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Here in the U.S. west coast mountains some land owners started controlled fires on their property to get rid of the stacking fuel naturally while preserving the
by danrl 3y ago
Here in the U.S. west coast mountains some land owners started controlled fires on their property to get rid of the stacking fuel naturally while preserving the bound minerals and helping the large redwoods and sequoias to fend of contenders. I have no idea how they managed to get a permit in this area where officials and population ate crazily scared of these natural processes given that uncontrolled fires make the news every year.
Also, a second generation redwood forest looks very different from an undisturbed one I recently learned from a forest guy who walked with me. He was reading the forest like a book. Very impressive. Turns out, my forest is a second generation and I should maybe take down a few redwoods, something I considered morally wrong before the walkthrough.
- retrac 3y agoPrescribed burns (intentional, hopefully controlled, fires) are increasingly common in modern forestry and wildfire prevention. They're done in Canada and Australia, and from a quick search, it was brought back into practice in the 1990s in the USA. Parks Canada has an interesting FAQ about their practices: https://parks.canada.ca/nature/science/conservation/feu-fire/feuveg-fireveg/dirige-prescribed/faq https://parks.canada.ca/nature/science/conservation/feu-fire...
- prawn 3y agoIn South Australia, they're very much monitored and controlled. In the Northern Territory however, it is not uncommon in season to see fires burning beside the highway in a national park, and no one anywhere nearby monitoring them. Well, that is besides birds who hang around to nab fleeing insects and other creatures. Birds have been known to carry burning twigs elsewhere to spread the fire too. Coming from the former region and visiting the latter, it's quite jarring. But that (now called) mosaic burning has thousands of years of history. You can easily see how it advantaged the early occupants of the area: reduce overall fuel load, flush out animals to hunt, and clear annoying tall, dry grasses which would be miserable to live amongst and walk through.
- superchroma 3y agoIn Western Australia they are a racket. Land is burned for burning's sake as an area of required burning is defined and people rush to hit a quota. Studies are showing that land left untouched for years is actually less flammable than land in the medium turn after burn-off. Additionally, the effects on air quality cannot be discounted either. It is a politicized issue and people are terrified of being seen as not doing anything to combat bushfires that would otherwise threaten homes.
- mistrial9 3y agothis comment is useful to show how opposed various parties can be.. I have > forty recent, peer reviewed forestry sciencepapers on this topic here in California, where I share them with others who want to educate themselves on the topic.. here we share some characteristics with some parts of Australia regarding wildfires.. in recent years, the severity and scale of some fires have shattered previous records.
- canadianfella 3y ago[dead]
- iak8god 3y agoPrescribed burns are much more common in the southeastern US than in other areas: https://www.wabe.org/why-the-southeast-is-ahead-of-the-west-on-a-key-way-to-fight-wildfires/ https://www.wabe.org/why-the-southeast-is-ahead-of-the-west-...
- sakopov 3y agoControlled burns is a very old practice. So old, in fact, that Native American tribes have used it for centuries to prevent catastrophic wild fires in North America.
- downWidOutaFite 3y agoSupposedly. In my readings the evidence is thin on this oft-repeated claim.
- lukas099 3y agoVery interesting, could you point us to some further reading?
- cameldrv 3y agoStephen Pyne has written a few books about this [1] and given talks (this one is very good [2] [1] https://www.stephenpyne.com/works.htm https://www.stephenpyne.com/works.htm [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zP7MD2y7T8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zP7MD2y7T8
- lukas099 3y agoYour video [2] does not support the claim that the early Americans did not use prescribed fire. Discussion starts around 50:00.
- not2b 3y agoThe (US) National Park Service disagrees with you, so much so that in some places they hire native elders to help them with controlled burns. They call the practices "cultural burning". They were done for many purposes, over millenia. See https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fire/indigenous-fire-practices-shape-our-land.htm https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fire/indigenous-fire-practices-...
- downWidOutaFite 3y ago
- suzzer99 3y agoI'm not sure about redwoods, but tropical rainforests take something like 5,000-10,000 years to return to pristine old-growth state.
- odyssey7 3y agoThis makes me want to see designated areas for old-growth forests to re-establish, and yet there’s almost no chance that the people living in those areas 2000 years from now will have continuously held the same values and kept the project going.
- tomcam 3y agoCynic. I plan to prove you wrong. Day 1: Trees in backyard are fine. Sent a triumphant note to Odyssey7.
- wesleyd 3y agoMaybe the Chernobyl exclusion zone will become an old growth forest some day!
- graphe 3y agoThe idea of using nuclear waste to protect pristine natural environments is a good one. It's the most effective one we have today. After a few generations I heard animals aren't affected anymore, it also depends on the kind of fallout.
- Slevin11 3y ago
- jmspring 3y agoSometimes those landowners doing prescribed burns don't always do them in the best conditions. The Estrada Fire was near the Santa Cruz Mountains east of Watsonville. I've been to the property several times over the years and it has some beuatiful redwood groves including an albino redwood or two. Story - https://pajaronian.com/as-cal-fire-makes-progress-on-estrada-fire-questions-linger-about-burn/ https://pajaronian.com/as-cal-fire-makes-progress-on-estrada...
- dmoy 3y agoThe US West Coast lags way behind almost the entire rest of the US w.r.t using controlled burns to limit wildfire danger. California intentionally burns like only half of the area as Minnesota, despite being like twice as big. Arkansas, GA, SC, etc all burn like 5-10x what CA does, for prevention purposes. Growing up outside of the West and moving to the West later, I was shocked how little controlled burns there are here.
- burnte 3y ago> Arkansas, GA, SC, etc all burn like 5-10x what CA does, for prevention purposes. I live in ATL and just drove back home from being up north for thanksgiving, drove through a huge prescribed burn on the way a few days ago.
- MostlyStable 3y agoMy understanding is that California air pollution regulations make it incredibly difficult to burn. The fact that, if you don't do a controlled burn it will result in an much larger uncontrolled burn later is not taken into account by the regulations.
- civilitty 3y agoIt's a bit more complicated than that: the California Air Resources Board sets statewide rules but the permitting for prescribed burns and the final responsibility for air quality lies with the 35 air districts. They already have the power to ignore many air quality regulations when granting permits but their politics are all over the place and there's tons of locally driven NIMBYism that's more influential than it would be at the state level. In some districts prescribed burns are a lot easier than in others. CARB has been researching the issue of prescribed burns for decades and ever since the mid to late 2010s is completely on board, but the air districts are slower to follow. On top of that, the difference in land management priorities between the National Forest Service, BLM, and the State of California complicates everything. One of the best arguments for the Federal government divesting of its land in the west is to allow the states to better manage their own resources (states' rights comes full circle).
- Projectiboga 3y agoThere is very little original "old growth" forest anywhere in the Continental US. It is usually in small parts of hard to log areas like around small streams, soft ground blocking how to remove the logs and certain slopes and hills.