Today: Inside story of the Biscuit Fire controversy

The Huxley College Speaker Series at Western Washington University presents Daniel Donato of the U.S. Forest Service, who will give a lecture titled "Adventures in Science: Story of the Biscuit Fire Controversy" at 3 p.m. Oct. 9 in Communications Facility Room 125.

This presentation is free and open to the public.

The 2002 Biscuit Fire burned half of a national forest and was the largest fire in Oregon’s recorded history. The fire, and the plan for what to do in its wake, came to be the premiere icon of the larger socio-political debate over how to manage forests after wildfires. In the midst of this hot-button controversy, a research team from Oregon State University, led in the field by two graduate students (including Daniel Donato), had been conducting a broad study of post-fire ecology in the region. One portion of their findings made national headlines when it was published in the prestigious journal "Science" in 2006. Just as the champagne was being uncorked, an academic battle over the paper’s implications began and made even bigger headlines. The ensuing controversy generated dozens of media interviews, two congressional hearings, countless academic freedom discussions and a government investigation. In the end, the research received national awards. This is the story of the Biscuit Fire controversy as told from the inside—the themes raised, the lessons learned and the questions posed.

Daniel Donato is a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, in Hilo, Hawaii. A native Northwesterner, he conducted his undergraduate studies in Forest Ecosystem Science at the University of Washington, then earned a Ph.D. in Forest Science at Oregon State University.

During the past 10 years, he has lived and worked as a forest ecologist in nearly every western state, from Alaska to Arizona. When he is not hopping around the Pacific Islands for his current job, Donato pursues research interests in forest succession and disturbance ecology in the Pacific Northwest.

Anyone interested in these issues is encouraged to come and participate. The presentation will examine opportunities for addressing these issues and include a question-and-answer period. The speaker series is held by Western's Huxley College of the Environment to bring together the environmental studies/ science community and other interested members of the WWU and Bellingham communities. Speakers address topics of contemporary environmental concern in the region and the world.

For more information, please contact David Rossiter, Huxley College of the Environment, (360) 650-3603.