rockwrangler
09-07-2002, 08:47 AM
Fire in the Forest
Fire is a natural and vital component of most western forest ecosystems. In the dry forest types, such as ponderosa pine, fire was historically present as a frequent, low-intensity disturbance. Fire is necessary for the health of the forests, and the forests have evolved to depend on fires to clean out underbrush and maintain biological diversity. Dead trees serve as important wildlife habitat and contribute to the nutrient cycle, and patches of dead trees allow for forest succession. Even stand-replacing fires have historically occurred at some level in almost every forest type in the West. Unfortunately, the fires of this year and the past several years have been burning large areas with relatively high severity, as well as burning into communities.
Past Management
The vast majority of western dry forests are at risk of large, high-intensity fire because of the effects of management over the past 100 years. The primary factors that lead to the current forest conditions include logging large trees, fire suppression, and livestock grazing. Since the beginning of the 20th century all three of these factors have been present in our forests, and all continue today.
Logging operations have historically removed the largest trees. Unfortunately, large trees (especially ponderosa pine) are fairly well adapted to fire, and are able to withstand low-intensity fires. On the other hand, the young trees that replace the cut trees are relatively highly susceptible to fire, and serve as fire ladders, allowing the fire to reach up into the canopy of the forest.
Historically, low-intensity surface fires would burn regularly throughout the forest, killing many of the young, small, fire-susceptible trees. However, fire suppression efforts over the past century have been greatly successful, and have effectively removed fire as a thinning agent from most forests. Because of this, many small trees that would have been killed by fire have been allowed to survive, and currently fill many forests at high density. Besides being prone to fire, these small trees are present at such high densities that they are growing slowly due to the intense competition.
The relatively frequent and low-intensity surface fires that historically burned in many forests, were carried primarily by ground vegetation such as grasses. However, livestock grazing on our public lands has severely reduced the amount of grasses, and fires are now able to burn only when there is significant build up of woody debris, often leading to severe fires. Furthermore, by shading the ground, grasses would suppress the growth of tree seedlings at the youngest stages. With grasses reduced or cropped short by livestock, tree seedlings are much more likely to survive, growing at extremely high densities, and extending into meadows and grasslands.
These factors are mentioned here not for the purposes of placing blame, because it is impossible to undo the damage done to our forests over the past 100 years. However, it is important to acknowledge the causes of the problem so that we may work to remove these factors entirely from our public lands. We can not protect and restore our forests, unless we stop the activities that continue to degrade them.
Protecting and Restoring
The Center for Biological Diversity has three main goals for dealing with fire in our forests:
1) To provide wildland-urban interface communities with protection from the threat of forest fire.
2) To reduce the severity of forest fires within the forest, and reintroduce fire as a natural component of the ecosystem.
3) To set the forest on a trajectory toward recovery by reintroducing and enhancing the range of natural forest ecosystem processes.
Fortunately, there is significant overlap among these three goals and the methods required to achieve them. Also, these goals can be obtained with a minimum of controversy and delay.
Priorities
Our highest priorities include protecting lives and houses in the communities that are currently at risk from forest fires (more information). At the same time, it is critical to protect areas of special concern, such as municipal reservoirs, and habitat for sensitive species. Once those efforts are under way, the greater long-term task of restoring the forest at large must begin.
Small Trees
All of the methods used to achieve these goals must focus on reducing the number of small trees, and protecting the remaining large trees. Small trees make up the greatest portion of the trees in the forest, and comprise the vast majority of the fires risk to communities and the forest. In the Southwest, approximately 90% of the trees in the forest are smaller than 12 inches in diameter.
Forest Restoration
Work within the wildland forest (away from communities) has two main objectives: 1) to mitigate the immediate fire threat to the forest, and 2) to restore the forest ecosystem so that natural processes, such as fire, may be reintroduced at the landscape scale and over the long-term.
The Natural Processes Restoration approach proposes a conservative approach to restoration, implementing treatments that preserve the greatest amount of the present biological diversity while restoring ecosystem integrity. Treatments include fuels reduction to protect the forest from stand-replacing, high-intensity forest fires while it is recovering and developing natural ecosystem processes.
