2007 Jocko Lake Fire near Seeley Lake, Montana. Photo George Wuerthner Recently Senator Daines spoke at the Professional Fire Fighters conference in Bozeman. Daines advocated more management of our forests, believing that we can chainsaw our way to “forest health.” Senator Daines can be forgiven for his ill-advised…
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The Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park. Photo George Wuerthner New legislation, the Save Our Sequoias Act (SOSA) promoted by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy seeks to increase “fuel reductions” such as logging and prescribed burns around California’s iconic sequoia groves. Who isn’t for “saving” sequoias, the largest and some of the oldest trees in…
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The 1988 Fires burned approximately half of Yellowstone National Park and provided a significant natural laboratory to review the effects of wildfire on aquatic ecosystems. Photo George Wuerthner Most people assume that wildfire harms aquatic ecosystems and fisheries. But such assumptions are being challenged by new research. This narrative misleadingly portrays mixed-intensity forest fires as…
Author
George Wuerthner is an ecologist and writer who has published 38 books on various topics related to environmental and natural history. He has visited over 400 designated wilderness areas and over 200 national park units.