Blog -Workin’ It

I’ll be off until January 6. Just a few year-end notes.

Thanks to everyone who makes The Smokey Wire what it is, and what it has been over the last ten years. The Contributors, of course, who give of their own time to post here. And of course those people who offer or are harassed into providing guest posts. And each person who comments- without discussion and learning from different experiences, we wouldn’t get the whole picture. Last but definitely not least are those who contribute financially, we definitely would not be able to keep going without you!

Next year, plans are to make TSW a 501c3 so your donations will be tax-deductible. We’ll also have a few new features:(1) The Climate Science Voyage of Discovery, where we talk about the science as well as relevant context from philosophy, history and sociology of science and (2) Why We Disagree About Forest Carbon.

Then there’s an election coming up, so we can look at different public lands and forest proposals by different candidates (in a safe and respectful manner). Then there’s the NEPA regulation that should be finalized, and much drama associated with the Alaska Roadless Rule. I’m looking forward to it.

One more thing- I know that I am a bit like a crow going after a new shiny object when a new topic comes up. So if there is a topic or idea I said I’d get back to and you would like to hear more, please email me.

And, of course, please keep us in mind for end-of-the year donations! Every little bit helps, and we only have individual people funding us, no organizations. So the biases you see are our own. No dark money here.

I wish the blessings of the season, light, peace, hope and joy to all of you, and will see you back here next year.

I’ve gotten several emails in my box today requesting donations for other deserving organizations. This is just a note to remind you that The Smokey Wire needs donations as well, for the upkeep of our site, as well as any improvements we would want to make.

The Smokey Wire is a place for: 1) Asking questions and learning from a variety of folks with different backgrounds and experiences.

2 ) Discussing disagreements civilly, with the intent of mutual understanding.

3) Trying to figure out the truth or truths from scientific studies and news stories.

4) Networking with knowledgeable people for your own work.

As in the NYT article shared by Som Sai:

“As Erika Hall pointed out, we have centuries of experience designing real-life spaces where people gather safely. After the social media age is over, we’ll have the opportunity to rebuild our damaged public sphere by creating digital public places that imitate actual town halls, concert venues and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks. These are places where people can socialize or debate with a large community, but they can do it anonymously. If they want to, they can just be faces in the crowd, not data streams loaded with personal information.

That’s because in real life, we have more control over who will come into our private lives, and who will learn intimate details about us. We seek out information, rather than having it jammed into our faces without context or consent. Slow, human-curated media would be a better reflection of how in-person communication works in a functioning democratic society.”

In our own humble way, we are contributing to knowledge about forests from a diversity of perspectives, and modeling civil digital public places.

Note: currently donations are not tax deductible. We hope to change that next year.

Many of you have probably seen this Rolling Stone story on Russian trolls.  It’s an interesting read.

Of course, the purpose of The Smokey Wire has always been quite the opposite of sowing divisions- it’s all about helping understand each other and learning from each other.

But what struck me about this article is that it says:

Russia’s goals are to further widen existing divisions in the American public and decrease our faith and trust in institutions that help maintain a strong democracy. If we focus only on the past or future, we will not be prepared for the present. It’s not about election 2016 or 2020…

Rather, the IRA encourages us to vilify our neighbor and amplify our differences because, if we grow incapable of compromising, there can be no meaningful democracy. Russia has dug in for a long campaign. So far, we’re helping them win.

It almost sounds like it would be OK to vilify and amplify differences (V&AD) if someone had more noble objectives. I can’t think, though, of what those might be. Since our own political parties are the champions of vilifying and amplifying, the whole thing befuzzles my brain (are both parties Russian fronts?). Or interest groups or…just random real people on Twitter? Can we imagine an answer to  “It’s OK to say mean things about people because ……”. And fill in the blank.  Not “I disagree with or fear the effects of policies” but “those people are ignorant and/or malevolent and/or unethical and/or not “real” Christian, Democrats, feminists, environmentalists, climate scientists or whatever.”

In a free society, we must accept that bad actors will try to take advantage of our openness. But we need to learn to question our own and others’ biases on social media. We need to teach — to individuals of all ages — that we shouldn’t simply believe or repost anonymous users because they used the same hashtag we did, and neither should we accuse them of being a Russian bot simply because we disagree with their perspective. We need to teach digital civility. It will not only weaken foreign efforts, but it will also help us better engage online with our neighbors, especially the ones we disagree with.

I’m not sure “teaching” will help, as long as incivility is rewarded with clicks and $. Here’s an interesting book that talks about some of the motivations, called “Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now” by Jaron Lanier.

Not that TSW is anywhere near perfect, but we try to provide a safe environment for discussion. I’d like to thank all the people who approve posts, and people who call others out on their behavior, as well as those people who are civil. Whatever success we have in the anti- V&AD campaign we owe to you all. If you have ideas as to how we could improve, please make suggestions below.  Election seasons make for prime troll habitat, and one is coming up next year.

