ABC’s The Science Show featured a recent, short interview demonstrating what Australia has learned about prescribed burns in light of the current disaster of rampant forest fires in the country.
In short, they’ve done more harm than good.
You can learn more and listen to this 4 minute talk here.
Conservation biologist Dr. Dominick DellaSala came to see us here in Santa Fe and observed with his 30+ years of research and expertise what’s happening in our forests.
It’s fair to say he was very concerned.
Listen to his story and his impressions of what “thinning” can and cannot do for our beloved city on the following two podcasts:
He spoke with the generous hosts of “Living on the Edge” on KSFR (Listen here) as well as KSFR News Director Tom Trowbridge (Listen here – scroll to the bottom of the page and click the play arrow next to the word “Listen”).
It’s a natural impulse to look at a disaster which impacts human life and decide something must be done. However, being reactionary and irrational can lead to more harm than good.
George Wuerthner’s article reviews the Oregon fires and why prescribed burning will do little to improve quality of life for residents.
[Read more…]
Dr. DellaSala has over 30 years of experience in forest ecosystems to include fire-dependent forests (DellaSala and Hanson 20151). His specialization includes developing conservation science approaches to accommodate wildfires for ecosystem benefits while reducing fire risks to communities.
He has published extensively on the impact of logging on fire severity in western forests (Bradley et al. 2016), limitations of forest thinning in a changing climate, livestock grazing effects to fire regimes (Beschta et al. 2012), increases in fire ignitions associated with road access (Ibisch et al. 2017), and climate change ramifications on altered fire regimes (DellaSala and Hanson 2015; also see Abatzoglou and Williams 2017).
After realizing burning trees in our current climate change crisis makes no sense, the question remains: What can we do to protect ourselves from wildfire?
Considering the frightening news of enormous fires and the tragic loss of life and property related to them, looking for solutions is vital. Deforestation in the WUI has proven ineffective and scientists are scrambling to answer the question.
One of our favorite resources for changing how we look at living with fire during this era of climate change is “Protecting and landscaping homes in the wildland/urban interface” written by Yvonne C. Barkley, Chris Schnepf and Jack Cohen. With illustrations, educational background, and comprehensive diagrams, this guide will help you learn all about protecting your home from wildfire.
Read the full document here.
