ALEC is becoming increasingly involved in the public lands debate by providing model bills for Western states.
Wildfire
Posted inArticles
How smokejumpers prepare for wildfire season
Photos of the rigorous training this special type of firefighter endures.
Posted inArticles
2015 wildfires burned a record-breaking 10.1 million acres
Fires in Alaska help to smash 2006 record.
Posted inDecember 21, 2015: Secrets of the Deep
Latest: Arizona forest restoration project falls short
The Four Forest Restoration Initiative was supposed to be the largest such project ever attempted.
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Is the West prepared for climate change?
A new report shows most states are vulnerable to future increases in extreme heat, drought, and flooding.
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Five new studies that change our understanding of permafrost
Why they matter, even if you don’t live in the Arctic.
Posted inDecember 7, 2015: Good Neighbors
Chronicling seven decades of parachuting into wildfires
A review of Jason A. Ramos and Julian Smith’s “Smokejumper: A Memoir by One of America’s Most Select Airborne Firefighters“
Posted inDecember 7, 2015: Good Neighbors
Gun-toting toddlers in the desert and drunk Brits in the Grand Canyon
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inDecember 7, 2015: Good Neighbors
The last stand of the West’s fire lookouts
Fire detection is becoming more technologically advanced, as the old-fashioned watchtower goes extinct.
Posted inNovember 9, 2015: The Campaign Against Coal
Coalbed methane explainer and post-fire logging.
Hcn.org news in brief.
Posted inArticles
Washington’s long summer of fire and smoke
On Spokane’s west side, the Houston Fire was growing fast. If a wind were to come up and whip flames across a field of weeds, the gate that keeps the world at bay at the entrance to Erika and Andrea Zaman’s lane would do no good. Just in time, Andrea blasted back from the airport, […]
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Congress tries to speed up contentious post-fire logging
New legislation comes despite science showing timber salvage harms essential wildlife habitat
Posted inOctober 12, 2015: The Rise of Lisa Murkowski
For the Lassics lupine, wilderness is a mixed blessing
The Wilderness Act has complicated efforts to protect the rare California wildflower.
Posted inArticles
Dispatch from Valley Fire evacuation camp in California
State officials are calling the Lake County blaze one of the fastest-moving fires in memory.
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Dispatch from a medic on the North Star Fire in Washington
What base camp and wildfire look like from one firefighter’s perspective.
Posted inArticles
The nature of fire has dramatically changed
It’s time to move irrigation pipe. It’s one of those things you have to do when you have a certain amount of land and enough water to irrigate it. My knees hurt as I walk each piece of pipe over to the next dry spot. Here in central Oregon, it’s always a race with evaporation. […]
Posted inArticles
What we’ve lost in the Methow Valley wildfires
Three firefighters have died as fires continue to rip through Washington.
Posted inArticles
BLM launches a native seeds strategy for damaged landscapes
The initiative aims to restore burned ecosystems and target fire-prone invasives like cheatgrass.
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
Climate showdown, increase in driving, where the wildfires are this season, and more.
Hcn.org news in brief.
Posted inAugust 3, 2015: Outflanked
Is aerial firefighting worth it?
Aerial firefighting is dangerous, expensive and environmentally damaging. So why do we do it?