{"id":34,"date":"2017-01-14T10:36:54","date_gmt":"2017-01-14T10:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dereklee.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=34"},"modified":"2017-01-14T10:36:54","modified_gmt":"2017-01-14T10:36:54","slug":"proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The USDA Forest Service is proposing widespread forest thinning on our public lands across the West in a misguided attempt to reduce the impact of drought, fire, and insects (see National Forest Restoration Projects<\/a>, Sierra Nevada National Forest Land Management Plan Revisions<\/a>, news articles<\/a>). These logging schemes are the latest in a series of Forest Service attempts to chainsaw their way out of a perceived problem. However, forests in the western United States have evolved to naturally self-thin uncompetitive trees through forest fires, insects, or disease. Forest fires and other disturbances are natural elements of healthy, dynamic forest ecosystems, and have been for millennia. These processes cull the weak and make room for the continued growth and reproduction of stronger, climate-adapted trees. Remaining live trees are genetically adapted to survive the new climate conditions and their offspring are also more climate-adapted, resistant, and resilient than the trees that perished. Without genetic testing of every tree in the forest, indiscriminate thinning will remove many of the trees that are intrinsically the best-adapted to naturally survive drought, fire, and insects.<\/p>\n

Recent studies have demonstrated that genetic variation is high within populations of forest trees, with especially high diversity found at the lower latitudes and altitudes that form the edges of a species\u2019 distribution. Local genetic and epigenetic variation makes some individuals naturally more likely to survive drought, fire, and insect outbreaks. This is because ecotones, or transitional areas, are where each species experiences the most extreme climate conditions that it can survive, the lowest elevation and latitude boundary. These natural edges are where trees with the most resistant and resilient adaptations are found. It is also where significant mortality is to be expected as part of the process where the distribution of tree species shifts north and uphill in our warming climate.<\/p>\n

After forest fire or insect-caused mortality, green forest naturally regenerates without any need for expensive human interventions.\u00a0Locally climate-adapted tree seedlings sprout and grow, and nitrogen-fixing shrubs and forbs replenish the soil and curb erosion. In the meantime, standing dead trees, snags, and logs provide critical food and shelter for many types of wildlife. Seedlings used in most Forest Service replanting efforts are bred for timber production, and although breeding programs are now looking for drought and temperature tolerance, there is a natural breeding program already underway that costs nothing and ensures the most locally adapted individuals will resist and persist as the climate warms.<\/p>\n

Weather and climate data are painting a clear picture of warmer, drier summers across most of the western United States. Forest fires are strongly correlated with the Palmer Drought Severity Index where drier years make bigger fires, so people living in fire-prone areas need to be prepared for wildfire as an inevitable occurrence, and take all precautions to protect their homes with defensible space and ember-stopping attic vent screens. Thinning the forest within a hundred yards from structures and some minor fireproof retrofitting are the only practices proven to protect homes and communities from wildfire.<\/p>\n

The West is getting drier than it was in the recent past, and that will require some adaptation, particularly in light of the significant recent human population growth in rural areas. We must also understand that recent fires are not unprecedented in size or severity as is often claimed by people who make money cutting our trees. The early 20th<\/sup> century sometimes saw 30 million acres of forest burn, and that was before widespread fire suppression, so fuel buildup is not the looming fire monster some folks who profit from logging have made it out to be. The world is an inherently dynamic and changeable environment, and generally the cost of fighting change is much more expensive than adapting to it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Studies referred to are:<\/p>\n

Kolb, T.E., Grady, K.C., McEttrick, M.P. and Herrero, A., 2016. Local-scale drought adaptation of ponderosa pine seedlings at habitat ecotones. Forest Science<\/em>, 62<\/em>(6), pp.641-651.<\/a><\/p>\n

Prunier, J., Verta, J.P. and MacKay, J.J., 2016. Conifer genomics and adaptation: at the crossroads of genetic diversity and genome function. New Phytologist<\/em>, 209<\/em>(1), pp.44-62.<\/a><\/p>\n

