Not So Sudden Oak Death: Conifer Encroachment and the Disappearance of Northern California's Oak Woodlands
The oak woodland landscapes of California not only provide habitat for hundreds of animals and more than a thousand native flowering plants, but have a rich history of management by humans. The abundance of acorns and diversity of fauna attracted Native Americans to these landscapes for thousands of years, and their cultural management practices, which included frequent burning, maintained and enhanced these ecosystems. In northwestern California, Oregon white oak and California black oak woodlands and grasslands are embedded within a more forested landscape, providing critical habitat for light-loving flora and fauna not able to persist in deeply shaded forest environments. Among the numerous factors threatening the persistence of oaks throughout the state (e.g., urbanization and agricultural development), in our region conifer encroachment (the overtopping of oaks primarily by Douglas-fir) ranks the highest. (read more)


Wildfire Effects: Post-fire Salvage Logging: Good for the Forest?

Fire suppression has been the norm in California and elsewhere over the past century. In combination with the removal of large trees via logging, this has led to denser forests with younger and smaller trees, increased woody debris on the forest floor, and dense understory vegetation. All of these contribute to potentially hotter, more damaging forest fires. Certainly, larger fires seem to be the new normal. (read more)


FireScape Monterey--A Collaborative Approach to Wildland Fire Concerns
Since the 178,000-acre Marble-Cone fire of 1977, The Monterey Ranger District (MRD) of the Los Padres National Forest has experienced a number of landscape level wildfires. More recently, the 2008 Basin Complex and Indians wildfires swept over 240,000 acres of federal, state and private lands. Among the areas affected by these wildfires were the Ventana and Silver Peak Wilderness Areas, Limekiln State Wilderness as well as the scenic Big Sur coast. (read more)


Wildfire Effects: Salvage Logging in the Redwood Forest
Timberland owners believe fully in and talk endlessly about the merits of `managing forestland.' Such conversations often include admonitions that land that is not managed will be at risk from wildfire. (read more)


Wildfire Effects: Lessons to be Learned: Fuel Reduction Programs

On June 21, 2008, lightning ignited what would become known as the American River Complex (ARC) Fire in the Tahoe National Forest. It took firefighters 42 days to bring the fire under control, at which point approximately 20,000 acres were burned. A variety of conditions (complex topography, lack of personnel and resources due to a large number of wildfires burning throughout California at the time, limit on air operations due to dense inversion-caused smoke, and management decisions) led to delays in the control of the wildfire. Throughout most of that period weather conditions were considered to be moderate with relatively high ambient and fuel moisture. However, 27% of the fire burned on a single day. July 9 was dubbed the "blow up day," as it was the day of the fire's hottest temperatures and least humidity. Much of the affected area that day burned at a high severity, or "stand-replacing," level. (read more)


Fire On the Mountain
The Forest Service seems to be learning some lessons from the fire season of 2008­--but it's also reverting to the fire suppression policies which have caused so many problems. (read more)


Salmon River Fire Ecology and History
A Fire Adapted Ecosystem (read more)


A Community Response to Wildfire
As we go into our third year of below-average rain and snowfall, we should remember the lessons learned in the recent wildland fire years of 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2002 on the Salmon River. Dry years and droughts often coincide with more frequent and intense wildland fire incidents. We at the SRRC, have been very busy working with our partners to improve our understanding of these recent wildland fires, and fire behavior in general on the Salmon River, so that we can improve our response and preparedness for future fires on the landscape and in our yards. We do know that over time these wildland fires have been one of the key features that have influenced and shaped the Salmon River forest and rivers systems, including the local people living, working, and playing here. (read more)


Wildfire Effects: Fire Resistance of Redwoods

From Sonoma to Santa Cruz, foresters are attempting to justify the need to log large tracts of redwoods, claiming that such harvests are necessary to protect the forest and nearby human neighborhoods from fire. However, saying that something is true doesn't necessarily make it so. And many have disagreed with the industry's assertions. (read more)


Wildfire Effects: Fire and Hydrophobic Soils
As I tap away at my computer keys, the sun outside once again filters through the trees. Weather forecasts predict rain this coming weekend, but to date (nearly the end of October) we have had at most one inch of precipitation in the Santa Cruz Mountains. That first rain event led to Reverse 911 calls to downstream residents of the 4,000 acre Summit Fire, warning of potential flooding, debris flows and torrents, and hazardous road conditions. Of course, once the rains begin in earnest and the bare hillsides mobilize, hazards to our threatened steelhead and endangered coho salmon populations will be imminent as well. (read more)