Dr. Thomas Bonnicksen - Open Letter to the Media
We are sending you this letter as a concerned group of forest scientists and/or fire resource managers at major research universities. We feel compelled to write to you in response to the many letters, opinion articles, and commentaries that Dr. Thomas Bonnicksen has been sending to newspapers across the United States. Most of us have served on federal and state committees reviewing the fire management policies of the
National Park Service and other agencies, and we all maintain active research programs. We feel very strongly that not only do the views and statements of Dr. Bonnicksen fall far outside the mainstream of scientific opinion, but more importantly that Dr. Bonnicksen has misrepresented himself and his qualifications to speak to these issues.
These misrepresentations include:
University Affiliation: In all of his contacts with the media over the past several years, Dr. Bonnicksen has in part justified his credibility by identifying himself as Visiting Professor at University of California Davis. This is false. Dr. Bonnicksen does not now, nor has he ever had, an appointment at UC Davis. The University of California has now sent Dr. Bonnicksen a "cease and desist" letter demanding that he not use their name.
We find this misrepresentation extremely troubling, particularly to those of us on the faculty of the University of California.
Credibility: Dr. Bonnicksen introduces himself, as do his supporters, as one of the leading national experts on such topics as forest management, fire ecology, and forest history. In fact, there is nothing in his academic record of research or experience to justify such a characterization. By any major university standard of achievement, his academic record is weak, consisting largely of letters to the editor and oped articles. This is not a record that would achieve tenure at a major research university.
Dr. Bonnicksen's unusual theories of forest structure and stability, expressed many years ago were never widely accepted. The state of scientific and empirical knowledge regarding the fire ecology and management of these forests has grown exponentially since Dr. Bonnicksen collected his data three decades ago. Today we have a comprehensive and sophisticated picture of forest structure and fire ecology that has been measured, validated and published by members of the academic community,
the National Park Service, and the United States Geological Survey. In simple terms, there is no serious scientific support for Dr. Bonnicksen's ideas of forest management.
As academic researchers, we welcome increased public understanding of scientific issues and an open discourse representing a diversity of credible views. However, we feel very strongly that Dr. Bonnicksen's views and misrepresentations of factual material, as well as his academic credentials, should be labeled for the political views that they are and not presented as serious science. The opinions he presents are contradicted by all prevailing scientific data. We ask that you consider these issues of credibility before publishing his oped articles and commentaries in the future, but of course these decisions are yours to make.
With all respect,
Philip W. Rundel
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of California, Los Angeles
Michael F. Allen
Director of the Center for Conservation Biology
Professor of Plant Pathology and Biology
University of California, Riverside
Norman L. Christensen, Jr.
Founding Dean and Professor of Ecology
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Duke University
Jon E. Keeley
Adjunct Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of California, Los Angeles
************************************
Philip W. Rundel
Professor of Biology
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of California (UCLA)
Los Angeles CA 90095
tel: 310 825-4072, 825-8777
fax: 310 825-9433
rundel@biology.ucla.edu
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posted by Agata @ 10:41 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
When Dr. Tom Bonnicksen, a respected professor of forestry for 30 years, expresses his ideas on forest management, what happens?
Recently, three professors with different views from Dr. Tom Bonnicksen have gone on an all-out effort to discredit his life's work. They issued an open letter to the media filled with falsehoods.
Dr. Bonnicksen is a professor emeritus of forestry at Texas A&M University, where he was granted tenure. He is the author of the 2000 book, America's Ancient Forests: From the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery, (John Wiley, 594 p.). He is an advocate of restoration forestry -- essentially restoring our forests to their historic state. He believes that forests need to be thinned, particularly on federal lands where a lack of management has left as many as ten times the number of trees than historically grew there. The result of not thinning is plain: catastrophic wildfires fueled by trees in overcrowded forests that are weakened by a lack of nutrients and water.
Ten professors -- from universities throughout the country -- have expressed their outrage at this effort to discredit Dr. Bonnicksen's contribution to the important debate on forest management.
