The Smoke Dilemma

As wood burns, many chemicals such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone are released. For people with respiratory health issues, the biggest concern with smoke is particles 2.5 microns or smaller (approximately 1/30th the diameter of a human hair), commonly called PM 2.5. These particles, when inhaled, can travel deep into […]

Why Our Forests Need a Trim

How often do you get your hair cut? Odds are you go every couple of months—maybe in the depths of the Covid pandemic, you stretched it to half a year before it became unmanageable. What if you had to wait 10 years for your next trip to the barber? If we won’t wait a decade […]

Melissa Cribbins named Executive Director of Communities for Healthy Forests

Melissa Cribbins was named Executive Director of Communities for Healthy Forests on Jan. 1, 2023, succeeding former Douglas County (OR) Commissioner, Doug Robertson. In her first conversation in her new role, Cribbins gave us a picture of her approach to leading CHF into the future. Communities for Healthy Forests: So, congratulations on being the next […]

‘This is a crisis’

COEUR d’ALENE – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says it’s not a question of if western forests will burn, “but a matter of where and when.” By BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | January 20, 2023 1:00 AM An aerial view of the Scotch Creek Fire last year. The fire was among those combined into the Kootenai […]

With wildfires on rise, study compares techniques for limiting them

With the wildfire season reaching further into autumn and concern growing about the loss of structures, ecosystems and lives, scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are evaluating how to manage landscapes to be more robust against future fire threats. Lillie Hoffart, Biological sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln | https://www.thefencepost.com/news | Jan 20, 2023 Nearly 19,000 acres […]

Do Forest Fuel Treatments Work?

It is remarkable that despite decades of on-the-ground evidence, and volumes of scientific reviews, there still remains opposition to fuel treatments for creating fire resistant and resilient forests. By Mark Buckbee Let’s start with definitions. Fuel treatment is mechanical removal of fuels (woody materials) using thinning and/or use of prescribed fire. A resistant forest is […]

Addressing Proforestation on Public Lands

Proforestation is a recent preservationist movement that seeks to ban timber harvesting, logging, and active forest management —including prescribed fire and other wildfire mitigation activities—on public lands, particularly in “mature forests.” This movement cites a small body of research suggesting forests should be left to grow unmanaged by humans to maximize carbon sequestration. Read on […]

COMMENTARY CRAIG D. ALLEN, MATTHEW HURTEAU AND THOMAS W. SWETNAM

Southwestern forests need active management By Craig D. Allen, Matthew Hurteau and Thomas W. Swetnam | santafenewmexican.com | Dec 3, 2022 As longtime local forest and wildfire scientists who have spent decades developing ecological scienceapplicable to forest management, we paid careful attention to last month’s public listening sessionabout local forest management issues — sponsored by […]