Discussion: Update on Boggs Mountain Recovery
in: Orienteering; General
May 10, 2017 4:28 AM
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Remember the discussion two years ago about the devastating fire in Lake County, CA? I thought folks might be interested in an update. From this week's Santa Rosa Press Democrat. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/6950668-181/rest...
It's going to be years before orienteering is a possiblity, but recovery is starting.
It's going to be years before orienteering is a possiblity, but recovery is starting.
May 10, 2017 9:01 AM
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Well that's a very hopeful article...maybe too hopeful; probably written by a climate-change denier. Because in fact, many scientists say that western forests are changing forever; Boggs may never return to that dense and beautiful ponderosa forest we remember and enjoyed, according to the NYTimes.
There are many parts of the West that used to be forested...and are now barren with only grass and shrubs, because of very hot, destructive wildfires that burned up the very soil itself, and trees were unable to thrive.
....as much as 80 percent of California’s forests were in the kind of conditions that were likely to lead to the more destructive, tree-killing fires. Without mature trees near the fire-ravaged areas to spread their seeds, brush and grass are likely to grow in place of the conifers. That’s a recovery process that could take centuries — and given where climate is going, it might never recover....
There are many parts of the West that used to be forested...and are now barren with only grass and shrubs, because of very hot, destructive wildfires that burned up the very soil itself, and trees were unable to thrive.
....as much as 80 percent of California’s forests were in the kind of conditions that were likely to lead to the more destructive, tree-killing fires. Without mature trees near the fire-ravaged areas to spread their seeds, brush and grass are likely to grow in place of the conifers. That’s a recovery process that could take centuries — and given where climate is going, it might never recover....
May 10, 2017 1:49 PM
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rm:
Well, large clearings amidst forest make great elk habitat. I remember coming into such clearings in Alberta and Colorado, and seeing large herds of elk.
Photos and maps from a century ago show that forests had many enormous burn scars back then, before fire suppression. To some degree, recent big burns are just regressing the state of the West to mean. Whether longer term changes are happening may be too hard to foresee at present, though I do notice more yucca here than I recall thirty years ago. Maybe just wimpier shins, maybe a change in prevalence. (Watch a nice PBS American Experience episode called The Big Burn, about a massive 1910 fire, and also the history of the US forest service and how it got into fire fighting, available on Netflix.)
Photos and maps from a century ago show that forests had many enormous burn scars back then, before fire suppression. To some degree, recent big burns are just regressing the state of the West to mean. Whether longer term changes are happening may be too hard to foresee at present, though I do notice more yucca here than I recall thirty years ago. Maybe just wimpier shins, maybe a change in prevalence. (Watch a nice PBS American Experience episode called The Big Burn, about a massive 1910 fire, and also the history of the US forest service and how it got into fire fighting, available on Netflix.)
May 11, 2017 1:08 AM
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Does anybody know yet to what extent the Sawmill Fire affected Arizona maps in the area of Kentucky Camp and Empire Ranch?
This discussion thread is closed.