Re: [RC] Fires and the environment - Barbara McCrary
One local species, Knobcone Pine, does require fire to
heat up the cones so they will pop open and reseed. At present, all our
Knobcones are remnants of the last fire that passed through here in 1948.
These are scrubby, unproductive trees that apparently are useful for holding the
rocky soil, if nothing else. That and bird perches. They are so old
now that they are dying off and falling across the trails. Wild
blackberries thrive after fire, but do not absolutely require it to
survive. They depend mostly on the weather and whether it rained during
their pollination period. Some years are great, some years there are no
berries at all.
Isn't fire necessary to the life cycles of some plant
species? I mean, isn't it required to make them sprout, or seed, or take some
particular step in their life cycle?
-----Original Message----- From:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Barbara
McCrary Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 8:12 AM To:
Spottedracer@xxxxxx; ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] Fires
and the environment
We select only about 30% of allowable timber take in
this part of CA. These are all trees that are 18" or over at chest
height. Being redwoods, they resprout from the stump and the sprouts are
2-3 feet high within the first year. This means that there will be at
least 6 new trees where there was once only one. This is why, after the
"clear-cutting" done before and during the turn of the 20th century, the
forests are more dense now than ever. This species of tree, harvested
properly, would produce a perpetual supply forever.
After the harvest, we send crews in to "lop", and all
the slash (limbs and foliage) removed during logging is cut into smallish
pieces so it all lies close to the ground and deteriorates more
quickly. The understory is opened to sunlight, which encourages growth
of the forbs that deer prefer to grass. After a harvesting job, the
forest looks untidy for the first year. By the second year, it is
beautiful. We harvested in May, about 5 years ago, right on the site of
our ride camp. We pointed this out to our riders...that the spot where
their trailers were parked had been a log deck about 30 feet high. We
had helicopters bringing the logs out of the forest and dropping them right
into the ride camp meadow. By fall, when our ride took place, everything
was all cleaned up. Now, 5 years later, all you can see are masses
of young trees growing. If one stands on top of the mountain overlooking
the area we harvested, you absolutely cannot tell where any trees were
taken. We will go back in 10-15 years to harvest the same area
again.
Incidentally, it is the young, vigorous, growing
trees that scrub the carbon dioxide out of the air, not the old,
stagnant-growth trees.
You have just received your Forestry 101 lesson for
today. :-))
BTW - don't know if it's done in the same
manner - but the 'selective loggers' around here - leave these HUGE piles of
unwanted wood debri all through the woods. Which is a BIGGER fire risk -
than the minimal undergrowth that once was there. And they only take the BIG
trees, which opens the understory to the sunlight - then you get a hillside
FULL of imprenetrable thorns and small trees.. An even bigger fire risk than
what was originally there!
