There’s an active debate among fire ecologists
over whether wildfire intensities have indeed increased to
“unnatural” levels following a century of fire
suppression, as many are now claiming, and if so what should be
done about it. This debate and the complex evidence surrounding it
were shortchanged in Ray Ring’s article “A Losing
Battle,” which read like a long editorial in favor of the
viewpoint that the current fire regime is natural (HCN, 5/26/03: A
losing battle).
Ring relied heavily on catchy anecdotes
and snippets of quotes from experts, and if he had tried, he could
easily have found just as many in support of the opposite view.
What makes HCN unique among environmental news sources is its
lively interest in all sides of the story. Don’t lose your
magic touch!
Susan Harrison
Professor,
Environmental Science and Policy, U.C. Davis, Davis,
California
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Give us the full story.
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