-
The Sangre De Cristo Mountains of New Mexico where the Hermit Peak Fire occurred. Photo George Wuerthner The Forest Service released a review of the Hermit Peak Fire, which began as a prescribed burn designed to reduce fuels in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Northern New Mexico. The Gallinas Watershed Prescribed Fire, Las Dispensas…
-
A number of years ago Bay Nature published a couple of pieces promoting livestock production in California. I responded with a critique of the articles. I continue to hear the same arguments today with various individuals and organizations promoting “regenerative” grazing, “grass fed beef” and livestock as a “tool” to reduce wildfires, among other alleged…
-
Recent blazes in the Sierra Nevada have killed some giant sequoia, but is this a tragedy? Photo George Wuerthner In this New York Times article, Why Does the American West Have So Many Wildfires? published on August 2, 2022, is another news article full of misinformation about fire ecology. The journalists did get the…
-
Yosemite National Park, California. Photo George Wuerthner The New York Times recently published an article titled At Yosemite, A Preservation Plan That Calls For Chainsaws. The idea that we need to log the forest to create healthy forests in a national park is a major threat to the management policies of the National Park…
-
Fuel reductions are a major part of the Forest Service’s wildfire reduction plan. Photo George Wuerthner Recently the Federal government released its Confronting Wildfire Crisis plan to control wildfires in the West. As with all previous programs, it focuses on removing “fuels” as its solution and calls for escalating fuel reductions (read logging) up to…
-
The ecological impacts of livestock production is significant and there is seldom a full accounting of these costs. Photo George Wuerthner Livestock is responsible for more ecological damage to the western landscape than any other human activity. However, few accounting of these impacts is ever compiled. One source is my book Welfare Ranching–the Subsidized Destruction…
-
Active forest management is viewed as a solution to large blazes, but fails to acknowledge that climate is driving wildfire. It is true that if you completely remove forests, you won’t get a forest fire. Photo George Wuerthner Proponents of “active forest management” or logging as a means of reducing large wildfires are looking in…
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.