2 Commentary
The
Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006
Clackamas
Of politics and academic freedorr
Free exchange of ideas is essential to modern society - recen
moves to silence grad student unprecedented, indefensible
violated federal law as well as the
terms of the research grant by try
ing to influence pending legislation
on salvage logging. The BLM also
TTte Clackamas Print
claimed that Donato’s research team
had not consulted them before sub
At the turn of the year, Daniel mitting the study and the report did
Donato was submitting his research not include a disclaimer saying that
report to the prestigious journal the findings were not necessarily the
Science. Less than two months later views of the government.
The BLM’s actions kicked the con
he was in the center of a national
controversy regarding OSU’s funding troversy up anew and turned what had
practices and the US Bureau of Land been an already shady in-house aca-
Management’s impartiality regarding demic battle into an issue of
governmental censorship. It
controversial research.
Over the last few years Donato led was seen by many as another
a project under the auspices of Oregon in a series of attempts by
State University’s College of Forestry officials to suppress scien
which examined the impact of post tific conclusions running con
fire logging in the Biscuit wildfire site trary to Bush administration
in southwestern Oregon. After com policies. With a long history of
piling data from sites that had been disputing scientific findings on
logged and sites that hadn’t his team controversial subjects such as
reached the rather controversial con global warming and oil prospect
clusion that post-fire logging might be ing, it’s easy to see why some
detrimental to the recovery of burned academics and civil libertarians
are skittish about the subject
forest land.
The one-page report concludes that of governmental interference in
research,
par-
salvage logging two
ticularly
from
years after the Biscuit
the
~
Executive
wildfire set back the
Branch.
recovery of the forest
“This is one
This is one of
and increased, rath
of those stickf
those sticky political
er than reduced, the
political
wickets from which no
amount of dry fuel on
one comes away clean,
the ground. This runs
wickets from
and the Bureau of Land
counter to a report pub
which
no
one
Management may come
lished earlier by two
out dirtiest of all. The
OSU professors that
comes away
suggested aggressive
BLM swears up and
clean,
and
logging and replanting
down that the suspen
the Bureau
as a means to restore
sion of funds was not
burned forests such as
politically motivated.
of Land
those devastated by
However, the abrupt
Managment
the Biscuit fire, The
ness of their response,
professors’ report was
coupled with previ
may come out
embraced by the US
ous attempts by the
dirtiest
of
all.
”
Forest Service and
Bush administra
the Bush administra-
----
tion to bury science
tion, which promptly
that doesn’t agree
expanded their logging
with their politics,
plans for the Biscuit burn.
makes the move appear to most
When the professors learned of scientists as punishment for not
Donato’s report in mid-January, they toeing the President’s line." The sus
led a contingent of their colleagues pension of the funding after contro
at OSU’s College of Forestry in writ versial findings is without precedent,
ing the editors of Science asking that and though the funding was quickly
the journal delay publication of the restored and losses accrued during
report. After subjecting the findings the suspension will be covered, much
to independent peer-review, Science damage has been done.
opted to publish the report despite the
Donato’s research team may appear
professors’ objections.
the David of this particular moral
The January blow-up raised ques tale, but the report as published in
tions about whether the College of Science has generalities of the
Forestry’s funding constituted a con sort that invite criticism.
flict of interests. The school revives The data was collect
roughly 10 percent of its funding from ed over a period of
logging industry taxes. An opinion about two years - a
piece in The Oregonian called for span that many
OSU officials to examine their funding say is too short
practices and take steps to maintain a time to collect .
the school’s credibility. Lawmakers conclusive evi
assured the »public that investigations dence, Also,
would be made.
the
report
After that the controversy appeared draws broad
to be dying down. Then, as is often the conclusions
case, the federal government stepped based on data
in and made matters worse.
collected
It seems that Donato’s research at only one
project was in large measure funded by burn site,
grants distributed by the BLM as part which may
of a federal Joint Fire Science program. or may not
The BLM puHed the research project’s be repre
funding, claiming that Donato’s report sentative of *
Laura Jameron
E. E. lost
The
Clackamas Print
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The C lackamas Print is a weekly
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finals week.
all.
The OSU College of Forestry and
the professors who attempted to block
the findings come out of this looking
partial to the logging industry, and
will be fighting to regain credibility
for a long time to come. While the
report has its flaws it is still worthy
of debate in the scientific community.
Without the freedom to exchange ideas
and hypotheses in an open forum the
whole system of university education
and research becomes a cruel joke,
with yes-men professors
as the punch
The faculty involved in the scan
should have known better.
It might very well be that the in
ing suspension was based entif
on miscommunication and oversigl
but the perception remains that'
BLM and OSU acted shamefully!
suppress scientific research. If
distributors of research grants and
faculty of universities send the nj
sage to researchers to agree orl
then progress in our understanding
the world will only be hurt.
1
In that we all lose.
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