New Report Debunks Myth of “Catastrophic Wildfire”
The John Muir Project's 2010 report, "The Myth of Catastrophic Wildfire: A New Ecological Paradigm of Forest Health", is a comprehensive synthesis of the scientific evidence on forest fire trends, and the relationship of current fire patterns to wildlife and climate change. The findings are surprising, and turn most of the common assumptions about fire on their heads. The report's author is Chad Hanson, Ph.D., an ecologist who has published numerous scientific studies on the subject of forest and fire ecology in western U.S. conifer forests. Dr. Hanson is the Director of the John Muir Project, and is also a researcher at the University of California at Davis. The report and the accompanying press release can be downloaded at the links below.
Download Report
Download Media Release
JMP in the News
JMP Wins Legal Challenge Against Lassen NF's Misuse of Science and Data
In order to justify logging in the Champs Project, the Forest Service overstated forest stand density and has selectively interpreted and incorporated data, creating a fictitious need for logging medium and large trees to reduce stand densities, and thus prevent trees from dying, when in fact, the areas to be logged are not overly dense and are already deficient in large dead trees (snags) which are necessary for the survival of numerous imperiled wildlife species. Click here to continue reading ...
Download Opinion from the Eastern District of California Here
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: Ecologists agree that there is no way to win the War Against Wildfire. So why is the Forest Service spending more than ever on fire suppression?
by Jason Marks (Earth Island Journal, Winter 2009)
Fire and ancient forests belong together
by Matthew Koehler (High Country News, Jan. 15, 2009)
Another view: Don't assume that fire is bad for forests
by Chad Hanson, PhD. (Sacramento Bee, Dec. 15, 2008)
Give Thanks for Burned Forests
by Matthew Koehler (Counterpunch, Nov. 27, 2008) Wildfire's role in the life of a forest
by Chad Hanson, PhD. (San Francisco Chronicle, July 16, 2008) The Ecology of Severely Burned Forests
by Richard Hutto (Counterpunch, July 10, 2008)
Logging Industry Misleads on Forest Fires and Climate Change by Chad Hanson, PhD. (Counterpunch,
July 9, 2008)
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