Posted on 11/09/2007 8:08:42 AM PST by george76
Local foresters predict that up to 90 percent of lodgepole pines will die in some areas near West Vail. Local firefighters say that creates a veritable tenderbox that could easily ignite and spread.
Sackbauer was pleased to see lots of work being done near his home this summer to reduce the risk of fire spreading, either from the forest into the neighborhood, or vice versa.
workers created a 200- to 300-foot barrier of “defensible space,” a clear-cut area that aims to help stop the spread of fire.
The town also hired a six-man “hand crew” to cut trees on town-owned land ...
Jerry Stevens, another resident of West Vail, said he was appreciative of the work that occurred this summer. Stevens’ home abuts the forest, and, for him, the threat of fire is real. The helicopter has been hovering above his home for the last couple of weeks removing the felled trees.
The large amount of trees that were removed has been quite noticeable, Stevens said.
“It just shows you how extensive the damage is,”
About 6,500 of those trees were carried by helicopter out of the forest and hauled to a Kremmling company that will use them for biomass energy.
Confluence Energy’s Mark Mathis said that wood from around Vail can heat 1,000 homes for a winter. The company is now building a wood-pellet plant that will open in February or March.
The pine-beetle epidemic has created a vast amount of raw material for biomass energy.
(Excerpt) Read more at vaildaily.com ...
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"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Perhaps we now have a social license for logging if we use the word : Bio Mass ?
It sounds so ‘ pc. ‘
Does a bear poop in the woods? Wait, gotta move these trees outta the way to find out.
The Tree SolutionAs Greenpeace expanded to become the world's largest international environmental organization, Moore's star steadily rose and he eventually became vice president of research. Then he did something even more unexpected than joining the organization in the first place. He packed up and quit... In the months before his departure, Moore had begun talking heresy. "The environmental movement had gone astray and lost its perspective on forests," Moore says. "Rather than cutting fewer trees and using less wood, we should be growing more trees and using more wood." Greenpeace branded him an eco-Judas. Now comes the biggest surprise of all. Recently published research suggests that Moore is right. Cutting down old trees could be the best way to thwart global warming.
by Jim Wilson
Moore is right.
and the eco nuts / liberals hate him.
Not only do the trees need the thinning but most of the underbrush has to be removed. It is more dangerous than the trees. I was raised in timber country in N. Calif. and hated “clear cutting”. There is no reason that smart logging can’t be done. (Selective cutting)
Until now ; we are pushing back :
“Liberals have managed to halt logging...”
It is nice to see that the foresters are beginning to be able to make some of the scientific decisions.
instead of the lawyers and politicicans.
A “shaded fuel break” removes the ladder fuels that help the fire climb into the crowns of trees. Once it gets in there, it can move extremely fast and is difficult to fight. A shaded fuel break knocks a crown fire to the ground. If the ladder fuels (bushes etc.) have been removed, it slows the fire and makes it easier to fight.
Prudent measure, I'd say.
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