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Forest Journalism for a Sustainable Future

The West is on fire: Get used to it, says Montana fire ecologist

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Heat, low humidity and high winds sent the Lolo Peak fire on a spectacular run late on Aug. 18, filling the sky to the south of Missoula, Montana, with its pyrocumulus cloud. Photo: Kelly Henkel

Are the 2017 wildfire season and its long, miserable, smoke-choked days the new normal?

University of Montana journalism professor Joe Eaton recently sat down with UM fire ecology professor Philip Higuera to explore the reasons why the West is burning up this summer.

The resulting Q&A, published Sept. 11 by City Lab, is a thoughtful look at the role of global warming, shorter-term climate events, and longtime forest and fire management policies on the severity of a wildfire season, this one being the case in point. [Read more…]

Scientists: Climate change, ‘flash drought’ ignited 2017 wildfire season

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Among the casualties of this summer’s extreme wildfires was Sperry Chalet, one of two remaining backcountry chalets in Glacier National Park. Photo: National Park Service

Wildfires continue to burn vast scars across the West, but the political blowback has already begun, with politicians from several states blaming environmentalists for the summer of 2017’s devastation.

But scientists at the National Weather Service and the U.S. Drought Monitor are clear about the conditions that sent this summer’s Western wildfire season into overdrive – even if they didn’t see it coming.

A “flash drought” seized Montana and the Dakotas in early summer, the experts say, brought on by sustained high temperatures and a dearth of rain.

They blame climate change, and warn that these type of events will only become more frequent as global warming deepens. [Read more…]

Biochar offers promise for commercial products, climate change mitigation

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U.S. Forest Service scientist Nate Anderson pours samples of biomass in the Rocky Mountain Research Station Fire Sciences Lab. Photo: Katy Spence

Nate Anderson surveys the samples of biochar on his lab table.

Some look like charred wood chips. Others have been transformed into pellets. Still others are shiny, like crystals. These samples have been “activated” and are similar to what you’d find in a water filter. One jar holds bio-oil, which smells like the condiment Liquid Smoke.

Seven years ago, Anderson knew little, or nothing, about biochar. Today, it is just one of many forest products he studies as a research forester at the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Montana. [Read more…]

The state of U.S. forests: You’ll be surprised by the answers to these 6 questions

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1. How forested is the United States? Here’s a surprising fact about our increasingly urbanized nation: About one-third of it is forested. Forests have an enormous impact on our water resources, economy, wildlife, recreational activities and cultural fabric. They also are major economic assets: The forest products industry manufactures more than US$200 billion worth of products yearly, and is one of the top 10 manufacturing employers in 47 states.

2. Who owns U.S forests? About 58 percent of the nation’s forestland is privately owned, mostly by families and other individuals. The public owns the rest. About three-quarters of the public forestland is owned by the federal government, mostly in national forests, with the rest controlled by states, counties and local governments. Forests in the eastern United States are mostly private; in the West, they are mostly public. [Read more…]

Witness trees stand sentinel over America’s hallowed places

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The Oklahoma City Survivor Tree Photo: Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum

A witness tree begins its life like any other tree. It sprouts. It grows. And then it’s thrust into the spotlight, playing an involuntary part in a significant historic event. Often, that event is a devastating, landscape-scarring battle or other tragic moment. Once Civil War soldiers march on to their next battle, say, or a country turns its attention to healing after a terrorist attack, a witness tree remains as a biologically tenacious symbol of the past.

Witness trees have been known to hide bullets they’ve absorbed beneath new layers of wood and bark, and they heal other visible scars over time. While they may look like ordinary trees, they have incredible stories to tell. [Read more…]