Forest Journalism for a Sustainable Future
In 1995, the U.S. Forest Service spent 16 percent of its total budget on fighting fires. Today, it’s 52 percent and growing. What’s changed? “Everything,” said Matthew Thompson, a research forester who works at the agency’s Rocky Mountain Research … [Continue reading]
The harder we struggle against wildfires, the deeper we sink, like we’re in quicksand, says Mark Finney, research forester for the U.S Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station. “It’s called the fire paradox,” says Finney, a fire behavior … [Continue reading]
Large wildfires can be a major contributor to degraded air quality, said Shawn Urbanski, a research physical scientist at the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station who is working to improve a national wildfire pollution emissions … [Continue reading]
Of the dozens of wildfires that burned across the southeastern United States last November and December, none was more devastating than the Chimney Tops 2 Fire in Tennessee. Fanned by strong winds on the afternoon of Nov. 28, the fire grew to more … [Continue reading]
For years, Henri Grissino-Mayer warned that Gatlinburg, Tennessee, was “made to burn.” The surrounding Great Smoky Mountains National Forest was overstocked with fuel and all of Gatlinburg’s homes and tourist cabins were made of wood, the … [Continue reading]