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Not sure the "tip of the iceberg" argument is correct. My understanding is that a large part of the problem is an excess of fuel on the forest floor. Indigenous
by mcdonje 3y ago
Not sure the "tip of the iceberg" argument is correct. My understanding is that a large part of the problem is an excess of fuel on the forest floor. Indigenous forest management would take care of that with controlled burns carried out when there is snow on the ground [1]. Once the fuel is burned up, there should be less fires because the rest of the wood is tied to living organisms.
So, while it is the tip of the iceberg numbers wise, the bulk of the rest should be more fire resistant than what has already burned.
Of course there is a caveat that the major uncontrolled burns have increased the susceptibility of living trees to being burned.
I think this is an important thing to know because it points to some different solutions, like more indigenous land management.
[1] - https://www.alieward.com/ologies/fireecologyencore https://www.alieward.com/ologies/fireecologyencore
- cmrdporcupine 3y agoThe principle of indigenous forestry management and controlled burns is great, but the bulk of the areas we're talking about that are burning this summer are in places where even pre-contact indigenous population density was extremely low. I don't think most Canadians, let alone people outside this country, actually understand what the north is like. We're talking tens of millions of acres of muskeg (peat bog), granite, mostly stunted spruce, lakes, lakes lakes, and mosquitoes, with few to no roads. In interior BC (where there are also fires this summer, as always), yes, I think indigenous fire keeping and forest floor management through controlled burns could be key.