California is desperate to stop mega-fires. But controversy rages over tree thinning
Firefighters in Yosemite National Park have been celebrated for preventing this month’s Washburn Fire from destroying the nearly 3,000-year-old giant sequoias at Mariposa Grove. But it wasn’t just hand tools and hose lines that kept the fire at bay. Past forestry projects, which slashed the amount of brush and trees fueling the flames, made the job much easier, park officials say. And yet, the topic of forest management remains a fraught one in California, especially in Yosemite.
Related articles:
- Sacramento Bee: Yosemite’s giant sequoias were saved by forest-thinning. Here’s why some want it stopped
- ZME Science: California is losing its trees — perhaps permanently — as climate change is shifting its ecosystems
- The Nature Conservancy: Let’s fight fire with fire - There is a future where fire restores our forests instead of destroying them