Peter Brown

USDA Forest Service publications page with message that the shutdown is the Dems fault...

These motherfuckers...

Another excellent example of “break shit and fuck the consequences” of this fucking administration…

Firefighters claim their own management team set them up for DHS harassment and arrests Yet another basic government task collapses into chaos, distrust, and apparent sabotage.

Some more info on the firefighter arrests by ICE by Hunter on UnchartedBlue; "Yet another basic government task collapses into chaos, distrust, and apparent sabotage." www.unchartedblue.com/firefighters...

In England do they call it a froot?

Completely unacceptable!

“I’ve never wished a man dead, but I’ve read some obituaries with great pleasure.” Clarence Darrow

Biomass production of tropical trees across space and time: The shifting roles of diameter growth and wood density Diameter growth is an important and good indicator of forest carbon production. However, size-related changes in wood density, which are usually neglected, are critical for accurate short- and long-t...

#Tree stems accumulate biomass by adding volume of certain density. Which factor is more important?

Using tropical #treering data we found: diameter increment explains biomass growth at short term; wood density at long term.🌎🌐🍁
#dendrochronology
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Intensifying Fire Season Aridity Portends Ongoing Expansion of Severe Wildfire in Western US Forests Area burned by wildfire has increased in western US forests over recent decades. However, high-severity fire—fire that kills all or most trees—is also an important metric of fire activity given its d...

1/4
Please see our new paper just published in Global Change Biology: “Intensifying fire season aridity portends ongoing expansion of severe wildfire in western US forests”. 🧪🌍🔥

Good article, but wildfire is never “preventable”; all of the management strategies outlined will never stop wildfire from burning at some point, but will “mitigate” severe effects and damage to human infrastructure. But fire itself is inevitable in these ecosystems; best accept that fact.

‘Bout g-damn time!!

Victoria Falls from Zimbabwe side, with rainbow.

Oh, and Victoria Falls on the mighty Zambezi; easy to see why they always call it mighty!

Elephants coming to drink in early evening at Elephant Sands, Botswana, with full moon in background.

I can die happy: saw a herd of elephants on the Okavango. Photos still to be processed. Meantime here’s a shot of elephants coming to drink at the Elephant Sands in Botswana. Elephants everywhere around here!

low severity surface fire burning through a ponderosa pine forest

The Turkeyfeather Fire in the Gila Wilderness, NM has burned as a low-severity fire over about 24,000 acres (so far). This is a continuation of a fire regime that existed for millennia before the 20th century. This 🧵reviews the fire history of the Gila, as my colleagues and I have studied it. 1/18

Such a neat story!

Hi Isabella, nice write up and interesting work! FYI Ros was the San Juan fire ecologist before her back country career and has published several papers on fire and forest histories. EG Brown and Wu 2005 Ecology, my favorite study!

Yep.

Just arrived back in US on flight from London that was maybe half full. Mostly American accents I heard. Bad time to be in the US tourist business…

The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower yesterday. I was here 51 years ago wandering Europe for the summer but too cheap to pay to go to the top; finally made it!

Trillium cuneatum leaves and bud emerging from the long winter

It was uplifting to see ongoing studies of rare & threatened species, old-growth forests, bird energetics, the creativity of ecological education, & other acts of resilience at the the Northeast Natural History Conference as others said Hands Off (<- thank you)

EyeSocketCutting-1

#firescarfriday Here's Chris Baisan from Tree-Ring Lab in Tucson sampling a giant sequoia stump with several "eye socket" fire-scar catfaces. Record was 80+ fire scars in one of these; ground level in the past was higher, hence the whole socket begin visible.
flic.kr/p/QhK6pV

Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer Action urgently needed to save the conditions under which markets – and civilisation itself – can operate, says senior Allianz figure

“Yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders.”

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Cory Booker for president!!

(We know he can stay up all night…)

Finally someone speaking some truth to power, and oh what a mass of speaking he’s doing! Go Cory!!

I was an independent observer in the Greenpeace trial. What I saw was shocking | Steven Donziger Greenpeace lost – not because it did something wrong but because it was denied a fair trial

Thought this was nothing but a SLAPP trail, and wonderful to have this insight. "There are realistic scenarios where Greenpeace emerges from this experience stronger than ever. ... The world will respond."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Looking forward to reading this one!

Damn good rant; take it to heart, dem pols!

NOAA Colorado River Basin Forecast Center, 2025 water supply forecast for Lake Powell, as of March 6, showing a well-below average accumulation for the 2025 water year.

NOAA Colorado River Basin Forecast Center, 2022 water supply forecast for Lake Powell along with final accumulation, showing a well-below average accumulation for the 2022 water year. This low runoff resulted in the lowest elevation for Lake Powell since initial filling in 1964.

Looks like another record low water year for Lake Powell, on par with 2022 when the lowest water level since filling in 1964 was reached. The "emerging splendor" (Schmidt et al. 2020) of Glen Canyon will continue; time to get out this summer to see Cathedral in the Desert again!

Incredible compilation! Tropical tree rings, who knew? (Turns out, lots of people!)

By the way Matt, Kevin arrived in the neighborhood this week (he’s staying at Manitou Exp Forest in the meantime), really looking forward to this collaboration!

A Cultural and Natural History of the Jemez Mountains, by Thomas Swetnam

Just received this in the mail yesterday, new collection of stories about the Jemez Mtns, New Mexico, by my good friend @firescar.bsky.social! Very much looking forward to a nice break from doomscrolling to read this!