Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Opinion: Leave the forests alone? If only it were that simple

Is a solution to climate change as easy as saying, “Leave our forests standing?” No. As with most climate change issues, the answer is far more nuanced than a blanket statement.  The carbon stored in trees and vegetation comes from the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere drawn into the plants during photosynthesis. Carbon is also […]

Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors, Water, Wildfire

Over 20 years, the Hayman fire’s footprint opened a window into Colorado wildfire future

On a parched spring morning amid gusting wind, electronic signs on the roads around Deckers blink a warning of wildfire danger. But as Carol Ekarius directs a vehicle up narrow Matukat Road in this expanse of the Pike National Forest, the vista suddenly opens like a portal to the future. Welcome to the now 20-year-old […]

Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Outdoors, Wildfire

Priceless seeds, sprouts in New Mexico a key to post-fire future in the West

By Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press A New Mexico facility where researchers work to restore forests devastated by fires faced an almost cruelly ironic threat: The largest wildfire burning in the U.S. was fast approaching. Owen Burney and his team knew they had to save what they could. Atop their list was a priceless […]

Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Opinion: The West’s sickly, bloated forests are full of carbon, ready to burn

Colorado is famous for the year-round outdoor adventures people travel from across the globe to participate in. Hot summer days though, are quickly becoming synonymous with poor air quality and impaired visibility. A big reason for that is our forests. Stressed by severe drought conditions, forests across the West — degraded and bloated with ready-to-burn […]

Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Wildfire

Opinion: Climate change is making Rocky Mountain forests more flammable now than at any time in the past 2,000 years

By Philip Higuera, The University of Montana; Bryan Shuman, University of Wyoming; and Kyra Wolf, The University of Montana The exceptional drought in the U.S. West has people across the region on edge after the record-setting fires of 2020. Last year, Colorado alone saw its three largest fires in recorded state history, one burning late […]

Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Newsletters, Outsider

The slow fade of Colorado’s mountain pine beetle is triggering a massive shift in the timber industry

Colorado’s forests have been waging a losing battle against tree-killing beetles for more than 15 years. Now, after marching across the state and killing millions of acres of pine forest, the burrowing, fungus-spreading mountain pine beetles are slowly losing steam.   While other beetles have thrived in Colorado’s drought-ravaged mountains, the mountain pine beetles have reigned […]