Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities

Capt. William E. Simpson II – USMM Ret. contributed the following opinion article to Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities. First and most importantly; there is nothing normal or natural about catastrophic wildfire. Catastrophic wildfire is man-caused and the genesis of these man-caused

Last summer’s Chetco Bar Fire ignited on a snag-filled burn scar within the Kalmiopsis wilderness, sending flaming logs and brush through the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and down toward the Chetco River, spreading into a 191,000-acre fire that destroyed homes

Wildfire smoke impacted Idaho’s air quality significantly in 2017. Wildfires burned on over 5 million acres in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Montana, and British Columbia Canada combined. Over 700,000 acres were affected by wildfire in Idaho this year. This report presents

By: William E. Simpson II Recently an opinion article was published in the Medford Mail Tribune titled ‘All the king’s horses can’t make wildfires go away’, by Dennis Odion, Dominick DellaSala & Dominic DiPaolo; hereinafter referred-to as ‘ODD’). From my perspective as well

Capt. William E. Simpson II – USMM Ret. contributed the following opinion article to Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities. How often do we find ourselves as citizens complaining when legislators overlook cost-effective ideas and plans that could arguably provide some relief

We want to alert you to town halls Washington 24th District state legislators are holding in Port Angeles and Port Townsend next week. Details for the town halls are below, but first we want to tell you why your participation is important. 

Smoke may smell good, but it’s not good for you While not everyone has the same sensitivity to wildfire smoke, it’s still a good idea to avoid breathing smoke if you can help it. And when smoke is heavy, such

A recent study by Climate Central found wildfires in the Western United States are undermining progress in reducing air pollution from tailpipes and industrial sources.  In analyzing air quality in two large California air basins, the independent research organization found the

Wayne Thacker is Chair of the Virginia Wildlife Habitat Coalition. The following letter originally appeared in the Central Virginian: In response to “Working with nature’s renewable resource in Louisa County”, in the Oct. 12 edition of the Central Virginian,, and

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Resilient Federal Forests Act on Nov. 1. In the run up the vote, there were many misleading statements about what the bill does, and doesn’t do. Thanks to the House Natural Resources Committee,