National Wildfire Alliance Calls for Immediate Wildfire Policy Reset
Dana Tibbitts of the National Wildfire Alliance urges a reset of U.S. wildfire policy, calling for aggressive suppression, science‑based fuel reduction, and protection of communities and forests.
Miles Apart, Working Together:Oregon Lawmakers Bridge the Divide
Oregon Sen. Kathleen Taylor and Rep. Court Boice come from very different districts, but they’ve built a strong partnership around one shared priority: protecting Oregonians from catastrophic wildfire. Working across the rural–urban divide, they’re advancing practical policies to safeguard forests, power infrastructure, and communities statewide.
Opinion: PODs were designed as planning tools — not as preapproved sacrifice zones
Frank Carroll argues that the U.S. Forest Service's Potential Operational Delineations (PODs) were designed as planning tools — not preauthorized burn zones. But in practice, many communities fear that POD boundaries are quietly becoming "big boxes": areas where incident teams can justify indirect tactics, allow large sections to burn, and invoke vague "resource benefit" or "firefighter safety" rationales with little accountability. Carroll makes the case that communities near the wildland-urban interface must demand transparency, meaningful public input, and a clear commitment to full suppression — before the next fire starts.
License to Burn: Wildfire as the Ultimate Public-Private Partnership (Part Two)
In Part Two of “License to Burn,” Dana Tibbitts traces how the 2021 Caldor Fire turned from a small brushfire near Grizzly Flats into a catastrophic inferno, fueled by Forest Service inaction, outdated tactics, and unaddressed fuel loads. Drawing on resident testimony, media investigations, and the aftermath along Highway 50 and Lake Tahoe, she raises hard questions about whether wildfire mismanagement and salvage logging have become an “ultimate public‑private partnership.
Burning Ruth: The Questions of August
Jim Peterson, editor of Evergreen posted this essay by wildfire experts Roger Jaegeland James Montgomery asks the questions no one else is asking: Who made the decision to light those fires? Did they ignore the weather reports, or did they just not care? And as dead timber remains standing across the burn scar, will Ruth burn again in the next decade?
Forest Under Stress
Rachel Hall writes about her forty years of field observation in Southern Oregon's Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest reveal a forest in crisis. Forest Under Stress investigates the root causes behind escalating crown fires, the failures of passive forest management, and the science-backed remedies needed to restore resilience before the next fire takes everything.
When Controlled Burns Go Bad
“When Controlled Burns Go Bad, The Deadly Lessons of California’s 2020 North Complex Fire”. This article by Dr Bob Zybach and Frank Carrol examines the 2020 North Complex Fire in northern California, exploring how a lightning-sparked wildfire that was initially left unstaffed eventually grew into a catastrophic event. It highlights the risks of wildfire management decisions and controlled burn strategies when conditions allow fires to rapidly expand and threaten nearby communities.
The 1897 Organic Act
Wayne Knauf, a former U.S. Forest Service timber and fiscal management official, warns that forest policy has drifted far from its foundational mandate. The 1897 Organic Act established National Forests to support the people living near them—providing communities, roads, schools, jobs, and payroll—principles Knauf argues should also guide the management of private, state, and tribal lands. With cut-and-sold reports now diminished nearly to zero, he contends the Forest Service has failed in its core mission over the past 20 years, reducing forests to untouched shrines rather than working landscapes that serve rural communities.
Active Forest Management Needs Improved Rural Manufacturing Options
Timberland management requires the ability to convert timber into products—and without local sawmills and manufacturing facilities, even standing timber with high board-foot value can become a liability rather than an asset. Knauf points to the Missoula, Montana region as a cautionary example: the closure of pulp mills, particle board plants, and sawmills has left billions of dollars worth of timber with no viable market from the Canadian border to Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Across the nation, the loss of rural forest manufacturing over the past two years has eliminated three to four billion board feet of lumber production capacity, threatening housing affordability and leaving fire as the primary—and largely uncontrollable—forest management tool.
Out of the Vault - Roger Jaegel
In 2004, this op-ed Roger Jaegel warned that halting fuels management on National Forests in Trinity County, California would have catastrophic consequences. Two decades later, the prediction has come true — approximately half of America's 100 million acres of National Forest now sit in fire-ready condition, with repeated burns converting once-prime timber stands into brush and invasive vegetation. The cost to the American public has reached an estimated one trillion dollars annually, yet fuels mitigation work remains far below the pace and scale needed to protect rural communities and the forests they depend on.
Aune Lifetime Achievement Award from FVMC
Philip “Phil” Aune received a Lifetime Achievement Award recognizing over 50 years of leadership in forestry, advancing science-based silviculture, sustainable forest management, mentorship, and his founding role in the Forest Vegetation Management Conference (FVMC).
“Yes, the Gap Can Be Bridged"...USFS Chief, Tom Schultz
Jim Peterson interviewed, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz a second time for Evergreen Magazine. Shultz discusses wildfire impacts, leadership priorities, and the need to bridge divisions over forest management, emphasizing adaptive management, active stewardship, and collaboration to reduce wildfire risk and address stand-replacing fires.
A Fire-Worthy World
Frank Carroll’s editorial A Fire-Worthy World argues that current wildfire spending prioritizes suppression over prevention, comparing the high costs of fighting large wildfires with proactive investments in fuel reduction and landscape management. The article advocates for long-term, community-centered strategies that reduce wildfire severity, improve safety, and support living with fire rather than reacting to catastrophe.
NWI/NWA Transcript: Smokejumpers, “Managed Wildfires” and the Northwest Forest Plan
Chuck Sheley discusses wildfire impacts on Northern California communities, emphasizing smoke, public health, and economic consequences while advocating for rapid initial attack, increased smokejumper use, and reconsideration of current wildfire management approaches.
Burned Out: Deadly National Forest Fires Now Entering Towns
Dr. Bob Zybach examines recent National Forest wildfires that have burned into Western communities, comparing recent losses with historical trends and arguing that current forest conditions and management practices have increased wildfire risk to towns and rural landscapes.
License To Burn: Wildfire As the Ultimate Private-Public Partnership (Part One)
Dana Tibbitts examines wildfire policy and shared stewardship agreements, questioning public-private partnerships, managed fire strategies, and decision-making influences shaping wildfire management and outcomes in California’s Tahoe Basin and surrounding regions.
National Wildfire Alliance Executive Order 2025*
William Derr, president of NWA and other members submitted the following executive order declaring a national wildfire emergency, advocating stronger suppression policies, active forest management, fuel reduction, and federal reforms to address escalating wildfire risks and impacts.
A GROWING SEA OF SNAGS
North Umpqua River Wildfires, 2002–2022: Risks and Recommendations by Dr. Bob Zybach examines the causes and impacts of catastrophic wildfire in the North Umpqua basin following the 2020 Labor Day Fires. The report analyzes fuel conditions, prior fire effects, and landscape management factors contributing to fire behavior, and offers recommendations aimed at reducing future wildfire risk to communities, infrastructure, and forest ecosystems.