Fire management

Surface fire

Benefits Surface Fires • usually only burns undergrowth & leaf litter-very flammable, helps to prevent more destructive fires • kill seedlings & small trees but spare mature trees & allow most wildlife to escape • release valuable mineral nutrients • stimulate germination of certain tree seeds (giant sequoia & jack pine) • help control pathogens & insects • deer, moose, elk, muskrat, woodcock & quail depend on them to maintain habitat and provide food in form of vegetation that sprouts after surface fires.

Crown fire

Crown Fires • May start on the ground but eventually burn whole trees and leap from treetop to treetop. • Usually occur in forests where surface fires have not occurred for several decades. Dead wood, leaves, and other flammable ground litter to build up. • Rapidly burning fires can destroy most vegetation, kill wildlife, increase soil erosions, and burn or damage human structures in their paths.

Strategies to reduce harm from fires • require burning permits • close all or parts of a forest to travel & camping during periods of drought & hire fire danger • educate the public about the ecological effects of fire on forests • prescribed burning - prevents buildup of flammable material • some places in California using goats to clear underbrush

Healthy Forest Initiative-2003 • timber companies are allowed to cut down economically valuable medium & large trees in most national forests for 10 years in return for clearing away smaller, more fire-prone trees & underbrush. • law also exempts most thinning projects from environmental reviews& appeals currently required by forest protection laws