I used to live in northern Washington until recently, and one of the reasons that was part of the mix when I left Washington was the fires I thought were coming.
The climate was changing super fast. There was a popular trail near my place, and in about 5 years it went from a mossy damp cool wet forest to dry, dusty and with lots of heat stressed trees. A couple of winters ago a storm took out about 30% of the forest in a day. A few days of scorching summer heat waves is all it takes to turn all that into fuel. Lighting was starting fires last summer.
Some of the trees in that forest are around 700 years age. This tells you there isn’t a natural fire cycle at all. Historically there were essentially no fires ever, not even every few hundred years. Never, never. That’s over now.
Humans are not adapting proactively to how fast things are changing. I feel a tragedy is coming.
With how the climate has changed, Washington’s rainforest is inevitably going to be a grassland or savana at some point in the future, and fire is what is going to take out the current forests. Once they burn they won’t grow back.
Some of the trees in that forest are around 700 years age. This tells you there isn’t a natural fire cycle at all. Historically there were essentially no fires ever, not even every few hundred years. Never, never. That’s over now.
Thanks. I’m so tired of all the climate denial hidden under “pyroscape” ecology.
The foresters I know tell me that a yearly small fire will not harm established trees and they made the forest much healthier. I don’t know any who are experts in washington forests but I question if you have really talked to any or are just passing an uneducated guess off as fact.
Major fire is what happens when there are not regular minor fires. your article discusses this at least briefly, it is near bedtime so I won’t be able to read it in full anytime soon.
Historically, dry forests in eastern Washington experienced frequent, low-severity fires, […] Western
Washington forests, on the other hand, historically
experienced high or moderate severity fires with
centuries between major fires. These fires, that killed
most trees in the forest, burned hundreds of thousands
of acres. Given the naturally long intervals between
fires, human exclusion of wildland fire in the last
century has not had a large-scale effect on wildfire risk
Again, I’m not an expert on Washington forests. However you and the link did not refute anything I said. You might be right, but right now you are just someone on the internet who has given no indication of knowing anything about the topic. You bold section doesn’t say low severity fires didn’t happen - since it only talked about high severity fires. At best it is implied that there were none, but there was enough other discussion to question if that was intended.
All your link said about low severity fires is some proposed them for western Washington, but the state requires all fires to be suppressed quickly and so it isn’t an option worth pursuing. It is implied that tribes were burning the western forests prior to the arrival of white man - but the short page on this topic gives too little detail to state with any confidence that was the historical norm around low intensity fires.
I have always maintained that forests need to be maintained by foresters who are experts in the forest in question. We should not be preventing them from using the proper tools to manage their forests. I am waiting to see input from someone who is such an expert.
I used to live in northern Washington until recently, and one of the reasons that was part of the mix when I left Washington was the fires I thought were coming.
The climate was changing super fast. There was a popular trail near my place, and in about 5 years it went from a mossy damp cool wet forest to dry, dusty and with lots of heat stressed trees. A couple of winters ago a storm took out about 30% of the forest in a day. A few days of scorching summer heat waves is all it takes to turn all that into fuel. Lighting was starting fires last summer.
Some of the trees in that forest are around 700 years age. This tells you there isn’t a natural fire cycle at all. Historically there were essentially no fires ever, not even every few hundred years. Never, never. That’s over now.
Humans are not adapting proactively to how fast things are changing. I feel a tragedy is coming.
With how the climate has changed, Washington’s rainforest is inevitably going to be a grassland or savana at some point in the future, and fire is what is going to take out the current forests. Once they burn they won’t grow back.
Thanks. I’m so tired of all the climate denial hidden under “pyroscape” ecology.
The foresters I know tell me that a yearly small fire will not harm established trees and they made the forest much healthier. I don’t know any who are experts in washington forests but I question if you have really talked to any or are just passing an uneducated guess off as fact.
https://nwcasc.uw.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/12/FINAL-Managing-Western-Washington-Wildfire-Risk-in-a-Changing-Climate-12.5.19.pdf
The natural fire cycle is discussed in the introduction. It’s 200-600 years between major fires in the western Washington rainforest.
Major fire is what happens when there are not regular minor fires. your article discusses this at least briefly, it is near bedtime so I won’t be able to read it in full anytime soon.
You’re confusing two different ecosystems
Again, I’m not an expert on Washington forests. However you and the link did not refute anything I said. You might be right, but right now you are just someone on the internet who has given no indication of knowing anything about the topic. You bold section doesn’t say low severity fires didn’t happen - since it only talked about high severity fires. At best it is implied that there were none, but there was enough other discussion to question if that was intended.
All your link said about low severity fires is some proposed them for western Washington, but the state requires all fires to be suppressed quickly and so it isn’t an option worth pursuing. It is implied that tribes were burning the western forests prior to the arrival of white man - but the short page on this topic gives too little detail to state with any confidence that was the historical norm around low intensity fires.
I have always maintained that forests need to be maintained by foresters who are experts in the forest in question. We should not be preventing them from using the proper tools to manage their forests. I am waiting to see input from someone who is such an expert.
It’s amazing to me that you know what the solution is but you don’t know the problem.
deleted by creator