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August 5, 2014 (San Diego)—The Chaparral Institute, a San Diego-based environmental organization, has issued a press release revealing that a CBS affiliate in Sacramento recycled a sensationalized 2013 Associated Press news article this week with a new headline that reads, “1 Year Later, Scientists Find Yosemite Rim Fire Left Behind a Sierra Moonscape.” The story suggested that “everything is dead” – a point disputed by the Chaparral institute.
The US Forest Service, scientists, and environmental groups called for the article to be withdrawn immediately.
Robert Guy, Research Associate for the California Chaparral Institute, says Yosemite’s burned area is not a moonscape. He adds, “The post-fire environment within the Rim Fire area is exploding with new life. Conifer seedlings, shrubs, wildflowers, and a wonderful variety of birds and insects can be found nearly everywhere.” A photo documents the recovery.
John Heil, the Press Officer for the US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, asked CBS to remove the story from their website. He said the quotes from one of their researchers were, “taken out of context and misquoted/misrepresentation” of what was said to the Associated Press reporter over a year ago.
Commenting on the importance of the post-fire environment, ecologist Chad Hanson from the John Muir Project wrote, “…the post-fire habitat created by patches of high-intensity fire, known as ‘snag forest habitat,’ is one of the most ecologically important of all forest habitat types, and it supports levels of native biodiversity and wildlife abundance equal to or greater than unburned old-growth forest.”
While wildfires can convert native shrublands such as chaparral to weedlands if too frequent, fire in forests can also help restore habitat that many species depend upon.
CBS responded by modifying the title of the article and correcting the date, but has the public questioning the intentions of the so-called news source-- especially when a decision about a controversial “salvage” logging proposal for the Rim Fire area is about to be made.
For more on the Rim Fire, USFS plans to “salvage” log the area, and the value of burned forests, please visit our webpage:
http://www.
The corrected version of the AP/CBS article can be found at the link below. The previous dateline was August 3, 2014.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.
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