What to do With Open Areas?

[hesseu]

https://e360.yale.edu/features/fighting-fire-with-fire-california-turns-to-prescribed-burning

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2...d-burns-contributing-to-california-wildfires/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckd...wo-new-california-laws-prove-it/#7ed497822e3d

https://www.kqed.org/science/192735...-fire-problem-so-why-arent-there-more-of-them

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/11/13/california-needs-to-return-to-state-of-controlled-burn/

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Thanks hesseu!! Fire is the cure to the problem not the cause of it.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

These articles mention the record setting 5 year drought and higher temperatures as what set up the conditions in Cali. Global climate change is happening all across the globe. They had snow in the Saudi Arabian desert recently. The world's science community is in agreement over climate change. Aerial pix of glaciers disappearing, Arctic sea ice disappearing, and thousands of miles of land ice shields are disappearing too. Reader's Digest article and articles in newspapers cite Norfolk Naval base's problem of rising sea levels and the very real need to move parts of it further inland. Base roads being flooded & water in buildings. You can't make up & fake the photographic and in-person evidence that something is indeed happening.

The fires were all the way up & down the state. I am aware that some tree species must have fire to allow seed release and germination. And yes - prescribed burns have their place for certain uses. But how much of the state must you burn to rid all dry brush ?? New lush growth capable of holding the soil intact doesn't happen overnight. What happens then when a Pacific storm comes in and they get these massive landslides and mudslides / floods ??

I'm trying to follow the thought process that if they just eliminate all the fuel, there would be no fires. The stuff burning out in Cali wasn't just DRY brush and dead trees. It was everything in the landscape - alive and dead. If the goal is to eliminate the fuel - - what do you have left there ??

How about massive seedling and shrub plantings right after a controlled burn ?? What are the chances of THAT happening ??

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

If a fire is able to get to the "forest fire" size it will burn anything in its path live or dead. A live green tree didnt start the fire. The un managed fuel level is what allowed the fire to burn at an intensity that is large enough to catch the living trees on fire. If the fuel load was kept in check a forest fire wouldn't be able to happen.

Obviously with the size of the forest you wouldn't be able to burn the whole thing in one year. (you wouldn't want to if you could) By having different management areas you would be able to decrease the fuel load in said area that if the neighboring area was under "wild fire" conditions it would go out when it met the managed area or at least burn at a much lower intensity that fire crews could actually do something about it.

The regeneration after a burn is almost immediate. Grasses and forbs emerge within days of the fire going out. COULD there be issues with a heavy rain that happens right after a burn? Of course, However it wouldn't cause nearly the amount of damage a forest fire would. Another reason for not burning the entire thing at once.