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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Medford school officials consider costs of full-day kindergarten Family rallies help for Mexican community Preview of pot legalization plays out across Oregon border Since You Asked: County will consider pot tax Five compete for three council seats Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Family rallies help for Mexican community Emergency services Iron Mike loses his rifle ... again Emergency services Ashland's Iron Mike statue has its gun stolen Politics and Elections Kitzhaber embattled as he seeks fourth term Five compete for three council seats Jville Council Q&A: Brad Bennington Jville Council Q&A: Jim Lewis Jville Council Q&A: Ken Gregg Education Medford school officials consider costs of full-day kindergarten Foundation kicks off ambitious 'Count Me In' fundraising campaign 100 hours and counting SOU students protest university's free-speech zone Boys & Girls Clubs bursting at the seams Environment Work begins on Southern Oregon's first dedicated mountain bike trail Applegate Dam hydroelectric project dead in water Fear of orphaned cubs nixes new spring bear hunt Josephine County ballot measure would ban commercial and government pesticide use Low water exposes Emigrant Lake's past State news Nation - World Obituaries Marylen Agrell Kocks Lillian (Hulinsky) Kamarad Carol Erenst Reynolds Jay P. Greenwade Harriet Sheehan Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Sports Latest Stories Keselowski keeps title hopes alive at Talladega Tim Lincecum waits his turn, still yet to pitch Denkinger’s miss revisited as Series returns to KC UO’s Dargan sets the tone for improving defense Crusaders get first league football win in decade Varsity 541 College Sports UO’s Dargan sets the tone for improving defense Mariota keeps touchdown streak alive Royce Rolls SOU shuts down Beacons for weekend sweep Raiders drop wild game to Carroll, 42-40 Pro Sports Tim Lincecum waits his turn, still yet to pitch Denkinger’s miss revisited as Series returns to KC Vickers wins pole in strange Talladega qualifying Spurs' Popovich jabs Suns owner Sarver Golovkin stops Rubio to defend WBA title Community Sports LOCAL EVENTS LOCAL RESULTS Business Latest Stories Rogue Credit Union awaits southeast Medford opportunity People in Business Blog: Early Holiday Shopping Hundreds look for work at Harry & David hiring fair Frontier Airlines to end Eugene-Denver service Real Estate News Lithia buys Clovis dealership Rental vacancies increase Jackson County real estate sales, prices continue rebound Pallet Wine Co. expands in downtown Medford People In Business People in Business Transportation Frontier Airlines to end Eugene-Denver service Business Resource Fair has answers Erickson's Navy contract extended Lithia buys Clovis dealership Agriculture Hundreds look for work at Harry & David hiring fair Umpqua Holdings more than doubles net earnings Harry & David will hold hiring fair Thursday Ranchers offer livestock exchange 1-800-Flowers CEO: Labor shortage an issue for Harry & David Opinion Latest Letters to the Editor, Oct. 19 Our view: Endorsements include Bates, Talbert, Hoppe Don't overlook importance of Jackson County commissioners race Another view: GOP 'war on women' is a feminist figment Measure 92 misleads rather than enlightens Editorials Our view: Endorsements include Bates, Talbert, Hoppe Reversing course: Hoppe for judge Our view: With respect, our support goes to Bates Our View: Bearnson, Stine, Lane for Medford council Our View: No clear favorite for county commissioner, position 1 Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, Oct. 19 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 18 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 17 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 16 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 15 Guest Opinions Don't overlook importance of Jackson County commissioners race Measure 92 misleads rather than enlightens Oregonians have a right to know what's in their food Infill is the answer to growth issues Guest Opinion: Who’s really to blame for 2014 wildfires? Lifestyle Latest stories Scenic byway showcases colors of the Cascades New arrivals Held captive by whimsy How to know when trees and shrubs need to go Community blog: My New Best Selling Book Food Community blog: Southern Oregon Micro and Nano Brewing Scene Fall 2014 Community blog: Eggs make for economical, unconventional curry Mobile meals perfect for autumn forays Community blog: Green beans go global from gleaning garden Kitchen Call: Pumpkin is nothing without the spice Home and Garden How to know when trees and shrubs need to go Dear Monty: Is your real estate agent a secret agent? The best way to store your books A list to help you get ready for winter How to create a fashionable painted floor cloth Health Held captive by whimsy Community blog: My New Best Selling Book Dr. Jeff Hersh: The enterovirus is not new Dr. Murray Feingold: The first successful uterus transplant Health Watch: Skip the energy drink and reenergize naturally Hiking Biking Faith Religion Briefs Religion Briefs Religion Briefs Religion briefs First Church of Nazarene plans cleanup Milestones and Achievements New arrivals Southern Oregon Pride parade celebrates gay marriage ruling New Arrivals Still stifling laughter 40 years after 'Young Frankenstein' New Arrivals Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Review: Funny 'Lion in Winter' roars to life at Camelot Theatre Yu's Yummy Yan's offers great take-out A cappella fellas sing for schools Theater's haunted house not for faint of heart Tutunov Piano Series begins at SOU Theater Camelot presents 'The Lion in Winter' 'Carnage' is short, smart, darkly funny Randall Theatre presents 'Blithe Spirit' A tribute to a great lyricist 'Mrs. Mannerly' is a matter of manners Music A cappella fellas sing for schools The Farr Side: Bryan Adams releases album of influential hits Tutunov Piano Series begins at SOU Benefit for Nita Day at The Wild Goose Cafe in Ashland Call for musicians Community Events Review: Funny 'Lion in Winter' roars to life at Camelot Theatre Theater's haunted house not for faint of heart Third Fridays in downtown Medford Works in progress Southern Oregon Pride Festival celebrates diversity Dining Yu's Yummy Yan's offers great take-out Agave offers tasty tacos Asian cuisine for all seasons at Misoya Bistro Spoons Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines & Special Sections NEWS NOW Family rallies