Forest Fire Management

Forest fires are caused by natural actions such as lightning strikes, or may result from human activities. In either case, good fire management and periodic natural forest fires help restore the vitality of forest ecosystems.

Three types of fires occur in forests: (1) surface fires that burn leaves, dense vegetation, and small immature trees; (2) ground fires fed by peat and decayed matter that spread to underground fuels; and (3) crown fires that burn up from the ground’s surface and travel across the treetops. Surface fires help ecosystems by clearing out constrictive dense shrubbery and leaf litter. Though these fires harm some immature trees, surface fires do not cause significant damage to mature trees, and they travel at a speed that allows wildlife to escape. Ground fires and crown fires present bigger problems. Ground fires smolder for weeks undetected and can suddenly flare into a potentially hazardous situation. Crown fires burn hot, fast, and uncontrolled, and in doing so they destroy trees, surface vegetation, habitat, and wildlife that do not escape. Crown fires have also caused the loss of homes and human lives in forested areas.

Fire management refers to the control of unexpected or planned fires for the purpose of improving the forest. By periodically burning dense growth, managed fires prevent the explosion of dangerous crown fires. Forest officials have two options on how best to manage fire. The first method involves what are called prescribed burns, in which ecologists set small, contained surface fires to thin out dense growth and so reduce the chances of crown fires. Fire crews surround the burn area to assure the flames do not escape and go from a controlled to an uncontrolled situation. The second strategy involves letting natural fires burn uncontrolled as they have for hundreds of years. These uncontrolled fires can seem cataclysmic in news reports, leading to disagreement on whether these fires are better or worse than prescribed fires. The New Mexico ecologist Craig Allen explained to Audubon magazine in 2001, “It’s not that Smokey was all wrong, but he sure as heck wasn’t all right either. Fire’s effects are variable, just as landscapes are variable.” Allen’s comment correctly points out that even the best fire management cannot predict how fires will behave with 100 percent accuracy.

Because prescribed fires and natural uncontrolled fires can behave in unexpected ways, good fire management also includes safety measures for houses and other buildings in the forest. Homeowners or work crews should clear all vegetation from a zone of about 200 feet (46 m) from the building. This helps prevent flames from approaching the structure. Safety zones in combination with firefighting have saved many buildings that were almost completely surrounded by fire.

Forest fire suppression that took place for decades in the United States—encouraged by the Smokey Bear campaign—may have hurt forest ecosystems. A community of organisms depends on fire to reestablish their populations. Though wildfires have been difficult to study, scientists have gathered the following facts on the effect of fire activity on forest biota:

» Some species appear only in postburn habitat.

» Certain conifers require intense heat to open cones and release seeds, a process called serotiny.

» Fire clears the ground for new seed germination.

» Some insects seek burned areas, gathering for mating and enhancing genetic diversity.

» Insect species use burned bark as nesting sites.

» Reptiles and amphibians escape fire by hiding in subsurface soils.

» Bats that roost in trees seem unaffected by the fire, and sometimes populations increase due to higher insect numbers.

» Elk, deer, and sheep numbers may decrease slightly; mountain lions and wolves generally escape fire.

The study of fire entails fire science, which covers topics such as how fires burn and travel through different types of trees (tropical versus deciduous, for example), the best use of fire retardants, and postfire rehabilitation techniques. Fire management also contains the following specialties: fire crew safety and clothing; firefighting techniques; fire road planning; aircraft firefighting; and development of new fire suppression chemicals.

In 2003 Congress passed the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, which allows timber companies to burn dense overgrowth in return for taking commercially valuable trees from forests. The companies need not open their plans for environmental review or public comment, which has raised the ire of environmental organizations. The Wilderness Society has stated that the act “poses a major threat to environmental protection and public involvement in federal land management. Furthermore, the bill does virtually nothing to protect homes and communities from wildfire.” On the contrary, President George W. Bush felt the bill represented “good, common-sense environmental policy. During seasonal droughts, these small trees act as ladders for fires to reach to the top of our oldest and tallest trees.” Much of the disagreement arises from the many unknowns regarding forest fires. Ecologist Allen put it simply, “This is a story we don’t know the answer to yet.” Like many aspects of natural resource management, fire management involves differing viewpoints and many questions for the future.

Source of Information : Green Technology Conservation Protecting Our Plant Resources