I agree with burning at night, we have lots of night burns here, just problematic with smoke not dispersing and LVORI issues (killed a bunch of people on interstate when smoke didnt clear). Yes if your army can respond and manage multiple 100,000 acre wildfires for months they could manage prescribed fire on their terms (my opinion) with the given topography. And of course your air quality guys (thats why I mentioned changes in mindsets and laws) your gonna have the smoke one way or the other thats a fact, how about we save lives and property when making this by product at least its being useful and not nearly as destructive.
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When I was growing up in Mendo County, there were âprescribed burnsâ in April and in the fall after the first rains. In the 70s envirnmentalists(ism) invaded govts and not only did the burns stop, logging was curtailed as well, have to save the Spotted Owl and yellow bellies newts. We see the result, massive wildfires where there should be none, or easily stopped. Mankind is also at fault for âgoing back to natureâ and building in the wild lands, which PGE has to supply power to. Itâs too late now to stop these fires, but if old forest practices were to be put in place, some of this would be mitigated. And if someone says Iâm talking out my ear, I have a Forestry Degree, was a firefighter and Park Ranger for my long careers.
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When a close friend of mine took over the FMO job on the Mendo he was told by the old guy to keep burning. And burn he did. The Heil-torch was first used on the Mendo in Grindstone Canyon. In fact, the Rattlesnake canyon (just over the ridge from Grindstone) was burned out by firefighters (with out permission) a couple of months after 17 died there in 1953. Burning is a natural feature of the environment. Some plants will not release their seeds until reaching tempâs created during a fire. Question of the day. What did they call the Barn Owl before there were Barns?
I think blaming enviros for everything is nonsense, but people at the highest levels are doing it, saying more logging wouldâve stopped the Carr Fire or the Ranch Fire before they got large.Total horseshit purely for political gain.
There are places enviros have shut down logging, true, but these fires blew up in brushlands with ZERO timber value.
And as far as more logging helping fireproof the woods, check out how well SPIs clearcuts/tree farms fared in the Carr Fire, the Ponderosa Fire, the Rim Fire, the King Fire, I could go on, I guess we need a new thread.
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Burning brush is what im talking about.
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I have respect for what you used to do but your premise is simplistic and not supportable. I canât say it better than this -
Thats nice. I dont disagree there is a problem. we know there is a problem. They didnt offer any solutions⌠so, whats the point of the article?
Certainly not blaming it on âenvironmentalismâ as was suggested
We as citizens have a part in the blame for our present situation. We cheer on the ground pounders and pilots when they save the house and the town. We turn around and complain about the masticator being a bit noisy while building fuel breaks around the community, or having to sniff a wisp of smoke from an rx burn 30 miles away and the agency takes action to reduce smoke impact or even shut down the burn. We want firefighters to protect us but balk when the agency says we need to clear more vegetation and do our part. Doing this could save many from loosing their insurance. I say we as general public.
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Weâve got a good thing going here in my County. A local professor goes to Australia to burn every year with Aboriginal people. He took along our local air district staffer one year and now she is a lifelong believer in prescribed fire. Itâs all about building trust and longterm relationships.
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There was another thread on here about some fire in the Feather River Canyon being a challenge to get ahead of until it ran into some managed/private land.
One thing for sure is, SPI knows exactly how many dollars and cents it cost them in all the above fires, and presumably will take action into the future.
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Maybe just deja vu but this thread is starting to read a lot like the old TheySaid.
jusâ sayinââŚ
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The post youâre talking about referred to the Chips Fire coming under control when it hit selectively logged Collins Pine lands. Collins actively thins and logs across their entire ownership. They rarely clearcut, and have very few even-aged stands. SPI mainly clearcuts and plants tree farms. SPI lands arenât very compatible with fire, hence my comment about the huge losses they have taken in last decade in their young stands. As far as I know, they are still leaving the red slash from their pre-commercial thinning on the ground in their plantations- not sure if fire is really changing their practices or not. Would be great to hear from someone who knows more about this.
And Iâm sure they learned some lessons after the moonlight fire.
Donât settle too early?
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I have to ask everyone this question about the east side of FKU. 2016 was the most recent year we had an extended attack fire that was actually growing still the following day, you have to back to the 2001 dunlap fire for the next one. It seems just the same on the east side of tulare county. But I can look over into MMU from meadow lakes and can count 5 large burn scars around north fork from the last 4 years. I saw a fire today near north fork. The last very large fire we had on the east side of fku was the 89 powerhouse fire that went for 12,000 acres. So my question to everyone isâŚwhy?
If a fire is possibly started by you on your land someone will try to take it.
Just speculating here, but do you suppose in the olden days they threw men and material at fires more aggressively having not necessarily provided for safety first? Which might lead to more stops but at the same time more men burned up?
Remember our forefathers fought their way through Europe and the Pacific. That had to have some effect on their decision making process.
So is CALFIRE wrong with 10 acres or less on all fires? Not trying to bash them at all, but that is their policy. Or does that only apply to the brush they protect and not the timber they protect?
Its 95% of fires 10 Ac or less
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