Pinnell, S., 2016. Resin duct defenses in ponderosa pine during a mountain pine beetle outbreak: genetic effects, mortality, and relationships with growth. PhD Thesis, University of Montana, Missoula.<\/a><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Dr. Derek E. Lee is an independent biologist. Born and raised in the rural West, Dr. Lee writes about the intersection of Western ecology and economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The USDA Forest Service is proposing widespread forest thinning on our public lands across the West in a misguided attempt to reduce the impact of drought, fire, and insects (see National Forest Restoration Projects, Sierra Nevada National Forest Land Management Plan Revisions, news articles). These logging schemes are the latest in a series of Forest … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":284,"featured_media":35,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,9,10,11],"tags":[12,13,14,7,15],"class_list":["post-34","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecology","category-forest","category-forest-management","category-wildfire-prevention","tag-forest","tag-forest-management","tag-forest-service","tag-wild-nature-institute","tag-wildfire-prevention"],"yoast_head":"\nProposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks - Derek Lee<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Proposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The USDA Forest Service is proposing widespread forest thinning on our public lands across the West in a misguided attempt to reduce the impact of drought, fire, and insects (see National Forest Restoration Projects, Sierra Nevada National Forest Land Management Plan Revisions, news articles). These logging schemes are the latest in a series of Forest ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Derek Lee\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-14T10:36:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/01\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"448\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Derek Lee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Derek Lee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c\"},\"headline\":\"Proposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-14T10:36:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":748,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"forest\",\"forest management\",\"forest service\",\"wild nature institute\",\"wildfire prevention\"],\"articleSection\":[\"ecology\",\"forest\",\"forest management\",\"wildfire prevention\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2017\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/\",\"name\":\"Proposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks - Derek Lee\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-14T10:36:54+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1\",\"width\":670,\"height\":448,\"caption\":\"Thinning logging in Arizona. Thinning sabotages natural forest adaptation to climate change. Photo courtesy USDA Forest Service\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/34\\\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Proposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/\",\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"description\":\"Wild Nature Institute\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1\",\"width\":2303,\"height\":1149,\"caption\":\"Derek Lee\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c\",\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Derek Lee\"},\"description\":\"Derek Lee\ufeff, PhD, is a quantitative wildlife biologist with expertise in conservation demography and population ecology. Current research investigates Masai Giraffe and other large mammal populations within a fragmented landscape in Tanzania. This work examines how births, deaths, and movements of ungulates are impacted by increasingly fragmented wildlife habitat, and what conservation actions are most effective. He spent 10 years researching the impacts of climate and ocean conditions on survival, reproduction, and population growth rates of marine predators such as northern elephant seals, Common Murres, and Cassin's Auklets at the South Farallon Islands, California. His work was included in a conservation and management plan for seabirds in the California Current. He also studied migration of Black Brant in Humboldt Bay as well as fire ecology of small mammals in California's oak woodlands and California Spotted Owls in the Sierra Nevada.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.wildnatureinstitute.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/author\\\/dereklee\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Proposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks - Derek Lee","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Proposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks","og_description":"The USDA Forest Service is proposing widespread forest thinning on our public lands across the West in a misguided attempt to reduce the impact of drought, fire, and insects (see National Forest Restoration Projects, Sierra Nevada National Forest Land Management Plan Revisions, news articles). These logging schemes are the latest in a series of Forest ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/","og_site_name":"Derek Lee","article_published_time":"2017-01-14T10:36:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":448,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/01\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Derek Lee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Derek Lee","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/"},"author":{"name":"Derek Lee","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/person\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c"},"headline":"Proposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks","datePublished":"2017-01-14T10:36:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/"},"wordCount":748,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/01\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1","keywords":["forest","forest management","forest service","wild nature institute","wildfire prevention"],"articleSection":["ecology","forest","forest management","wildfire prevention"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2017","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/","name":"Proposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks - Derek Lee","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/01\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1","datePublished":"2017-01-14T10:36:54+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/01\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/01\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1","width":670,"height":448,"caption":"Thinning logging in Arizona. Thinning sabotages natural forest adaptation to climate change. Photo courtesy USDA Forest Service"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Proposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#website","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/","name":"Derek