Posted on 09/14/2004 9:48:12 PM PDT by farmfriend
Fire used as tool to heal forest
By Jane Braxton Little -- Bee Correspondent
Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, September 14, 2004
MINERAL - From the rim of Cinder Cone, Scott Isaacson watched fingers of fire work their way through the underbrush and trees north of Snag Lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park.
A pair of red fir trees burst into flames, sending spectacular orange columns through the blanket of smoke spreading slowly across the ground 500 feet below.
Isaacson, Lassen Park's fire information officer, surveyed the progress of the 3,300-acre fire with approval.
"This fire is a perfect tool for this national park," he said.
Lassen Park officials have been managing the Bluff fire since July 4, when they spotted the burn in the park's northeast corner. Instead of putting it out, they are supervising it as an opportunity to reintroduce fire into an environment that has historically depended on it.
Fire is as natural to this ecosystem as sunlight and snow, said Isaacson.
The Bluff fire is producing excellent results for natural resources, said Mike Lewelling, Lassen Park fire management officer. It is consuming limbs, logs and other forest litter as it creeps along the ground. Recently it burned to the west shore of Snag Lake, torching hazardous dead trees left standing by a 1987 fire.
In addition to reducing these heavy fuels, the fire will help restore the natural mix of conifers and understory plants, said Louise Johnson, Lassen Park's chief of resource management.
"We may see wildflowers next year we have never seen before," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
>>>"We may see wildflowers next year we have never seen before," she said.<<
low muttering, (if I remember to toss a handful of seeds out in the spring.)
With good reason!
You cannot do a controlled burn on land that is rank with underbrush and thick with small dense trees. You have to thin and masticate the woody stuff and reduce the ladder fuels first. You have to knock the fuel load down before you can introduce fire or it will be uncontrollable.
BTTT!!!!!!!
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