Forest Foundation Article

Now That the Smoke Is Clearing, What Needs to Be Done?

In 2021 California experienced another record-breaking fire season. According to CAL FIRE, the Dixie fire raged for over 2 months, burning over 963,309 acres. It destroyed 1,329 structures (including over 550 homes) and was responsible for 1 of the 3 deaths caused by wildfires last year. Four additional fires made the “Top 20 Largest California Wildfires” list this year as well, totaling nearly 2.5 million acres burned this season. There has been much speculation as to why California continues to burn, year after year. Chief Forester at Michigan-California Timber Company Chris Quirmbach believes the focus should be on prevention work and suppression tactics.

Effects of Wildfires

We have all seen news reports as fires encroach on neighborhoods. We’ve seen the devastating photos of people and furry friends being evacuated. We have driven past the damage–some of us have even lived through it. We all know that wildfires are destructive, but how familiar are you with their long-term effects?

Humans, for the most part, have few repercussions compared to wildlife. When a wildfire roars, the number of animals that die or become displaced is insurmountable. This is concerning, especially considering this directly impacts the 222 endangered and 83 threatened species that call California their home.

But homes are not the only ecologic disturbance fires cause. When a wildfire hits the forest, it destroys its canopy which is essential for regulating rainfall to the ground below. This results in a greater risk for dangerous erosion—the act of sediments such as soil, rocks, and other dissolved material moving from one location to another. When erosion happens near a water source, it can have devastating effects. It damages habitats and has the ability to destroy entire ecosystems. Additionally, erosion impacts the quality of drinking water and water supplies. This not only causes concern for wildlife, but also for communities that depend on these water sources. Therefore, when a fire passes over an area, the first course of action is to reduce the potential of erosion through actions such as fire line rehabilitation and road maintenance and upgrades before the next rainfall.

Steps and Measures for Prevention

California has about 40 million acres of forest land and 2-4 million of that is burning each year. If we don’t act now, we will lose our ability to sequestrate carbon, the process of capturing and removing atmospheric carbon dioxide, which just happens to be our biggest defense against global warming.

The three parts of the fire triangle include heat, fuel, and oxygen. The only piece that we have any control over is fuel or the density of trees per acre. The most common fuel-reducing tools are to thin forests (leaving the largest trees and limiting to roughly 150 trees per acre), creating fuel breaks (strips of land where the fire cannot jump), and through controlled burns that reduce the undergrowth. A vibrant infrastructure for processing woody fuels is also critical to implementing these tools since selling products can create a revenue source that will stretch grant dollars, allowing more acres to be covered.

Utilizing all available tools is the only way we’ll be able to get our forests into an ideal state: fuel-reduced and better prepared for the inevitability of a fire.

Fires Don’t Have to be The Enemy

Fires happen. In the history of mankind, we have never been able to fully prevent them—nor would we want to. Fires are a naturally occurring event and are in fact necessary for certain vegetation to grow. Fortunately, efforts are being made to have better control. California recently provided grants to landowners, allowing them to work closely with firefighting agencies to implement additional prevention measures and better prepare for when a fire hits. This spring, California legislation also allocated funds to open up more firefighting positions, both seasonal and year-round.

The cooperation between corporate, private, and government-owned lands has been imperative in the fight against wildfires. Even so, there is still more that can be done. Educating yourself on how you can help prevent forest fires and urging your state and federal representatives to budget for fire prevention and suppression is vital. Together, we can help break the California fire chain.

For more information or more ways you can become involved, please visit The Forest Foundation website at: www.calforestfoundation.org

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