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Tree
and Forest Restoration - Salvage
logging
| Wildfires
can be categorized into three types of forest fire severity. |
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When
and where is it appropriate?
Wildfires have
been a natural component of inland northwestern U.S. ecosystems
for at least 12,000 years. A theory that is gaining increased scientific
support is that after such a time span, the plant, animal and fungal
species of these ecosystems are adapted to and in cases, may be
dependant on this type of disturbance. Therefore, wildfires are
needed to maintain ecosystem processes, and the aftermath of wildfires
(dead trees) will perform some function necessary for native ecosystems
to be maintained. A fundamental question that arises is: “Are
we doing harm by extracting wildfire killed trees?”
To attempt to
answer this question, the current status of forest ecosystems of
the Inland Northwest needs to be addressed. Assessments and research
indicate that a large proportion of our forests are more densely
occupied by trees than occurred historically. Furthermore, the tree
species distributions across these forests tend to be skewed heavily
towards shade adapted and fire-intolerant trees. These phenomenon
are suggested to have occurred in part as a result of 90+ years
of wildfire suppression activities. These data, when modeled using
fire behavior models indicate that the forest wildfires that occur
across the Inland Northwest tend to burn more severely than historically,
which can also mean that a larger proportion of dead trees result.
The severity of the fires that occurred in 2000 supports these modeled
results.
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