These guidelines attempt to set in motion the processes to allow the forest to recover from ecological degradation. The Natural Processes Restoration approach has been developed by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Southwest Forest Alliance, and so far has been implemented in experimental plots on the Gila and Kaibab National Forests in New Mexico and Arizona.
Specific goals of the Natural Processes Restoration Approach include:
Restoring the ecological integrity of the forest, including the full complement of composition, structure, and function.
Increasing ecosystem resilience to disturbance events, including fire, drought, insect infestation, and climate change.
Restoring the natural distribution of tree ages, sizes, and spatial structures.
Reducing the potential for large, high-intensity crown fires.
Encouraging the development of a diverse understory community.
Enhancing habitat for imperiled and sensitive species.
Decreasing excessive tree competition to protect and invigorate old growth trees and encourage the development of old growth structure.
Minimizing the risks and negative effects of forest restoration.
The end result is a forest with a diversity of structure at multiple scales. Such treatments will increase the diversity of the forest while increasing its ability to sustain a frequent fire regime.
Thinning efforts should focus entirely on the small trees that make up the vast majority of the fire risk in the forest. Approximately 90% of the trees in the Southwest are smaller than 12 inches in diameter. Large and old trees are relatively fire-resistant, and are extremely rare after 100 years of logging in the forests. For these reasons, it is important to protect and preserve the large trees that are largely deficient in the forest, and remove much of the small trees that are found in high densities. At the same time, it is critical to remove the factors that have lead to the degradation of the forest ecosystems, such as logging large trees, livestock grazing, and fire suppression. It is impossible to protect and restore our forests unless we stop the activities that continue to degrade them.
These factors are mentioned here not for the purposes of placing blame,
I CALL BULL SHIT ON THIS!!! Thay are just trying to get out of the spot light that has been placed apon them for all the preventive fire work that thay have stoped by law suites and other means!!!
Most of the things listed here to help stop or reduce fires have been stoped by there law suits and injunctions, when ever the
forest service trys to do this work.
We have tryed forest managment there way and look whats happened our forest's are burning down! Even the old growth trees are burnning and nothing is left .
We need to support the up comming bills for better forest managment !
Fire is a natural and vital component of most western forest ecosystems. In the dry forest types, such as ponderosa pine, fire was historically present as a frequent, low-intensity disturbance. Fire is necessary for the health of the forests, and the forests have evolved to depend on fires to clean out underbrush and maintain biological diversity. Dead trees serve as important wildlife habitat and contribute to the nutrient cycle, and patches of dead trees allow for forest succession. Even stand-replacing fires have historically occurred at some level in almost every forest type in the West. Unfortunately, the fires of this year and the past several years have been burning large areas with relatively high severity, as well as burning into communities.
Past Management
The vast majority of western dry forests are at risk of large, high-intensity fire because of the effects of management over the past 100 years. The primary factors that lead to the current forest conditions include logging large trees, fire suppression, and livestock grazing. Since the beginning of the 20th century all three of these factors have been present in our forests, and all continue today.
Logging operations have historically removed the largest trees. Unfortunately, large trees (especially ponderosa pine) are fairly well adapted to fire, and are able to withstand low-intensity fires. On the other hand, the young trees that replace the cut trees are relatively highly susceptible to fire, and serve as fire ladders, allowing the fire to reach up into the canopy of the forest.
Historically, low-intensity surface fires would burn regularly throughout the forest, killing many of the young, small, fire-susceptible trees. However, fire suppression efforts over the past century have been greatly successful, and have effectively removed fire as a thinning agent from most forests. Because of this, many small trees that would have been killed by fire have been allowed to survive, and currently fill many forests at high density. Besides being prone to fire, these small trees are present at such high densities that they are growing slowly due to the intense competition.
The relatively frequent and low-intensity surface fires that historically burned in many forests, were carried primarily by ground vegetation such as grasses. However, livestock grazing on our public lands has severely reduced the amount of grasses, and fires are now able to burn only when there is significant build up of woody debris, often leading to severe fires. Furthermore, by shading the ground, grasses would suppress the growth of tree seedlings at the youngest stages. With grasses reduced or cropped short by livestock, tree seedlings are much more likely to survive, growing at extremely high densities, and extending into meadows and grasslands.
