Staff Articles

January 13, 2026
By Chad Hanson
Cal Matters

Even after the profound losses of homes and lives in the Eaton and Palisades fires, Congress’ response so far has been the so-called “Fix Our Forests Act,” proposed legislation currently in the Senate that would override environmental laws to expedite taxpayer-subsidized, backcountry logging of mature trees and clearcutting on public lands — in the name of wildfire management.

December 26, 2025
By Chad Hanson
East Bay Times

Heedless of the facts and impervious to evidence, however, the full Senate may vote on a similar version of the Fix Our Forests Act (S. 1462) early next year. Logging industry contributors to congressional reelection campaigns would benefit; everyone else would lose. In fact, if the Senate passes the Fix Our Forests Act, it would increase the threat of wildfires to communities, putting homes and lives in greater danger.

September 10
By Bekah Mamola-Hill
Longmont Leader

“If we let agencies and industry partners co-opt the language of resilience while advancing projects that industrialize, fragment, and degrade these landscapes, we lose more than trees. We lose the integrity of public lands and the meaning of conservation itself.”

September 4, 2025
By Jennifer Mamola
VTDigger

Vermonters deserve solutions grounded in science, not legislation that industrializes forests. The “Fix Our Forests Act” diverts resources, weakens protections and undermines ecosystem resilience. Protecting Vermonters means strengthening communities and homes while letting forests function naturally, supporting both ecosystem and climate resilience.

August 22, 2025
By Jennifer Mamola
CounterPunch

There is no trade-off between protecting water systems and protecting forests. Wildfire disasters are caused by human infrastructure, vulnerability, and poor planning — not by intact, fire-adapted ecosystems. The focus must be on community-centered planning and resilient infrastructure, not industrial logging in upstream forests.

By Chad Hanson
Moonshine Ink Op-Ed

In recent years, we have seen one community after another devastated by wildfires in California — some of them in forests, some in grassland and chaparral areas — in Paradise in the 2018 Camp fire, Greenville in the 2021 Dixie Fire, and Altadena and Pacific Palisades in the January 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles, among many other tragic examples. Politicians want to take action or at least be seen as doing something that will help. But in this climate of fear and uncertainty and mourning, some politicians are proposing dangerous and highly misleading legislation that would make things worse.

April 18, 2025
By Letters to the Editor, Jennifer Mamola
Los Angeles Times LTE

Far from being lifeless, the areas affected by the 2013 Rim fire now support a rich array of species, from woodpeckers to rare flowers. The Rim fire didn’t ruin Yosemite. It offered a lesson.

February 2, 2025
By Chad Hanson
The Hill Op-Ed

The problem is that, as a society, we cannot seem to have that essential conversation. There is a sort of cultural anomaly, like a spell, that inexorably steers the discussion and the funding for wildfire policies toward “forest management.” This misdirection is putting lives and communities at risk.

September 23, 2024
By Chad Hanson
Los Angeles Times Op-Ed

In recent years, Wrightwood got very serious about community fire-safety measures. Long before the Bridge fire began, the local Fire Safe Council held educational events, coordinating with multiple agencies and governments. They promoted the importance of simple “home hardening” measures to make homes more fireproof, such as sweeping pine needles and leaves off of roofs and installing modern exterior vents that prevent flaming embers from entering houses.