Science: You Get What You Pay For
The BLM has cut off funding for an Oregon State University forestry research program after a scientist in the program published results that conflicted with administration policy. <...
View ArticleWar on Science: Forestry
An Oregon State University forestry research team led by graduate student Daniel Donato recently investigated how post-fire salvage logging affects forest regeneration. Based on his field...
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Native forests and global warming
[Cross-posted at Land Use Watch] There's a lot of talk about global warming these days. To be honest, I can't help but see much of it as "far off". Receding glaciers and rising sea levels seems to be...
View ArticleEdwards, Montana and the New Demo/Farm/Labor Coaltion
John Edwards made the kind of speech in Missoula, Montana on Tuesday that can put Montana back on the list of possible Democratic pick-ups for the 2008 US Presidential Race. As a native born Montanan...
View ArticleThe Challenge of Appalachia: Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World
The 2008 winner of the $100,000 Buckminster Fuller Challenge is John Todd with his Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World, a blueprint for a post coal era and carbon neutral economy in the...
View ArticleGinkgo: A Tale of Survival
We frequently see diaries and articles about global climate change. Discussion rages about the cause and the extent of the change, and, occasionally, as to which direction it will go. Most of us...
View ArticleWe need a Department of the Environment now!
Reading through President Obama's FY 2010 budget today, I was reminded of a thought that I've had for several years now: Why don't we have a Department of the Environment? We have a defense...
View ArticleIf you go out in the woods today...
This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight... -- Evangeline, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The next time...
View ArticleNow or Later?: Logs, Coal, even Healthcare
Humans have been trained by our DNA, our evolutionary imperatives, our technology, and our commercial culture, to pay attention to "now." Video games, political distraction, even intoxication --...
View ArticleThe Spirit of the World
Every day I take my dogs into the hills just south of Puget Sound in Washington State. The walk begins as a logging road, recently re-graded. A couple of years ago the state harvested the trees on a...
View ArticleWeekly Mulch: EPA, Clean Air Act Facing Opposition
By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger Climate change legislation is off the table for now, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is still working to regulate greenhouse gasses. The...
View ArticleThe Tragedy of Private Ownership
I was recently in the audience of a young ideologue. The child said that one of the things that had troubled him about his ideology (anarcho-capitalism) was the lack of environmental protection. He...
View ArticleI'm Off to Haiti June 25
As most of you know, I have been organizing a Permaculture-based agroforestry project in the Deslandes area of Haiti. We've had to raise money from individual donors to get this off the ground and...
View ArticleTales from the Deep Dark Woods, Episode One
About a year ago, I began writing down some of the things that I have encountered in my forestry career. Most days are mundane, and one day runs into the next as far as memories are concerned. A few...
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American Indian Forest Management
This is a quamash (camas) meadow. You can see the life-giving camas plants as the violet-blue flowers. The major tree species are the sacred oak (Quercus alba and other spp.) and madrone (Arbutus...
View ArticleBackyard Science - North Idaho photo diary
For the past three weeks, I have been doing forestry work in the Idaho panhandle, not far from Coeur d'Alene, and also near Spokane, Washington. I've been close enough to those cities to enjoy the...
View ArticleBackyard Science - Deep Dark Woods - Central Idaho photo diary
Some of you have been wondering what's become of me, as I have made relatively few appearances lately. Today is a rare day off for me, and it gives me a chance to tell you what I've been doing. Since...
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Backyard Science - Deep Dark Woods - Central Idaho photo diary #2: Approach...
The photo diary that I posted slightly more than a week ago featured plenty of pictures taken on bright sunny days (link, in case you missed it...Idaho Photo Diary #1). When you are in the mountains...
View ArticleThe Strange and Disturbing World of Illegal Trash Dumping
This diary represents a departure from my usual writings. Some topics are not cheerful to write about. Far be it from me to discourage readers, but if you are not in the mood to be depressed today,...
View ArticleThe Daily Bucket - Stumped?
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place where we share our observations about the natural world. Whether we note the spring migrating birds or the first buds...
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