THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE CLAIMS
Here we have presented some reading material that was helpful in our research and will also shed further light on historical and current case studies on thinning and fire mitigation practices. We invite you to send us additional citations and links using the “About Us” contact form for consideration to supplement this page.
Sites
Stop Thinning Forests
John Muir Project
California Chaparral
Sierra Forest Legacy
Swan View Coalition
This entire area has been logged and thinned over the past couple of centuries, so there is no pristine forest. Many areas have reached a desirable ecological balance, providing habitat without too much undergrowth. The USFS further thinned this area 13 years ago to space the tree crowns for fire mitigation purposes. This had the result of opening up the forest floor and increasing undergrowth and regeneration, which also has the effect of increasing fire hazard.
Photos
ADDITIONAL READING
- Examining Historical and Current Mixed-Severity Fire Regimes in Ponderosa Pine and Mixed-Conifer Forests of Western North America – Dennis C. Odion, Chad T. Hanson, Andre ́ Arsenault, William L. Baker, Dominick A. DellaSala, Richard L. Hutto, Walt Klenner, Max A. Moritz, Rosemary L. Sherriff, Thomas T. Veblen, Mark A. Williams
- Historical, Observed, and Modeled Wildfire Severity in Montane Forests of the Colorado Front Range – Rosemary L. Sherriff, Rutherford V. Platt, […], and Meredith H. Gartner 2014
- Historical Fire Regimes in Ponderosa Pine Forests of the Colorado Front Range, and Recommendations for Ecological Restoration and Fuels Management – Kaufmann, Veblen, Romme – 2006
- The Wildland Urban Interface Fire Problem – A Consequence of the Fire Exclusion Paradigm – Jack Cohen – 2008
- Fire Probability, Fuel Treatment Effectiveness and Ecological Tradeoffs in Western U.S. Public Forests – Jonathan J. Rhodes1 and William L. Baker – 2008
- Objectives and considerations for wildland fuel treatment in forested ecosystems of the interior western United States – Elizabeth D. Reinhardt, et al. – 2008
- Fuelbreaks for Wildland Fire Management: A Moat or a Drawbridge for Ecosystem Fire Restoration? – Timothy Ingalsbee – 2005
- The Fourmile Canyon Fire Findings – 2012
- Hayman Fire Case Study – R.Graham, Finney, Romme, Cohen, Robichaud 2003
- Historical, Observed, and Modeled Wildfire Severity in Montane Forests of the Colorado Front Range – Rosemary L. Sherriff, et al. – 2014
- Managing Forests as Complex Adaptive Systems: Building Resilience to the Challenge of Global Change – Chapter 6 – Messier, Puettmann, & Coates – 2012
- Fuel Treatment Longevity, Southwest Fire Science Consortium – 2013
- Old-Growth Forests in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain Regions, Proceedings of a Workshop – Kaufmann, Moir, Bassett
- Assessing Fuel Treatment Effectiveness Using Satellite Imagery and Spatial Statistics – Wimberly, et al. – 2008-2009
- Forging a Science Based National Forest Fire Policy – Agee & Franklin – 2003
- Wildfire: a Natural Part of Life in the American West
- Modifying Wildfire Behavior, The Effectiveness of Fuel Treatments – Carey & Schumann – 2003
- Fire Statistics
- National Forest Protection
- Lodgepole Pine Management Guidelines in the WUI 2009
- 2014 Report on the Health of Colorado Forests
- Protecting and landscaping home in the wildlife/urban interface – Jack Cohen
- A Comprehensive Guide to Fuels Treatment Practices for Ponderosa Pine in the Black Hills, Colorado Front Range, and Southwest – M.E.Hunter, W.D. Shepperd, Lentile, Lundquist, Andreu, Butler, & Smith.
- A New Century Of Forest Planning – Matthew Koehler – 2012
- Studies Find Danger to Forests in Thinning Without Burning – Jim Robbins – 2006
- Revisiting Fire History Studies – George Wuerthner – 2013
- The Big Lie: Logging and Forest Fires – Chad Hanson
- Fighting More Forest Fires Will Come Back to Burn Us – Michael Kodas – 2013