Throughout history, fire has played a major role in shaping and maintaining ecosystems and changes in fire policies have has contributed to overall unhealthy forests with increased susceptibility to massive wildfires. Early fire policies were geared toward full fire suppression while policies of today recognize the importance of fire in an ecosystem. The U.S. government, along with regional and local agencies, pays billions of dollars annually to extinguish wildfires and on post wildfire cleanup. The amount of forest land burned over the decades has increased, and the intensity and frequency of wildfires are expected to worsen due to many factors, including climate change and urban encroachment (Dellasala et al., 2004). People nationwide are advocating for funding bills which would provide more federal dollars to integrate hazardous fuels reduction into management plans, but is fuel reduction the best method for mitigating forest fires? Ecosystems vary from place to place in many different aspects including: forest type, the requirements for biological maintenance, in the historic role that fire has played in an area, in the effects that past management practices have had, and in climate and local weather variability. Because of this variability, fuel reduction treatments may be beneficial in some forests but not in others. In order to maximize taxpayer dollars and minimize harmful environmental effects that may result from applying fuel treatments where they are not necessary, a local and regional approach to assessing the needs of a forest must to be taken. Background The current state of forests in the U.S., more specifically forests of the southwest (CO, NM, UT, AZ), is a reflection of many factors including land u... ... middle of paper ... ...Ecological Applications 12.5 (2002): 1418-1433. ProQuest. Web. 28 April 2014. Dellasala,D.A., Williams,J.E., Williams,C.D, and Franklin,J.S., “Beyond smoke and mirrors: a synthesis of fire policy and science” Conservation Biology18.4 (2004): 976-986. ProQuest. Web. 2 Mar. 2014. Graham, R.T. (ed.), “ Hayman Fire Case Study” USDA RMRS, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-114 (2003): 1-396. Google Scholar. Web. 5 May 2014. Reinhardt, E.D., Keane, R.E., Calkin, D.E., and Cohen, J.D., “Objectives and considerations for wildland fuel treatment in forested ecosystems of the interior western United States” Forest Ecology and Management 256 (2008): 1997–2006. ProQuest. Web. 2 Mar. 2014. Schoennagel, T., Veblen, T.T., and Romme, W.H., “The Interaction of Fire, Fuels, and Climate across Rocky Mountain Forests” BioScience 54 (2004): 661-676. Google Scholar. Web. 5 May 2014.
Ower, Carolyn Louise. Changes in ponderosa pine seedling growth and soil nitrogen following prescribed burning and manual removal of the forest floor. Flagstaff: Northern Arizona University, 2005.
These are very difficult questions for me personally to answer because I live in the Pacific Northwest, and I have seen the beauty of the old growth forests first-hand.
Zielinski, E. (2012, April 25). The Northwest Forest Plan. Retrieved from U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/history/sidebars/ecosystems/Northwest_Forest_Plan.html
The ecological effects of wildfires on Yosemite are among some its greatest benefits. Trees like Bishop Pines and Sequoias have evolved in such a way that their seeds will only open when exposed to high temperatures. The fires also help to clear out dead leaves and weeds, thereby making sunlight accessible to new plants and increasing their chances to germinate (Marder). Wildfires are so essential in areas like Yosemite that over millions of years, plants have developed strategies to be successful in this type of environment. For instance, giant sequoias have developed a thick layer of fire-resistant bark. This bark is “the main explanation for tree survival in intense fires” (Gignoux, Colbert, and Menaut). Fire makes the soil fertile and redistributes the nutrients evenly so that the next generation of trees can cover more space. The fires have helped...
Committee on Senate Energy and National Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. 3 June 2003: ESBCO. Mission Viejo Library., Mission Viejo, CA. 31 July 2005. http://web31.epnet.com/citation.
The United States Department of agriculture Forest Service investigation report on the thirty mile fire.
Policies regarding the handling of wildland fires continue to change and evolve as new information is learned each fire season. Attitudes have changed between complete wildland fire suppression to no suppression at all. We now seem to have reached a balance between the two schools of thought and fall somewhere in the middle.
Fires kill plants and trees leaving wildlife without homes and food. Large fires cause lots of smoke and air pollution.
As people of the twenty-first century, we are all too familiar with the frequent occurrence of wildfires in our nation’s forests. Each year millions of acres of woodlands are destroyed in brutal scorches. It has been estimated that 190 million acres of rangelands in the United States are highly susceptible to catastrophic fires (www.doi.gov/initiatives/forest.html.). About a third of these high-risk forests are located in California (www.sfgate.com). These uncontrollable blazes not only consume our beautiful forests but also the wildlife, our homes and often the lives of those who fight the wildfires. The frequency of these devastating fires has been increasing over the years. In fact, in the years 2000 and 2002, it has been reported that the United States has faced its worst two years in fifty years for mass destruction fires (www.doi.gov/initiatives/forest.html.). The increased natural fuels buildup coupled with droughts have been a prevailing factor in contributing to our wildfires and unhealthy forests (www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2004/pr040303_forests.html). Due to the severity of these wildfires, several regulations and guidelines have been implemented to save our forests. In fact, the President himself has devised a plan in order to restore our forests and prevent further destruction of our woodlands.
Reinhardt, Timothy E. Monitoring firefighter exposure to air toxins at prescribed burns of forest and range biomass. Portland: Forest Service, 1991.
It reproduces sexually, at about 15 years (Jones, 1967), growing to 27 m tall with diameters to 1 m (Pavek, 1993). Southwestern white pine seedlings root to about 20.3 cm in the first year which increases their survival under drought conditions (Jones, 1971). In one study, the height of seedlings was an average of 33.8 inches at about 6 years of age (Jones, 1971) and in another study, 2 year old seedlings were 10.2-20.3 cm tall (Heit, 1973). The Southwestern White Pine typically occurs in low densities in Southwestern pine, mixed-conifer, and spruce-fir forests, most likely to be dominant in high-elevation cool habitats and may be present as a minor component in riparian community types in South-central Arizona and in the mountainous riparian woodland zone of Southwestern Colorado (Pavek,
"Global Warming and Wildfires." National Wildlife Federation. National Wildlife Federation, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. .
Rainforests once covered 14% of the worlds land surface, however now it only covers a mere 6%. It is estimated that all rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Trees are becoming more needed and used everyday. We need them cut down for many reasons such as paper and timber, while also needing them ‘untouched’ for other reasons like oxygen, we have to ask ourselves, which is more important? At the current rate, most of the rainforests are being cut down for resources like paper and timber, but less importance is being placed on main resources like oxygen.
Fire at any level can be devastating, yet the effects that wildfires have on every worldwide country really has left its mark on the land. As written by world renowned wild fire spokesperson Smokey the Bear, “Every year, wildfires sweeps through parts of the United States setting wilderness and homes ablaze. On average these raging infernos destroy about four to five million acres of land a year. But in 2012, wildfire burned more than 9.3 million acres, an area about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined” (U.S. Wildfires). Destroying homes, crops, towns and of course forests. Yet the effects of these fires can be seen from a negative perspective as well as some positive. Plus there are natural causes as well as manmade that makes these destructive fires erupt and become almost unstoppable in seconds.
The Forest fire is occurring very frequently nowadays, reasons for it are a heavy increase in global warming and an increase in temperature.