help for Mexican community ... Green Party candidate drops from state Senate race ... Judge OKs dispensary ban in Cave Junction ... Family rallies help for Mexican community ... Green Party candidate drops from state Senate race ... Judge OKs dispensary ban in Cave Junction ... GUEST OPINION Guest Opinion: Who's really to blame for 2014 wildfires? By Dominick DellaSala, Chad Hanson and Dennis Odion MailTribune.com By Dominick DellaSala, Chad Hanson and Dennis Odion Posted Oct. 12, 2014 @ 12:01 am By Dominick DellaSala, Chad Hanson and Dennis Odion Posted Oct. 12, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Social News As scientists, we are alarmed by the hyperbole and misinformation contained in timber industry representative Jeremy Wuerfel’s Oct. 5 opinion piece about this year’s fire season. Fires burning across the West are in no way out of the ordinary. Even the severe ones are a natural part of mixed-conifer forests burning today the way they did historically in most places. Naturally, most people have a visceral response to a recently burned forest, but forests need periodic fire to replenish soil nutrients and renew plant growth. Decades of scientific studies have revealed nature’s remarkable restorative powers that begin soon after a burn. There’s nothing “romantic” about this — it’s an ecological fact told in countless studies and nature documentaries. High-intensity fire patches with dead trees (“snags”) contain uniquely bio-diverse plant and animal communities that rival the more celebrated old-growth forests. But unlogged burned forests are especially rare because of post-fire logging, a commodity-driven activity. In 2002, politicians and the timber industry claimed the nearly half-million acre Biscuit Fire, which burned in mixed intensities, was a “moonscape.” They also claimed that the forest would never come back without logging and replanting. A year later, scientists were on the ground counting far more conifer seedlings than what the Forest Service would have artificially planted. However, tractors and log skidding crushed most conifer seedlings in logged areas. To make matters worse, areas salvage logged in the 1987 Silver Fire then re-burned in the Biscuit Fire at high intensity fueled by logging slash. Last year, the Rim Fire west of Yosemite burned within a perimeter of over 250,000 acres in mixed intensities. Large snag patches were scattered amidst areas where most trees survived. Today, even the most severely burned patches have prolific conifer seedlings and abundant woodpeckers and songbirds despite claims of catastrophe . Unfortunately, the Forest Service proposed massive salvage logging over formal objections penned by hundreds of leading scientists. Scientific studies also have documented that fires tend to burn hotter in managed landscapes than unmanaged ones, refuting one of Wuerfel’s arguments. A Google image of the Douglas Complex fire of 2013, near Glendale, reveals that fires scorched heavily logged lands where little wildlife habitat remained, but burned in lower intensities in the late-successional reserves where abundant habitat was created for fire-dependent species. In this year’s Oregon Gulch fire, east of the Greensprings, most of the 32,000-acre fire was hottest in logged lands previously owned by Weyerhaeuser, as confirmed by BLM Klamath Falls Resource Area scoping documents. Local residents will also attest to how the fire blew up when it hit the numerous firebomb slash-piles stacked well over 10 feet high in industrially logged areas. These observations are corroborated by satellite images dating back to the 1980s. Overall, they show that fires in our region burned mostly in mixed intensities as nature intended, but blew up in industrial tree farms. Mr. Wuerfel’s comments about global warming and carbon dioxide are equally off-base. The published, peer-reviewed literature shows that the most protected forests in Oregon, including areas with active mixed-intensity fires, store the most atmospheric carbon. In fact, even in high-intensity fire patches, only about 2 percent of the carbon in the trees is released, typically, and the burned patches tend to absorb the highest levels of carbon if left unlogged, as forests naturally regenerate. It is logged areas, not burned forests, which are a major source of global warming pollution. Wildfires will continue to be part of our bioregion through the next millennium and we need to fight them when they are a threat to homes. But instead of blaming forest protections for fires, we should be working together, as many communities and conservation groups already are, in reducing fuels where people live and encouraging industry to stop creating fire-prone plantations and to responsibly treat slash piles. Finally, we agree with Mr. Wuerfel’s suggestion that readers “... take a hard look at what is actually happening to your public forests. Go out and look at the effects of these mega-fires for yourself. See what your ‘protected’ forests look like after these fires are out.” Luckily, there are many award-winning videos so anyone can see firsthand just how resilient, and rich in wildlife, post-fire habitat is. International Wildlife Film Festival Award - “Disturbance:” http://vimeo.com/groups/future/videos/8627070 Photos capturing the ecological magic of severely burned forests: https://vimeo.com/75533376 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rXvP2r9W9c Fire video from PBS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTl-naywNyY&list=PL7F70F134E853F520&index=15 “Forests Born of Fire” by Wild Nature Institute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BmTq8vGAVo&feature=youtu.be “Blacked-backed woodpeckers and fire:”  http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/news-events/audiovisual/?cid=stelprdb5431394 Post-fire logging slideshow: http://www.geosinstitute.org/images/stories/pdfs/Publications/Fire/SalvageLoggingBiscuitFire.pdf Dominick A. DellaSala, Ph.D., is chief scientist at Geos Institute and courtesy faculty at Oregon State University, and is editing a global book on the ecosystem benefits of fire. Chad Hanson, Ph.D., is a forest and fire ecologist with the John Muir Project. Dennis Odion, Ph.D., is a plant ecologist specializing in fire who has research positions at Southern Oregon University and UC Santa Barbara.   By Dominick DellaSala, Chad Hanson and Dennis Odion MailTribune.com By Dominick DellaSala, Chad Hanson and Dennis Odion Posted Oct. 12, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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