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The word Kobuk means “Big River” in the local native language. Photo George Wuerthner I just returned from floating the Kobuk River in Alaska’s Brooks Range. The Kobuk headwaters are north of the Arctic Circle in the Gates of the Arctic National Park and flow west to the Bering Sea near Kotzebue, Alaska. The…
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Logging roads are a major negative impact on ecosystems. Photo George Wuerthner The latest attempt by the Forest Service to make timber cutting palatable is using the terms “temporary” and “closed” to describe logging roads. The implied message is that road impacts are magically eliminated if they are temporary or closed. Roads, temporary, “closed,” or…
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Wildfire ravaged the community of Lahaina on the Hawaiian Island of Maui, and the death toll mounts. Are there any lessons to be learned from this tragedy? The Lahaina fire offers some insights into why the current Forest Service policy of focusing on fuel reduction is misguided. The wildfire began in grasslands and, driven by…
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The media and many others, including conservation groups, suggest the cause of today’s wildfires is the result of fire suppression. They point to the cessation of Native American cultural burning as a primary reason for larger blazes. This has led to expensive and often ecologically destructive forest management policies. A Charles M. Russell painting showing…
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One commonly asserted myth is that frequent burning can substantially reduce the area burned by wildfire across the landscape. Photo George Wuerthner Poorly informed journalists flood the public with misinformation about wildfire ecology. The common theme insinuates that we can and should manage nature. I am sympathetic to the plight of journalists who are overworked…
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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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Thinning the forest is often less effective than eliminating human sources of ignition. Photo George Wuerthner The Deschutes National Forest wildfire policies are misdirected towards logging while ignoring the real threats that could lead to blazes on Bend’s doorstep. Anyone driving around the national forest near Bend will note the abundance of homeless camps, RVs,…