A press release about the letter is below.
In addition to his views, Dr. Bonnicksen's ideological opponents are misrepresenting a mistake made by UC Davis and trying to use it to question his integrity. In 2004, a UC Davis Department Chair and a professor offered Dr. Bonnicksen a visiting professorship, which he accepted. The university itself promoted Dr. Bonnicksen in press releases, offering him as an expert to the media.
Unfortunately, the university recently discovered that the proper approvals for that position weren't completed and apologized to Dr. Bonnicksen for the mistake.
His opponents, now, are using the university's mistake to say that Dr. Bonnicksen misrepresented himself as a UC Davis professor. He did not. He had every reason to believe all approvals had been secured. When he became aware of the university's mistake, he stopped using the title.
A small group of people is trying to derail an honest debate over forest management.
Regards,
Kathleen Kahrl
The Forest Foundation
LEADING PROFESSORS OF FORESTRY SUPPORT FELLOW SCHOLAR TOM BONNICKSEN; DECRY ATTACK ON DISTINGUISHED ACADEMIC
Professors from Yale, UC Berkeley, Humboldt State and Other Universities
Oppose Effort to Stifle Debate About Proper Forest Management
AUBURN, Calif., Oct. 30, 2006 - Ten distinguished professors from across the United States have issued an open letter to the media supporting Texas A&M University Professor Emeritus Thomas Bonnicksen and criticizing three professors with differing views for trying to stifle the debate over forest management.
"Their attack is a violation of professional standards of conduct in science: the free exchange of ideas and collegiality among scholars," the professors say in an open letter to the media. "We adamantly oppose any effort to stifle his contribution to the debate on proper management of our nation's forests."
The professors are from Yale University, University of California, Berkeley, Humboldt State University, Clemson University and the universities of Minnesota, Tennessee and the University of Washington. They say they are appalled at an open letter to the media published recently by three professors and an adjunct faculty member that attacked Dr. Bonnicksen.
The professors note that Dr. Bonnicksen's research in forest science spans decades and has been published widely in peer-reviewed scientific journals, reports and books. His 2000 book, America's Ancient Forests: From the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery, (John Wiley, 594 p.) documents 18,000 years of forest history and has received many excellent book reviews.
The open letter to the media issued by ideological opponents of Dr. Bonnicksen also claimed that Dr. Bonnicksen misrepresented himself as a visiting professor at the University of California Davis.
In fact, Dr. Bonnicksen was offered a visiting professorship at the university and a UC-Davis department chair has apologized to Dr. Bonnicksen for the university's mishandling of that offer.
"I have accepted the university's apology," Dr. Bonnicksen said. "However, it is reprehensible that academics anywhere would use a university's mistake to try to discredit me or any other academic involved in the important debate over our forests. This is an assault on academic freedom."
UC Davis Professor Michael Barbour, with concurrence of Department Chair Professor Heiner Lieth, offered Dr. Bonnicksen, a professor emeritus of forest science at Texas A&M University, a visiting professorship in March 2004. Dr. Bonnicksen accepted.
Subsequently, the university issued at least four official news bulletins touting Dr. Bonnicksen's affiliation with the university. The university issued official press releases on June 17, 2004 and June 17, 2005 offering Dr. Bonnicksen as an expert on wildfires, calling him a visiting professor and urging the media to use him as an expert source.
On at least two other occasions, the university highlighted news coverage of Dr. Bonnicksen and his affiliation with UC Davis on the university's official website.
Dr. Bonnicksen added the UC Davis visiting professor title in his biography and notations in his writings. Last month, despite its repeated promotion of Dr. Bonnicksen as a visiting professor, the university notified Dr. Bonnicksen that the university had never processed the paperwork necessary for him to have that position.
"As chair of the department I have to apologize for the incorrect information Professor Barbour provided you in his email regarding the use of the Visiting Professor title," wrote Chris Van Kessel, Chair of the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis. "Reading Professor Barbour's email, I fully understand why you used the title."
