Author Archives: JohnMatel

Back in the 1930s and 1940s, professional and expert opinion was firmly against any fire in the forest. The only ones who still burned the woods were Southerners and Native Americans. Both groups were ridiculed for their outdated habits. The … Continue reading →

Heading back east. The fire conference in Missoula was fun. I got some new insights and lots of things to think about. Conditions in Virginia are way different from those in the West. Lots of the things that work in … Continue reading →

I have studied systems theory and complexity since the 1990s. I did not expect to find those things so prominent in a seminar on wildfire but I should have. Very few things we “manage” are as complex as wildfire. A … Continue reading →

Got to Missoula for the opening of the Fire Continuum Conference on wildfire. Great so far. Tony Incahola from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes explained how Native Americans successfully used fire as a management tool in the years before … Continue reading →

Visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield. The geography has not changed much since we were last here, but the interpretation of history is different. It has come back to balance. When I first heard about Custer, it was the “They Died … Continue reading →

Mount Rushmore is iconic and worth seeing and worth going to see if you are nearby. The ponderosa pine forests near Mount Rushmore were interesting. It looks like the Park Service, or Forest Service or others are doing a good … Continue reading →

Most of what I know about Lewis & Clark beyond what I learned in HS comes from “Undaunted Courage,” a great book by Stephen Ambrose. It is a book I recommend. But the cover of my book has an error. … Continue reading →

Drove through Ohio, Indiana & Illinois. As we move west, the land becomes a bit dryer and flatter. The death of the ash trees made me sad. Ohio & Indiana were full of ash trees. The emerald ash borer has … Continue reading →

On our way to Missoula, Montana for a conference on fire science. Missoula is a center for the study of wildfire, so when I saw a conference on the subject in that place, I thought it would be great to … Continue reading →