Biscuit Fire Publication Controversy - Political Involvement

Political Involvement

The incident, and its aftermath, have had significant repercussions in the forestry community, and has highlighted the political obstacles surrounding much of forestry science and research. Originally, when the letter came to light, the College of Forestry was subjected to heavy criticism from both within and outside for what many perceived as an unwarranted attack on academic freedom. Accusations of politically motivated bias have flown in both directions, and critics of the incident have noted that the College receives 10% of its funding from a tax on logging, and that many professors have ties with the Forest Service and the logging industry. Defenders of the college have noted that the vast majority of research in the college is funded by competitive grants and that collaboration with government agencies and relevant industries is common across the sciences. Hal Salwasser, the dean of the College of Forestry, eventually survived a vote of confidence and apologized for his part in the controversy, and reaffirmed OSU's support for academic freedom.

The letter's primary author, OSU forestry engineering professor John Sessions, has claimed that the paper's publication constitutes a failure of the peer review process, and that he would appeal the matter to the board of Science. Science editor-in-chief Donald Kennedy has stated, in a letter to The Oregonian, that it "would be foolish to argue that no consideration of the political extensions of this finding could have entered the decision" regarding publication; however, he believes that the paper would have "made it (to publication) on its own".