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Forest thinning might lead to more wildfire danger, researchers say

Forest thinning might lead to more wildfire danger, researchers say

Yahoo01-05-2025
SALT LAKE CITY () — Researchers believe active wildfire management practices, like forest thinning, may do more harm than good.
'Many of the things being done in forests will potentially make them more flammable, not less,' said David Lindenmayer, distinguished professor with .
Lindenmayer says he, along with a , began studying active management strategies shortly after a number of wildfires tore across Australian forests in 2009.
In 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a new . The plan called for the Forest Service to treat 50 million acres of federal, state, tribal, and private lands through prescribed burns and forest thinning. The Biden administration committed nearly $3 billion to the strategy, including hazardous fuel reduction projects.
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According to a statement from a USDA spokesperson, 'Current studies and data shows the benefit of fuel treatments positively influencing fire behavior and reduce fire severity.'
'I think the key thing here is evidence. Do all these things work? For some ecosystems, including western USA, the evidence is very slim if at all,' Lindenmayer told ABC4.com. 'There will be situations where actions… like salvage logging, will make it worse, not better.'
Lindenmayer says his research shows that when a forest is logged and regenerated, it can have a pulse of flammability as the forest regrows.
Rebecca Diehl, the Utah representative for , says one fuel reduction logging project caused the Yellow Lake Fire, which scorched 33,000 acres in the Uinta Mountains in 2024.
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'This is one of countless timber sales across Utah and the West that the Forest Service has approved under the guise of 'forest health' and 'fuel reduction,'' Diehl said.
According to the USDA, logging contracts in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest are sold to contractors as a part of fuel reduction efforts. Thinning and prescribed burns are also used to reduce fuel.
'It tends to be drier, warmer, and windier, because there are all these gaps in canopies across the landscape,' Lindenmayer said. 'There's also fuel left over after logging including debris left over that can add to a forest's flammability.'
According to Diehl, salvage logging can also destroy the habitats for a number of species.
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'There's this perception that when we see dead trees it's bad, but dead trees are such a fundamental part of the ecosystem,' Diehl told ABC4.com. 'The forest is doing a better job managing itself than we are.'
USDA policy calls for the suppression of all human-caused fires but allows some wildland fires to burn. Naturally ignited fires are sometimes managed to achieve 'ecological benefits' if conditions are safe, according to a spokesperson with USDA.
'Incorporating new data enables us to make intentional management decisions so that we can provide for ecological integrity and decrease fire behavior.' USDA said.
'We need to make sure there's a good evidence base for the kinds of things that are being done.' Lindenmayer told ABC4.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Archaeologists Have Confirmed the Shipwreck of Captain Cook's Long-Lost Endeavour
Archaeologists Have Confirmed the Shipwreck of Captain Cook's Long-Lost Endeavour

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time16 hours ago

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Archaeologists Have Confirmed the Shipwreck of Captain Cook's Long-Lost Endeavour

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‘They didn't discover this land, there were people that lived here,': Shoshone Tribal Elder tells the untold side of the Pioneer Day story
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SALT LAKE CITY () — As Pioneer Day celebrations take place across the Beehive State, a Shoshone Tribe elder spoke out about the untold history of pioneers settling in native lands in Utah. Darren Parry, former Chairman of the Shoshone Tribe and devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke to in an exclusive interview Thursday about the complexities of one of Utah's most popular holidays. 'On one hand, I'm Shoshone… and on the other hand, I'm a sixth-generation Latter-day Saint,' Parry said. 'I absolutely love and honor the pioneers who came, but they didn't discover this land. There were people that lived here.' Two sides to the pioneer story According to the LDS church, as many as 70,000 Saints migrated to Utah and the surrounding areas between 1847 and 1868. 'The records of those who made this trek describe… episode[s] of disease, danger, bravery, and miracles,' the church's website reads. 'You have this state holiday when only one side is celebrated and told,' Parry told Parry says telling the Indigenous people's story is not to replace Pioneer heritage and history, but to be a companion to it. He strongly discourages harboring hard feelings of anger towards anyone based on history, but rather encourages people to ask, 'Is there another side to the story?' In a National Park Service historic resource study, the Mormon Pioneers were part of the idea and the realization of the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, and that they 'contributed to the growth of white supremacy in the west.' 'I cannot separate that story from the broader one. The story of Manifest Destiny, a belief that drove expansion across this continent at the cost of Indigenous lives, lands, and cultures,' Parry said. 'I think a lot of people don't look at the… problematic side of their ancestors coming here because it was never taught,' he said. The Bear River Massacre According to Parry, before the arrival of Mormon Pioneers, the Shoshone Tribe's home base was centered in Cache Valley, or 'Sihiviogoi' in the Shoshone language, meaning 'Willow River.' Over time, more and more pioneers came and settled in the valley. By 1856, thousands of Pioneers had settled there and had already begun to deplete its natural resources. The late BYU historian, Harold Schindler, wrote in 2012 that tensions began to grow between settlers and the Shoshone, who, 'faced with dwindling lands and food sources, had resorted to theft in order to survive.' 'The saints began writing letters to Salt Lake for somebody to come take care of the 'Indian Problem,'' Parry told adding that the letters eventually made it to U.S. Soldiers at Fort Douglas. According to Schindler, on January 29, 1863, soldiers from Fort Douglas attacked a Shoshoni camp on the Bear River near modern-day Preston, Idaho, killing nearly 300 men, women, and children. However, many Shoshone believe the number to be closer to 400, making it the largest massacre of Indigenous people in the history of the U.S. Healing from 'generational trauma' In an LDS Church history essay, historians detail that while Indigenous peoples in some instances captured horses and burned prairie grass to divert bison away from Latter-day Saint hunters, they were often hospitable and sometimes offered to push handcarts or help the migrants ford rivers. Within 10 years of the Bear River Massacre, Shoshone and Pioneers began to interact with one another, Parry said. 'In May of 1873, 102 Shoshones were baptized members of the LDS Church in the Bear River. The same river that, 10 years earlier, saw the destruction of our people.' According to Shoshone oral history, tribal leaders began having visions and manifestations about a god among the Mormon Church, leading many to join the faith; However, Parry acknowledges that material benefits and security may have been a factor in so many Shoshone joining the church. He concluded, saying, 'We just want to acknowledge the past and allow us to heal from this generational trauma that's existed from 1847 on.' Latest headlines: Two fires ignite near freeway in Salt Lake City, fireworks 'unlikely' cause Trump targets disaster mitigation funds, raising risks in future crises Trump and Powell feud explodes in public White House mulling a rare tool to block spending without Congress: What to know GOP leaders submarined by Epstein uproar Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword

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