Posts by Rachel Fazio
Wildfire Recovery Debate Goes On
By Guy McCarthy
The Union Democrat
Republicans in Congress are pushing The Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015. But rather than improving forest, watershed or wildlife health, as its authors claim, the Act will streamline the destruction and removal of forest habitat, including the majority of the most biodiverse habitat found in the forest – mature and old forest which has burned at high-intensity.
Read MoreMore Logging Won’t Stop Wildfires
July 23, 2015
By Chad T. Hanson and Dominick A. DellaSala
The New York Times Op-Ed
[I]t is fire season again in the West and, predictably, House Republicans have approved a bill that would suspend environmental laws to increase logging in our national forests falsely claiming the legislation will reduce fire risk and “restore” our forests, when in fact it will do neither.
Read MoreFire Aftermath: Watching a Forest Grow Anew
By David Downey
The Press Enterprise
Chad Hanson tromped uphill through blue-green shrubs, over charcoal-black logs and around fire-red wildflowers. Then he stopped.
With tiny rivulets of water dripping off his nose and head in a light rain, Hanson issued a challenge: See any pine seedlings? Slowly, a pair of visitors craned necks and pointed to a 6-inch baby pine tree here, a 1-foot seedling there.
Read MoreJEFFERSON PUBLIC RADIO: How Fires — Even Big Ones — Help Forests
Jefferson Public Radio | Chad Hanson and Dominick DellaSalla talk about their new book, “The Ecological Importance of High-Severity Fire: Nature’s Phoenix”, and discuss why and how federal policy on wildland fire should change so that communities are better protected, firefighters are not put unnecessarily at risk and fire is allowed to improve our ecosystems all while saving billions in taxpayer dollars.
Read MoreClearing the Smoke on High Intensity Fire
April 29, 2015
By Christy Sherr
The Union Newspaper
The April 16 opinion piece featured a forester with Sierra Pacific Industries who discussed historical assumptions about our Sierra Nevada forests and their complex relationship with fire. Scientists are examining these assumptions, and finding repeatedly that these assumptions are wrong.
Read MoreForest Service Considering King Fire Restoration Options
FOX40 News | U.S. Forest Service officials hosted a community meeting in Placerville Wednesday night to discuss King Fire restoration options in the El Dorado National Forest.
Read MoreWildlife Group Seeks Help for California Spotted Owl
By Scott Smith, Associated Press
KSL News
Steep declines in owl populations and unchecked logging of mature/old forest and post-fire “snag” forest necessitate the listing of the California Spotted Owl under the Endangered Species Act.
Read MoreWelcome to the new John Muir Project Website!
We hope you find the content interesting and compelling. Let us know what you think, signup for our newsletter or to volunteer and please comeback and visit often!
Read MoreOur First Post
Welcome! Thanks for stopping by our blog. Soon we’ll be posting here regularly about topics of interest. Check back often for updates!
Read MoreFire
Fire
Natural Restorer of Ecosystems
Mixed intensity wildland fire is and has always been a natural and ecologically beneficial process in conifer forests. Burning in a mosaic pattern, fire restores natural heterogeneity essential for an ecologically healthy forest.
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