1,100 Communities at Risk of Urban Wildfire
George Wuerthner March 19, 2025 A new report from Headwaters Economics concludes that 1,100 communities scattered across the country are vulnerable to urban wildfires, such as the recent Altadena and Pacific Palisades blazes in California. While the origins of these blazes were on public lands, wind-tossed embers soon ignited homes, setting up an uncontrollable chain reaction in which one burning home ignited adjacent homes, which overwhelmed firefighting capabilities. While most people tend to believe wildfire risk is greatest in the West, the new analysis concluded that 52% of the communities vulnerable to such [...]
The Demise of the Northwest Forest Plan
Andy Kerr March 17, 2025 Top Line: Like bankruptcy, the death of the Northwest Forest Plan has proceeded slowly and might end quickly. Figure 1. An old-growth forest of Douglas-fir and western redcedar. Source: Sandy Lonsdale (first appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness). Note: I wrote the following without considering President Trump’s recent executive order pertaining to federal forestlands. I didn’t want the Trumpian chaos to interfere with an examination of the demise of the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP), which was under way well before Trump 2.0. Fear not, I will examine what the second [...]
Wild Bison, Victim of Politics and Political Correctness
George Wuerthner March 16, 2025 I watched Ghost Bull grazing just outside of Yellowstone National Park’s northern border. Ghost Bull is a name given to the bison by wildlife advocates because he seems to come and go, eluding tribal shooters who sought to kill him. The big bull continued to graze contently near some private homes, which created a “no-shooting” zone, and afforded Ghost Bull protection from the tribal members who sought to end his life. After a while, I noticed a pickup down the road and learned what it contained from [...]
