Staff Articles

December 4, 2015
By Chad Hanson
Soap Box on EarthTalk

It is a cynical rule of politics that, if you get people sufficiently scared and confused, many can be persuaded to agree to some of the worst and most irresponsible ideas. Case in point, the threat that has emerged this week from Senate Republicans . . .

November 12, 2015
By Dominick DellaSala, Chad Hanson and Tim Inglesbee
ELSEVIER SciTech Connect Blog

As two forest ecologists and a firefighter, we view forests as a dynamic ecosystem, see fire as nature’s circle of life, and promote coexistence with backcountry fires rather than relentlessly fighting them. While the news media and Congress each year proclaim burnt forests from Yellowstone to the Sierra and Cascade Mountains as unprecedented catastrophes, we see nature’s remarkable resilience at work. We seek a rational conversation especially now as fire season has died down.

October 23, 2015
By Chad Hanson
Sacramento Bee Editorial

The timber industry makes a lot of money clear-cutting our national forests after fires, so it’s no surprise that it takes some liberties with the facts.
The logging industry claims that where fires burn most intensely, the forest does not naturally regenerate, suggesting that post-fire logging is needed to generate revenue for artificial tree planting. This is a myth. Scientific studies consistently find vigorous natural regeneration of conifers and oaks in high-intensity fire patches. . .

October 6, 2015
By Christina Sherr
BirdWatching

I recognized the exact moment when it happened. My daughter Delaney became a birder in the burn. “Mom!” there are baby woodpeckers in there. I can see their heads!” . . .

September 29, 2015
By Rachel Fazio
Letter to the Editor
Independent Republic Newspaper

A few questions a recent article on forest policy reforms didn’t raise or answer. Can we stop the largest fires? No, these fires are weather driven and only become containable when the weather changes. Can we prevent fires by massively increasing logging? No — click to see answer.

September 18, 2015
By Christy Sherr
The Union: Other Voices

Two Republican bills being considered by Congress are using the public’s fear and misunderstanding of wildland fire to mount one of the most extreme attacks on our national forests in history.

Both bills would suspend or weaken federal environmental laws and clear the way for the timber industry to dramatically increase commercial logging under the guise of “forest treatment” or “thinning.”

August 20, 2015
By Rachel Fazio
Letter to the Editor
Bend Bulletin

I know, fires are burning, people are scared. It is a natural reaction, but it should not be the basis for more failed congressional policy. Wildfires are natural – yes even in Oregon. When conditions are hotter and drier. . .

July 30, 2015
By Rachel Fazio
Letter to the Editor
Union Democrat

I read the July 25, 2015, article “Local consensus: Thin overgrown forests” with equal parts fascination and dismay. Two of the parties interviewed describe themselves as ecologists and yet they failed to recognize all the ecosystem benefits of wildfire . .

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.