These factors are mentioned here not for the purposes of placing blame, because it is impossible to undo the damage done to our forests over the past 100 years. However, it is important to acknowledge the causes of the problem so that we may work to remove these factors entirely from our public lands. We can not protect and restore our forests, unless we stop the activities that continue to degrade them.
Protecting and Restoring
The Center for Biological Diversity has three main goals for dealing with fire in our forests:
1) To provide wildland-urban interface communities with protection from the threat of forest fire.
2) To reduce the severity of forest fires within the forest, and reintroduce fire as a natural component of the ecosystem.
3) To set the forest on a trajectory toward recovery by reintroducing and enhancing the range of natural forest ecosystem processes.
Fortunately, there is significant overlap among these three goals and the methods required to achieve them. Also, these goals can be obtained with a minimum of controversy and delay.
Priorities
Our highest priorities include protecting lives and houses in the communities that are currently at risk from forest fires (more information). At the same time, it is critical to protect areas of special concern, such as municipal reservoirs, and habitat for sensitive species. Once those efforts are under way, the greater long-term task of restoring the forest at large must begin.
Small Trees
All of the methods used to achieve these goals must focus on reducing the number of small trees, and protecting the remaining large trees. Small trees make up the greatest portion of the trees in the forest, and comprise the vast majority of the fires risk to communities and the forest. In the Southwest, approximately 90% of the trees in the forest are smaller than 12 inches in diameter.
Forest Restoration
Work within the wildland forest (away from communities) has two main objectives: 1) to mitigate the immediate fire threat to the forest, and 2) to restore the forest ecosystem so that natural processes, such as fire, may be reintroduced at the landscape scale and over the long-term.
The Natural Processes Restoration approach proposes a conservative approach to restoration, implementing treatments that preserve the greatest amount of the present biological diversity while restoring ecosystem integrity. Treatments include fuels reduction to protect the forest from stand-replacing, high-intensity forest fires while it is recovering and developing natural ecosystem processes.
These guidelines attempt to set in motion the processes to allow the forest to recover from ecological degradation. The Natural Processes Restoration approach has been developed by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Southwest Forest Alliance, and so far has been implemented in experimental plots on the Gila and Kaibab National Forests in New Mexico and Arizona.
Specific goals of the Natural Processes Restoration Approach include:
Restoring the ecological integrity of the forest, including the full complement of composition, structure, and function.
Increasing ecosystem resilience to disturbance events, including fire, drought, insect infestation, and climate change.
Restoring the natural distribution of tree ages, sizes, and spatial structures.
Reducing the potential for large, high-intensity crown fires.
Encouraging the development of a diverse understory community.
Enhancing habitat for imperiled and sensitive species.
Decreasing excessive tree competition to protect and invigorate old growth trees and encourage the development of old growth structure.
Minimizing the risks and negative effects of forest restoration.
The end result is a forest with a diversity of structure at multiple scales. Such treatments will increase the diversity of the forest while increasing its ability to sustain a frequent fire regime.
Thinning efforts should focus entirely on the small trees that make up the vast majority of the fire risk in the forest. Approximately 90% of the trees in the Southwest are smaller than 12 inches in diameter. Large and old trees are relatively fire-resistant, and are extremely rare after 100 years of logging in the forests. For these reasons, it is important to protect and preserve the large trees that are largely deficient in the forest, and remove much of the small trees that are found in high densities. At the same time, it is critical to remove the factors that have lead to the degradation of the forest ecosystems, such as logging large trees, livestock grazing, and fire suppression. It is impossible to protect and restore our forests unless we stop the activities that continue to degrade them.
These factors are mentioned here not for the purposes of placing blame,
I CALL BULL SHIT ON THIS!!! Thay are just trying to get out of the spot light that has been placed apon them for all the preventive fire work that thay have stoped by law suites and other means!!!
Most of the things listed here to help stop or reduce fires have been stoped by there law suits and injunctions, when ever the
forest service trys to do this work.
We have tryed forest managment there way and look whats happened our forest's are burning down! Even the old growth trees are burnning and nothing is left .
We need to support the up comming bills for better forest managment !