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The notion that fire suppression is the reason for large mega fires ignores the influence of climate/weather on blazes and thus leads to poor public policy. We are continuously bombarded with the message that 100 years of fire suppression and lack of logging drive large blazes. The fire suppression myth is a convenient excuse for…
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Cattle grazing in the Blue Range Wilderness of New Mexico. Photo George Wuerthner Anyone who has ever worked on public lands livestock issues knows that modifying the negative impacts of ranching operations, much less eliminating them, is nearly impossible. Domestic livestock grazing even occurs in national parks, national monuments, wilderness areas, and other public lands…
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Giant sequoia at Sequoia National Park, California. Photo George Wuerthner One significant problem with explaining complex ecological stories is that many journalists are unprepared to interpret scientific research. A recent report in the Washington Post on a University of California Irvine study of wildfire fuels in California’s Sierra Nevada is a classic example of a…
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Ungrazed juniper and grass in Sutton Mountain Proposed Wilderness, Oregon. Photo George Wuerthner One of the most common assertions from the livestock industry and range managers is that juniper is “invading” landscapes, sucking up water that would sustain grasses, and harming wildlife. Of course, these assertions are seldom challenged. Given that grass seems absent from…
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Yellowstone National Park has produced an DEIS on bison management. The Park Service is accepting comments until October 10th. You can read the DEIS and make your own comment here: Attached are the detailed comments of the Wild Bison Restoration Council, however, if you want to make your own comments here are some brief points.…
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“Thinning” project on the Wallowa Whitman NF in Oregon. The removal of trees by chainsaw medicine eliminates evolutionary agents that would otherwise naturally “thin” the forest. Photo George Wuerthner The Forest Service and Forestry School researchers (funded by the Forest Service) continue to promote the idea that our forests are “unhealthy.” It is an…
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A few years ago, the Custer Gallatin National Forest thinned the area on Kirk Hill by Bozeman to reduce fuels. As has been reported, one of the problems with any fuel reduction is that the probably that a fire will encounter it during the period when it’s potentially effective is very small–usually around 1%. A…