prescribed burning

  • Why Fewer Acres burned in the California 2022 Fire Season

    George Wuerthner

      The Dixie Fire charred 900,000 acre plus acres in 2021. The fire burned through numerous portions of the forest that had been thinned or even clearcut as seen in this photo. Photo George Wuerthner  A December 20th article in the New York Times declared California had a quiet fire season. The report explained why…

  • A Bigger Hammer Won’t Stop Large Wildfires

    George Wuerthner

    Fire killed trees store carbon for decades. Photo George Wuerthner  In an Aug. 29 letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, lawmakers — mostly from California — said they’re worried the Forest Service remains short-staffed on wildfire crews. They urged officials not to let up on efforts to rapidly attack fires.…

  • Why Prescribed Burning Is Not A Panacea

    George Wuerthner

    Prescribed burns are perceived to be a panacea for reducing wildfire, but there are many problems with implementation. George Wuerthner  Many people in New Mexico are calling for an investigation of the practice of prescribed burning in light of the recent immense Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak wildfires that began as prescribed burns. The combined…

  • Mythologizing the Practice of Burning by Native Americans

    George Wuerthner

    Did Native American use of fire make it so that wild country never really existed? When reporting about wildfire, current stories in the media often claim that in prehistory, fire was deliberately set by tribal groups so often that big or severe wildfires hardly existed. So, if that practice is restored today, it will be…

  • LA Times Fire Article Lacks Context

    George Wuerthner

      This site by Chester, California was treated by thinning and even clearcutting (seen in the background) and later burned in the Dixie Fire. Photo George Wuerthner  A recent article in the Los Angeles Times on November 8th  (Prescribed burns are crucial to reducing wildfire risks) Los Angeles Times highlights a California study that advocates…

  • Infrastructure Bill Promotes Subsidized Logging

    George Wuerthner

      Subsidized logging in the name of fuel reductions on the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon. Logging accounts for 35% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Oregon. Photo George Wuerthner  Congress just passed the big infrastructure bill, and I expect President Biden will sign it—maybe before you read this commentary. Funding is for numerous projects including…

  • Why Prescribed Burning Is Seldom Effective

    George Wuerthner

    Prescribed burning is often seen as a way to reduce to the large climate-driven blazes now occurring across the West, however, there are many problems that proponents fail to acknowledge. Photo George Wuerthner It seems everyone is grasping for some “solution” to big fires. And one of the common assertions is that more prescribed burning…

  • Critique of The West Is Burning Documentary

    George Wuerthner

    The wind-driven pattern of fire in the 1988 Yellowstone fires. Photo George Wuerthner A new documentary titled The West Is Burning continues to promote a flawed narrative that large blazes are a consequence of “fire suppression” and “fuel build-up.”  Starting from this perspective, it promotes policies like thinning the forest and prescribed burning to counter…

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‎”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

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