Howard Brown

Sep 30, 2024 | summitdaily.com | Howard Brown

Did you know: fire in a dense conifer forest will travel .5 mph and can burn 15 acres after an hour? Scary? Maybe not so bad. Fire in “dense conifer reproduction” (dense young “doghair” lodgepole that takes over five or 10 years after a clearcut) spreads at 1.75 mph and can burn 650 acres after an hour. But the real kicker: the grasses that dominate before that can spread 4.5 mph and burn up to 3,000 acres in an hour.

Aug 13, 2024 | summitdaily.com | Howard Brown

The Summit Daily’s July 19 coverage of a wildfire council “excursion” continued one-sided reporting, with both the excursion and the article clearly stating that they’re touting the “management benefits of clear-cutting” as though there isn’t any question that such a propaganda campaign is a great thing to do. The “expert” clear-cutting spokesmen are actually quoted on some true things but use them to advocate the exact wrong things.

Jul 22, 2024 | summitdaily.com | Howard Brown

The Summit Daily’s coverage of the July 7 Wellington Fire was totally disheartening. Once again, the paper robot-like parroted the spin strategy of the Forest Service and others who have it in for our forests, trying to credit clearcutting for “saving us” from fires, as they have been continuously with the Buffalo Mountain Fire.

Jul 11, 2024 | summitdaily.com | Howard Brown

“Brett, Cary: I did go hike Harrigan Creek the next day, including a little of the Gore Range Trail and the logging road, both to the north. Sorry you were unable to join me. Dead trees or not, this is a lovely woods and a very pleasant hike. Where there are a lot of dead trees, they are widely spaced, with a good age and species mix of fir, aspen, surviving and young lodgepole intermixed.

Jun 17, 2024 | summitdaily.com | Howard Brown

As the snow melts in the spring a lot of stuff starts to show, and you can’t blame the dogs for the more important stuff. It seems that every time I take a hike or drive, I’m hit in the face with the U.S. Forest Disservice’s irresponsible stewardship of our public lands and trails. I was already planning to go to Lower Straight Creek today when I saw in yesterday’s paper that the U.S. Forest Disservice “would be doing” “fuels reduction” work on that and two other trails this summer.