Forrest fire question.

[beastmaster]

Fire was as much a part of the landscape as the brush and trees. Back when fires burnt tell they just burn them selfs out, the under brush wouldn't get as thick. There fore wouldn't get as hot. At lest here in Calif. since fire suppression had become an art. Fires were attacked with every tool at our disposal. Now we have areas that haven't burnt in decades. The level of light and medium fuel is great making for really hot fires.
I have spent a lot of my young life on the fire lines, and have chased fires through stands of forest, where none of the trees were harmed. Light fuels burn fast and go out fast. It's where man has interfered and not allowed nature to do its thing, and use fire to clean out the forests. When to much fuel has gone to long with out being cleared out, by fire or hand, it burns so hot it can stairalize

 

[floyd]

Don't compare logging with fire management because it reflects badly on you. It tells me you do not have a clue what you are talking about.

Sorry for being blunt.

 

[OlympicYJ]

It is no different then crop management,use to much of one crop and the land will suffer,use poor weed control and you get a poor yield crop. The forest need fire and years of suppression have allowed undesirable weeds and bad tree genetics to take over. Logging is a tool to control species and density. A forest need weed control and that is fire. Well manged logging with fire helps to increase wildlife habitat and food sources. You look at areas that have been logged within a year there is new food source for wildlife,and the risk of major fire is way less.

For starters I'm not as well versed in fire as are other members.

Yes fire is a natural management regimen. As for fire allowing bad genetics and that's the cause of the major crown firs we see today is not true. These fires are caused by high densities of trees that were not thinned by fire due to fire suppression and were not thinned through logging. When they reach high densities they become stressed for water and sunlight. Some will die on their own and others will be attacked by insects; such as the Jeffrey Mountain Pine beetle which is killing huge swaths of timber in the Rockey Mountains and has killed 18.1 million hectares or approx 44.7 million acres of timber in British Colombia. I got the 18.1 million hectares from the BC Ministry of Forests website. Drought exacerbates the fire danger as well. The death of the timber creates very dry fuels that burn very well and can spread fire to the live crowns. Again I'm no fire expert so if I miss-stated please someone more knowledgeable correct me. That doesn't include the the CM. I would be very suspect of advice from anyone with that as a user name.

Yes understory brush is controlled by low intensity ground fires and they can act as ladder fuels to the crown resulting in large fires. "Weeds" don't give you a bad crop of trees; they can slow their growth or even stop growth completely but they are not the one defining cause of fire.

To take a the holistic approach that fire is a result of poor logging practices is just absolute bull. It all comes down to fire management in which logging can be a tool used to mitigate fire danger.

I suggest you read some books on fire and silviculture. Then come back and maybe a more intelligent discussion can be had.

Wes