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Daniel B. Botkin

Solving environmental problems by understanding how nature works

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Morph The Moose

April 15, 2013 By Daniel Botkin Leave a Comment

A New Symbol For Our Times!

Morph the Moose

As the summer wildfire season approaches, we need to rethink how we manage forest fires.  It is time to say goodbye to Smokey Bear, because suppressing all fires leads eventually to very large, intense, and disastrous fires.  Most forests in the United States used to burn relatively frequently before European settlement.  These were the result of natural lightning caused wildfires and also Native Americans, who understood the benefits of frequent light fires, also maintained these.

Under natural conditions, frequent light fires remove the excess fuel that has built up in a forest --- dead leaves, twigs, branches, trees. etc.  When a light fire occurs under these conditions, it does not destroy the mature, seed-bearing trees and does not damage the forest ecosystem.  It is relatively straightforward to control.  Prescribed burning, also call controlled burning, can be useful forest management tool, but it must be handled very carefully. See my new op-ed piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer, written with Certified Forester Bob Williams.

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20130415_Everyone__rural_or_urban__has_stake_in_forests.html

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Filed Under: Biological Diversity, Climate, Energy & Biodiversity, Morph the Moose

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From Daniel B. Botkin, Ph.D

Daniel Botkin
I believe we are mostly on the wrong track in the way we try to deal with the environment. Everything I do, study, learn, and advise about the environment is different from the status quo. Throughout my career, I have tried to understand how nature works and use that understanding to figure out how we can solve our most pressing environmental problems.

My process over the past 45 years has been to look carefully at the facts, make simple calculations from them (sometimes simple computer models) and then tell people what I have learned. It’s surprising how rarely people bother to look at the facts. This has surprised me every time I’ve started a new ecology research project or work on an environmental issue.

In the course of my work and studies, I have learned many things and I want to tell you about them. That is the purpose of this website.

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Books by Dan Botkin

The Moon in the Nautilus Shell  Strange Encounters
Powering the Future  No Man's Garden
See all books by Dan Botkin

Jabowa III Forest Model


Jabowa Forest Model
Jabowa Forest Model for Windows 7.
This forest model, used around the world, was developed first in 1970 by Daniel B. Botkin, James F. Janak and James R. Wallis

JABOWA remains the most completely detailed and well validated forest growth model available, accounting for 95% or more of the variation in real forests where it has been tested.

The book Forest Dynamics: An Ecological Model (available as an eBook) provides a complete description of the model and the rationales behind its development.

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Sea Ice Study

The Bockstoce and Botkin Historical Sea Ice Data Study has a new home at the University of Alaska website. The data include more than 52,000 daily observations in an unbroken 65 year record from 1849 – 1914.

See related papers

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