Notes from Rural Oregon
Dear Reader,
A few weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to go with the Institute of Journalism and Natural Resources on their Western Wildfire Institute in Oregon as their Program Assistant. While my primary task on this foray across Western Oregon and the Cascades was to transport beverage coolers and make sure people were watered and fed, I met some incredible experts on wildfires including people from the state Department of Forestry, notable wildfire scientists like Oregon State professor Chris Dunn, and numerous individuals who work in or live at these urban-wildlife intersection zones where wildfires are becoming more frequent and incredibly destructive.
Yet, my biggest takeaway from my week in Oregon was this: wildfires are absolutely essential to our landscapes and should not be treated as something inherently bad. For thousands of years, forests and ecosystems across the West have been shaped by these fires. Trees have learnt to sprout seeds triggered by the heat from fires. Fires are an opportunity to clear the old so that the new can grow. Then why are we so scared of them?
Our policies surrounding wildfires make no space for natural systems to function the way they would like, and so we need to integrate fire as a tool into our policies and societies rather than something to prevent. And by this, I don’t mean that we should let our homes burn. Rather, by using methods like prescribed burns, wherein sections of forests can be safely burned in a carefully controlled setting, we can give forests the full force of heat they need while keeping our homes safe and sound.
As part of our trip, we went to several different sites that had been ravaged by fires in the past, sites of such natural beauty with flowing streams of clear water and temperate rainforests with dense undergrowth. It was quite startling to think that wildfires were a natural part of these systems, but they are. And the only way to preserve this beautiful biodiversity is to allow it to burn, every once in a while.
Inspired by this excursion, I am working on a few pieces about wildfires here in the West, which will likely reach your inboxes right in the middle of fire season… as if the smoky skies and daily reports won’t be enough of a reminder. But I aim to incorporate in my stories all that I’ve learnt: instead of treating fire as the enemy, let’s embrace it.
Yours sincerely,
Rhysea Agrawal, Newsroom Fellow
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TODAY IN THINGS YOU MUST READ
FAMILY NEWS!
- Our Editor-in-Chief Alex Ip was at INN Days in San Diego, while Rhysea was in New York City for the 2024 Health Journalism Conference! A special shoutout to our new friends at Open Vallejo, who recently revealed the death of Darryl Dean Mefferd, and delved into the science of "accidental deaths".
- Alex will also be speaking at ComSciCon-Flagship 2024 at Boston! Please say hi if you're attending; more details will be shared as the program is finalized.
- Ever wondered how Amazigh desert nomads in Morocco are reviving their music in the face of climate change-induced droughts? Look no further than this yes! Magazine feature by Friend of The Xylom Marlowe Starling.
A SOUTHERN FLAIR
- The Current has a living Q&A document about water use in the Savannah, Georgia area. Email reporter Mary Landers to get your questions answered!
- Here's a climate crisis story from an unlikely source: For AARP, Craig Welch looks into the dilemma of Floridian retirees who are having their homes and life savings wiped out by rising seas — part of an increasingly worrying nationwide trend.
- A group of Cary, N.C. high schoolers have bought up an abandoned oil well in order to stop it from further emitting methane. In late May, workers began the process of plugging the well! Read more about this success story on The New York Times.
- Residents along Corpus Christi Bay are fearful of how proposed desalination plants that prop up the oil and gas industry could be the last straw that irreversably damages their communities (Note from Alex: this hits very close to my thesis reporting at the Coastal Bend!) Great reporting by Aina Marzia for Al Jazeera.
WHAT ELSE WE'RE READING
- ProPublica published an explainer summarizing the findings of their investigation into how a Microsoft whistleblower was ignored and rebuffed for years until Russian hackers took advantage of a software flaw to conduct one of the most wide-ranging cyberattacks in U.S. history.
- In Canada, The Breach raises concerns of how blood plasma products can be sold abroad for profit by the Spanish pharma giant Grifols.
- The Chronicle for Higher Education's Stephanie M. Lee has a an eyebrow-raising profile of Joan Donovan, a misinformation expert whose account of the events leading to her departure from Harvard is now raising questions. (soft paywall)
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