Unfortunately, three professors and one adjunct faculty member who are not affiliated with UC-Davis and disagree with Dr. Bonnicksen's views on forestry have alleged that Dr. Bonnicksen misrepresented himself - when in fact it was an error by UC Davis representatives that created the confusion.
Dr. Bonnicksen called the letter trying to discredit him "not only an assault on my academic freedom but a misrepresentation of a lifetime of professional work that has focused on restoring health to our overcrowded forests."
"My work has focused on the history of our forests and restoring them to their historic beauty and grandeur," Dr. Bonnicksen said. "At the same time I understand as should everyone that when you have 10 times more trees than is natural in a forest many of those trees have to be removed to make it healthy and diverse, and to prevent the catastrophic wildfires that are destroying lives, property, wildlife, and our forests. Harvesting selected trees is the only way we can restore our overcrowded forests to a more natural state. Prescribed fire is also a useful tool in some cases if the forest is thinned first. We can't do this important work without the expertise of professional foresters."
Dr. Bonnicksen currently works as a visiting scholar with The Forest Foundation, a non-profit organization that strives to foster public understanding of the role forests play in the environmental and economic health of the state, including the necessity of managing a portion of California's private and public forests to provide wood products for a growing population.
As a lifelong scientist and educator, he has met with community leaders around the state and worked closely with officials in San Bernardino County and San Diego County both before and after the devastating 2003 wildfires.
Dr. Bonnicksen earned B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in forestry from the University of California at Berkeley and served as Department Head at Texas A&M University before being granted emeritus status in forest science in 2004. His research in forest science spans several decades and has been published widely in peer-reviewed scientific journals, technical reports, books, and other publications. He has assisted community leaders throughout California in using science to understand forestry issues and resolve those
issues.
October 2006
Letter to the Media:
We are appalled at the attack on Dr. Thomas Bonnicksen by four individuals who are attempting to silence debate. Their attack is a violation of professional standards of conduct in science: the free exchange of ideas and collegiality among scholars.
Dr. Bonnicksen earned a Ph.D. in forest policy from the University of California at Berkeley and served as Department Head at Texas A&M University before being granted emeritus status in forest science in 2004. His research in forest science spans decades and has been published widely in peer-reviewed scientific journals, reports and books. His 2000 book, America's Ancient Forests: From the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery, documents 18,000 years of forest history and has received many excellent book reviews. He has assisted community leaders throughout California using science in understanding forestry issues and addressing those issues.
While we may agree or disagree with Dr. Bonnicksen's views on any particular issue, we adamantly oppose any effort to stifle his contribution to the debate on proper management of our nation's forests.
Sincerely,
Robert Becker, Ph.D.
Professor & Director
Strom Thurmond Institute of Government & Public Affairs
Clemson University
James Bowyer, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Dept. of Bio Products & Bio Systems Engineering
University of Minnesota
Director Responsible Materials Program
Dovetail Partners, Inc.
John Helms, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy & Management-Ecosystem Science
UC Berkeley
Robert G. Lee, Ph.D.
Professor
College of Forest Resources, AR-10
University of Washington
Bill Libby, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Forest Genetics
Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy & Management
College of Natural Resources
UC Berkeley
William McKillop, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Forest Economics
Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy & Management
College of Natural Resources
UC Berkeley
Chadwick Dearing Oliver, Ph.D.
Pinchot Professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and
Director, Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
Yale University
Scott E. Schlarbaum, Ph.D.
James R. Cox Professor of Forest Genetics
Department of Forestry, Wildlife & Fisheries
Institute of Agriculture
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
John Stuart, Ph.D.
Professor of Dendrology and Fire Ecology
Department of Forestry & Watershed Management
California State University, Humboldt
Gene Wood, Ph.D.
Professor of Wildlife Ecology/Conservation
Dept. of Forestry & Natural Resources
Clemson University
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