High Country News

Fire scientists fight over what Western forests should look like

Controversial new studies question the conventional wisdom on Western ponderosa forests and the severity of their historic wildfires.

by Emily Guerin, Sep 26, 2012
A future of big fires and tiny bugs

A second-generation forest ranger considers how fire prevention and climate change are affecting the forests he once roamed with his father.

by Frank Carroll, Apr 17, 2012
Face it: All forests are "sluts"

If an allegedly untouched piece of woodland is "virgin forest," what does that make a forest that’s been logged or burnt or otherwise used by humans over the years?

by Sharon Friedman, Apr 12, 2012
Dead man working

When Robert Palmer began crusading for better medical care on the firelines in memory of his brother, he realized -- as many reformers do -- that one of the problems lies in the risk-accepting culture of firefighting and other outdoor occupations.

by Neil LaRubbio, Apr 12, 2012
The wisdom of the ground troops

If the folks who run the Forest Service listened to the wisdom of their people on the ground, disasters like the Biscuit Fire logging project would be less likely to occur

by Paul Larmer, May 16, 2005
Unsalvageable

Despite angry environmentalists, rotting timber, and unenthusiastic logging companies, the Bush administration is determined to push logging on roadless land burned by the Biscuit Fire in southwestern Oregon

by Kathie Durbin, May 16, 2005
'You've got me wrong': A Conversation with Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth

Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth talks about how his agency has changed over the years, defending current forest management policies as well as the Service’s dealings with the energy industry

by Paul Larmer and Greg Hanscom, Aug 07, 2006
Where there's fire, there's global warming

Climate scientist Anthony Westerling is working to illuminate the connection between rising global temperatures and the increasing ferocity of the West’s forest fires

by Matt Jenkins, Aug 07, 2006
A law born from the ashes

In George W. Bush’s Healthy Forests: Reframing the Environmental Debate, authors Jacqueline Vaughn and Hanna Cortner demonstrate that under Bush, "there has been a rollback of environmental standards and regulations."

by Renee Guillory, Apr 17, 2006
Burning down the house

Despite the promises of the Healthy Forests Act, the Bush administration has proposed sweeping cuts to community fire programs in the West

by Sarah Gilman, May 01, 2006