Lee","description":"Wild Nature Institute","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#organization","name":"Derek Lee","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/04\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/04\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1","width":2303,"height":1149,"caption":"Derek Lee"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/person\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c","name":"Derek Lee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Derek Lee"},"description":"Derek Lee\ufeff, PhD, is a quantitative wildlife biologist with expertise in conservation demography and population ecology. Current research investigates Masai Giraffe and other large mammal populations within a fragmented landscape in Tanzania. This work examines how births, deaths, and movements of ungulates are impacted by increasingly fragmented wildlife habitat, and what conservation actions are most effective. He spent 10 years researching the impacts of climate and ocean conditions on survival, reproduction, and population growth rates of marine predators such as northern elephant seals, Common Murres, and Cassin's Auklets at the South Farallon Islands, California. His work was included in a conservation and management plan for seabirds in the California Current. He also studied migration of Black Brant in Humboldt Bay as well as fire ecology of small mammals in California's oak woodlands and California Spotted Owls in the Sierra Nevada.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.wildnatureinstitute.org"],"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/author\/dereklee\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/01\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgtNOJ-y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/128\/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-wildland-forest-fires-but-were-afraid-to-ask\/","url_meta":{"origin":34,"position":0},"title":"Everything you wanted to know about wildland forest fires but were afraid to ask","author":"Derek Lee","date":"April 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A team of fire ecologists released a report this week titled \"Everything You Wanted To Know About Wildland Fires\" summarizing the state of knowledge about forest fires on public lands. This report comes just days after the US Congress passed the Wildfire Suppression Funding and Forest Management Activities Act as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ecology"","block_context":{"text":"ecology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Regrowth after a high-severity forest fire. The past three decades of science that has found fires, including large high-severity fires, are an ecologically essential part of forest ecosystems and create highly biodiverse wildlife habitat.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/70\/new-documentary-gives-smokey-bear-a-new-positive-message-about-forest-fire\/","url_meta":{"origin":34,"position":1},"title":"New Documentary Gives Smokey Bear A New, Positive Message About Forest Fire","author":"Derek Lee","date":"June 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A new video documentary released this week describes the important positive ecological effects of high-severity forest fires. High-severity forest fires, also called stand-replacing or crown fires, create rare and important wildlife habitat, and many species of plants and animals reach their highest abundances only in these blackened \u2018snag forests\u2019. Fear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A black-backed woddpecker emerges from his nest cavity in a severely-burned forest patch created by the Sugarloaf Fire of California.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/06\/Lewis-01FUNK.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/06\/Lewis-01FUNK.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/06\/Lewis-01FUNK.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/06\/Lewis-01FUNK.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/06\/Lewis-01FUNK.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":311,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/311\/spotted-owls-benefit-from-wildfires-forest-fire-suppression-should-focus-on-homes\/","url_meta":{"origin":34,"position":2},"title":"Spotted Owls Benefit from Wildfires, Forest Fire Suppression Should Focus on Homes","author":"Derek Lee","date":"December 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"As record-breaking wildfires continue burning across U.S. western states, a group of pro-logging scientists and activists reignited the debate about Spotted Owls and wildfires by publishing an article critical of a 2018 synthesis of all scientific evidence on the topic. Federal and state authorities are pushing plans to increase logging\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":149,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/149\/comprehensive-meta-analysis-reveals-spotted-owls-are-not-significantly-affected-by-forest-fires\/","url_meta":{"origin":34,"position":3},"title":"Comprehensive meta-analysis reveals Spotted Owls are not significantly affected by forest fires","author":"Derek Lee","date":"July 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A complete meta-analysis of every published study that examined Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) responses to wildfire was recently published. Contrary to current perceptions and recovery activities, mixed-severity forest fire does not appear to be a serious threat to owl populations. On the contrary, wildfire was found to create more benefits\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/56\/the-science-of-forest-fire-and-spotted-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":34,"position":4},"title":"The Science of Forest Fire and Spotted Owls","author":"Derek Lee","date":"May 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Fifteen years of research about severely burned Snag Forests in the western U.S.A. and their important value as wildlife habitat and ecological services has produced a healthy body of scientific literature. These papers, and others, have opened the eyes of many to the now-obvious fact that burned forests create wildlife\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":105,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":34,"position":5},"title":"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls","author":"Derek Lee","date":"January 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Wildlife ecologists studying the rare spotted owl in the forests of California have discovered that large, intense wildfires are not responsible for abandonment of breeding territories. Instead, the researchers found that post-fire logging operations, which are common on both private and National Forest lands, most likely caused declines in territory\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ecology"","block_context":{"text":"ecology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}