As part of our tenth anniversary celebration, from now (the actual anniversary) for the next month, we are going to feature NCFP/TSW faves. Anyone can submit one and email me. All I ask is that you submit the link to the post, why it is your fave (or one of them), and why you think it’s still relevant today.

In Google, you can search a website like this site:forestpolicypub.com.

So, say you remember a post with Leiberg as a topic or possibly Leiburg (as it turns out I may have spelled his name wrong). Just Google using “leiberg” site:forestpolicypub.com. Or “Andy Stahl” (who wrote my personal favorite post of all time) or ….

So if you remember one that’s your fave, tell us why and email it to me, and I’ll repost. I’m also interested in other ideas for our anniversary celebration.

Here’s our original post from November 11, 2009:

The University of Montana’s College of Forestry and Conservation and the Forest Service are initiating a blog focused on the new forest planning rule. Our goal is to solicit broad participation from a cross-section of interests in a respectful atmosphere of mutual learning.  We seek to hear from academics of all stripes, scientists, practitioners of planning and other past, current and future agency employees , lawyers, members of interest groups, and members of the public who will be working with local forest plans.

We believe that ideas will be stronger and choices clearer if developed through such a multidisciplinary, multi-perspective dialogue. 

The blog is administered by Sharon Friedman (USFS) and Martin Nie (University of Montana).

It’s fall again in the Rocky Mountain National Forests. Just today I’ve seen (many) hunter camps of multiple RV’s, wall tents, and 4-wheelers. I’ve seen people on horseback rounding up cattle to take them to their winter pasture, and watched a log processor delimbing and stacking logs from a roadside hazard tree project.

People are bringing home elk, deer, firewood, and experiences of hiking, biking, fishing, hunting horseback riding and ATV-ing, as well as driving and leaf-peeping. Plus there’s some prescribed burning going on and wildland fire use, as in the photo above. It seems like it shouldn’t all work, but somehow it (mostly) does.

I’m here experiencing all this, and will be back to The Smokey Wire Sept. 30.

Yesterday we changed over to a new theme which is current (!) and supports the update of WordPress (!) and for contributors, I set it up so that you can enter your posts in Gutenberg, even though the Classic Editor is the default.  I’m interested in any problems or feedback. Some can be fixed, but others will probably have to wait for 3.0 (see donation button to the right).

1. We need it! Our website needs an overhaul- the first in nine years and the first ever done by a professional. Your donation makes a difference here in a way that it might not for a larger organization. We are committed to no advertising, and free access and so we depend on you. We’ve budgeted $3,000 based on several bids. So far, we have probably received less than $100 total each year, which doesn’t even cover the basic maintenance costs. Nevertheless, those folks who have donated are greatly appreciated!

2. This is the first year of the new tax law. You might not be itemizing deductions because of the higher standard deduction, and if you don’t itemize, then you might as well donate to us (not tax deductible). While I’m posting this now because many people are planning their donations, since it isn’t tax deductible, you can donate anytime in the next few months.

3. Our mission and our unique way of going about it is increasingly important, as media outlets are bought by large corporations, journalists are laid off, news sources funded by partisan interests spring up, and local and regional outlets struggle to hang on. What we think about the world is at least partially based on our news sources. Right now we have major media corporations seeking their own interests (whatever those are) and then outlets supported by those with one view or another. We have well-orchestrated media campaigns funded by a variety of groups with positive desires to change our minds, and those by foreign governments with goals to drive us apart. It’s harder and harder to find a straight story that tells both sides of an issue. Not to speak of the issues that aren’t covered at all.. that drop through the cracks and yet are of interest to us who care about the National Forests and forests in general.

4. Our uniqueness makes it difficult to find external funding
I’ve been looking for a similar website as a template for our new design, but was unable to find anything like us. This is a place where a community with diverse views where news is tested in the crucible of knowledge and experience that we jointly share, so that we all learn from each other. And we provide a model for civil discussion. It’s not exactly collaborative journalism, nor citizen journalism, nor exactly anything that others have defined. Our uniqueness also makes it difficult to seek funding, as we don’t fit easily into many of today’s funding boxes. and even to apply for most we would have to become a 501c3 which would require funding and more ongoing work.

5. Once we’ve renovated, we can go back to low-cost maintenance This is a once every ten years kind of thing- once the website is renovated you won’t receive more requests or emails (like many not-for-profits). We can celebrate and then go about our normal business for the foreseeable future.

I’ll be posting a variety of different things as we play around with different names and website formats.  As this process goes forward, please add your comments to the tab above named NCFP Renewal Comments (between “Comment Policy” and “Contributors” above. It makes it easier for me to round them all up. Thanks!

Since we need to update the website, this is an opportunity to get all the things fixed that have been troubling us.
Here’s the list I came up with – others are welcome to add their own thoughts.

1. Theme that is supported and friendly with different devices (phones, tablets, computers) and compatible with WordPress 5.0 and our favorite plug-ins.
2. Easy to read (OK, especially for older people)
3. Better searches of content including comments
4. A digest function that works
5. Crowdfunding widget

Other thoughts or requests?