Base Camp: Peg Herring, Our Forests, Born of Fire and Rain

Activity Notes

M.L. Herring is an emerita professor of science communication at Oregon State University. Her work focuses on the public understanding of science, particularly the science that supports policy and management of public lands. She has published seven books, including "Bioregional Assessments: Science at the Crossroads of Management and Policy" (Island Press, 1999) that defined the era of landscape-scale, science-based investigations for developing environmental policy. Her newest book and winner of 2025 National Outdoor Book Award, "Born of Fire and Rain" (Yale University Press, 2024) takes readers deep into the Pacific temperate rainforest to glimpse what it means to be a forest on a rapidly changing planet. 

This temperate rainforest is among the most timber-productive in the world, and productivity has its costs. The region weathered relentless logging during the 20th century, until the threat of losing species prompted paradigm-shattering shifts in how federal forests are managed. After 30 years of the Northwest Forest Plan, federal forest management is changing again with consequences to our water supply, changing climate, species extinctions, risk of wildfire, and natural heritage. At this moment of rapid environmental change, it is important to understand the difference between a forest and a tree farm.