Natural Disaster, Natural Regeneration?
April 6th, 2007 : posted by GarrettForestry experts and scientists from Oregon State University have just published an article that shows forests are naturally regenerating in the wake of searing forest fires.
Though natural regeneration generally took longer to produce pines and firs, it created a more varied forest, even after brush had become established, which is likely to benefit wildlife, concluded to the study by scientists from Oregon State University appearing in Wednesday’s issue of the Journal of Forestry. - full article
This is an ongoing debate and one we are facing as an organization with the Mt Rainier Recovery. What are your views on this?
April 6th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I definitely believe that forest fires are a natural and necessary part of forest ecology. They promote new growth and biodiversity by clearing out dead underbrush and making room for seedlings and space for sunlight to filter through.
On the other hand, I once heard that George W was using this tenet as a supporting argument for logging American old growth, claiming that this was also a natural way to “thin” the forests. That’s just bogus. Fires are natural. Chainsaws and bulldozers are not.
SCA has Fire Monitoring teams working in lots of forests where the management plans include igniting man-made forest fires to cut down on the likelihood of fires from natural causes like lightning strikes. This is a pretty common practice, I think, and focused mostly on preserving the forests and surrounding communities on a larger scale.
Thought-provoking stuff, anyway. There’s a fine line to walk when it comes to nature between human intervention and human destruction.