The Trump administration wants to step up logging, saying it will benefit wildlife by reducing forest fire risks. But wildfires create habitat for threatened Spotted Owls and many other species.
Fighting wildfires with air tankers, like this one dropping fire retardant on the Willow Fire in California on September 2, 2015, is expensive and not always effective.
USFS
A perfect storm of climate, forestry, development and fire management trends are driving up the costs of fighting wildfires.
Wildland firefighters, like this crew heading into New Mexico’s Gila National Forest, in 2012, are equipped and operate differently from urban firefighters.
USFS Gila National Forest
A historian of wildfires explains the difference between urban and rural fire cultures, and what it means for protecting communities in fire-prone rural areas.
There should be caution in jumping on the “forests are always better” bandwagon.
Shutterstock
With elevated wildfire risks forecast across much of the western US this summer, here’s how travelers can track local conditions, stay out of harm’s way and avoid accidentally starting fires.
Illegally logged rosewood in Antalaha, Madagascar, 22 February 2005.
Erik Patel
The illegal timber trade is a huge global business worth up to US$150 billion yearly. One way to curb it is by convincing consumers in wealthy countries that buying contraband wood products is wrong.
Europe loses as many trees to storms each year as Poland produces in timber. Until now, the models for predicting which trees are at risk have not been good enough.
New research shows that fire follows fire in the Australian Alps, and old-growth forests are less flammable.
The Victorian mountain ash forest has been severely affected by fires and logging. To determine the actual health of the forest, we need to look at the quality, not just the quantity of what remains.
Graeme/flickr
In the aftermath of fires or logging, conservation needs to focus on recovering the health of the remaining vegetation, not just the size of the forest or woodland.
A bridge built by CCC workers, Shady Lake Recreation Area, Arkansas.
Jerry Turner
On April 5, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps, a massive relief program that paid young men to plant trees and build parks across the nation. It was money well spent.
Current protections for native forests are hopelessly out of date.
Graeme/Flickr
Agreements between the Commonwealth and state governments that protect native forests are based on hopelessly out-of-date information. It’s a huge mistake to renew them without assessment.
China has successfully implemented afforestation to counter desertification. But, today, it faces another risk: its waters are declining.
A brown bear snags a sockeye salmon in Alaska. In warm years, red elderberries ripen early and Kodiak bears leave streams full of salmon to eat them.
Jonathan Armstrong
Climate change is making berries ripen early in Kodiak, Alaska, luring bears away from eating salmon. This shift may not hurt the bears, but could have far-reaching impacts on surrounding forests.
Leaf sizes vary according to a complex mix of temperature and water.
Peter Wilf/Supplied
Indonesian peatlands are important to many people: farmers, bureaucrats, businesspeople, and conservationists. But preserving this value for everyone will mean listening to everyone’s concerns.