Bald Hills Prescribed Burning

520 Words2 Pages

The Bald Hills are located in Orick, Ca and are made up of approximately 1700 acres of prairie and 660 acres of Oregon white oak. The southwest facing slopes of the Balls Hills in the Redwood National Park views the Redwood creek basin, Pacific ocean, the Trinity and the Siskiyou mountains. Both areas are rich in natural and cultural resources and also provide an abundance amount of wildlife habitat. Much of the diversity of plant species can be found in any area of the park.

Arrival of settlers since the 1850’s have been introducing exotic plants, livestock grazing, cultivation, and fire suppression reducing- over time- once dominant species and altering the natural ecology of the land. The prairies have been dominated by non-native grasses and herbaceous flowering plants. For thousands of years Native Americans and lightening would cause fires keeping invasion of the Douglas-fir from complete replacement of the Oaks. Building roads to provide new areas increased invasion also by exposing bare soil making establishment of the Douglas-fir more favorable. Removing an important elem...

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