Research Paper On Saving The Eldorado

Forest fires kill many animals and usually destroy a large amount of land. Prescribed burns seem like they would be the best idea, but are they? Their claim to fame is to clear out land in order to decrease the burning space for when an actual forest fire occurs. Yet this may seem like a brilliant idea, but one must look at the negative aspects of controlled burnings. People might have a change of heart when they realize the damages and effects of such an interesting act. Keep in mind that not only is your health involved but even such things as the inconvenience of dealing with a smoky town. It is important to understand that prescribed burns cause severe health problems especially to

Thousands upon thousands of acres are lost in forest fires every year. We always hear about the dramatic losses caused by forest fires and are often concerned by them. There are so many horrible effects from fires and most of them affect so many people. Studies have shown that out of all of the different methods to decrease fire damage, prescribed burns are the most affective. Many people would argue that they are not as affective because they cause so many health problems. Although that is a very important view and may seem valid, those health issues are not as extreme as one might think. People should look at the majority of the benefits form prescribed burns and they will see how affective and important they are.

For as long as mankind can conceive, fire has been a remarkable tool to conquer. When controlled, it provides necessary heat, energy, and fuel for a consumer to use; however, when fire goes unattended, it has the potential to become a wholly destructive element. The more western states of America, such as Utah and Colorado, have repeatedly experienced this concept in its most devastating form: wildfires. A wildfire is generally considered to be difficult to control and fast moving, swallowing anything that lay in its path, including forest or human habitat. As human incursion reaches more remote areas in wooded mountains, wildfires pose a serious threat to high-end homes and secluded cabins. The untamed nature of these fires also allows them to creep into subdivisions and endanger more

no surprise that wildfires are a huge issue in the western states. Especially on Indian Reservations. Two articles that focus on this issue are called Secretary Zinke Directs Interior Bureaus to Take aggressive Action to Prevent Wildfires, US Department of Interior & Western US Faces Wildfires Explosion by Kieran Cooke, Climate News Network. Both of these articles argue that wildfires shouldn’t become normalized and that something should be done to prevent and/or be better prepared for when wildfires occur. In essence these articles focus primarily on the amount of land burning and the effect it has on vegetation.

Policies regarding the handling of wildland fires continue to change and evolve as new information is learned each fire season. Attitudes have changed between complete wildland fire suppression to no suppression at all. We now seem to have reached a balance between the two schools of thought and fall somewhere in the middle.

The Rim Fire of 2013 ravaged the slopes of the Stanislaus National Forest leaving many areas severely burned and unable to recover. Restoration efforts have been made and 56,000 saplings were planted in 2016 in the most severely burned areas; but the forest still has a long way to recovery. Fires are a naturally occurring hazard in the Stanislaus National Forest, and have contributed to the replenishment, control, and sustainability of the forest; but fires of the Rim Fire's intensity are very rare. The Rim Fire destroyed over 277,314 acres of habitat, harmed many mature trees, and ruined the layers of topsoil, and increased erosion and runoff. The devastation of the Rim Fire would not be have been so intense if it weren’t for past fire

In the summer of 1910 Northern Idaho and Western Montana were hit by what seemed like a never ending series of destructive forest fires. With the spring bringing hardly any rainfall and drying winds from the Columbia plains, creeks began to disappear and the montane forests became dry. Intense heat along with high winds and dry vegetation create the perfect environment for forest fires. In June and July several dry electric storms hit the mountains and fires began to develop in isolated corners of the forest. The U.S. Forest Service which had just been developed in 1905 consisted of forest rangers on horseback climbing the mountains and protecting the forest from fires (Bergoffen, 1976). As the

"There was no damn horse fast enough in the country to keep ahead of that fire.” (546). In 1910, the US Forestry Service was in its infancy. Teddy Roosevelt had put Gifford Pinchot in charge of the foundling agency. For instance during the Presidency of William Taft, his term in office he denied the service and the manpower and resources needed to actually protect the growing quantity of land held in public trust. Then, without notice a drought-parched lands of eastern Washington, western Montana and northern Idaho, the greatest forest fire in U.S. history sparked a major change in public consciousness. This is the Big Burn of 1910.

The increase in high severity fires is largely due to historical and current fire suppression policies. Federal forest-fire management in the United States began in 1886 following the creation of the national parks, and the passage of the federal Clarke-McNary Act in 1924 began a national fire suppression regime (Stephens and Ruth 2005). Suppression of low severity fires allows surface and ladder fuels to accumulate, contributing to high severity crown fires. Today, 98-99% of all wildland fires are suppressed at less than 0.5 acres in size. Of the 4.5 million acres of land once burned on California, only 6% of this area is burned today. Fire suppression investment is still increasing with 3 billion more dollars invested in fire suppression since 2013. This investment has not prevented increases in the size or frequency of high intensity fires (Stephens 2014). There is currently no comprehensive policy that works to manage fire

The focus of this lesson will be teaching the students to examine the history of wildland fires and their impact on society in America and in their community. Students will explore different approaches to living with fire and will examine various fire management techniques including prescribed fire, fire suppression, and fire prevention. They will take a closer look at the Copper King Fire in Montana, and will conduct a research project of wildfire history in another state. Students will also gain a better understanding of the role of fire in a particular culture and the importance of wildfire in the ecosystem. They will also understand ways to reduce wildfire risk around their home and community. Furthermore, students will increase their knowledge

The article, “Firefighter dies battling California's 4th largest fire in history, officials say,” explains to the reader about a very tragic wildfire that unfortunately killed a courageous fireman. Reports conclude that the brave man killed was a 32-year-old man named, Cory Iverson. His very upsetting decease will leave behind his pregnant wife and two-year-old daughter. Published on December 14th, 2017, this article captures the reader’s attention right away. Due to the deplorable blaze in Montecito California, thousands of people were forced to evacuate out of their homes, to a safer environment where the oxygen is not littered with smoke and ash. To elaborate, the article, “Firefighter dies battling California's

The Great Idaho Fire of 1910, however, burned some three million acres and killed at least 85 people, and the subsequent political outcry led the Forest Service to focus increasingly not just on timber harvesting but also on wildfire suppression. Yet the early proponents of scientific forestry didn’t properly understand the role of fires in woodland ecology. Forest fires are a natural occurrence and serve an important function in maintaining the health of western forests. Shade-intolerant trees, such as ponderosa pines, lodgepole pines, and giant sequoias, require periodic fires to clear areas in which they can regenerate, and once fires were suppressed, these trees were invaded by species such as the Douglas fir. (Lodgepole pines actually require fires to propagate their seeds.)

Humans have been changing the Western forests' fire system since the settlement by the Europeans and now we are experiencing the consequences of those changes. During the summer of 2002, 6.9 million acres of forests was burnt up in the West (Wildland Fires, 1). This figure is two times the ten year annual average, and it does not look like next summer will be any better (Wildfire Season, 1).

In 2002, President Bush established the Healthy Forest Initiative. This was his response to a multitude of forest fires during the year 2000. The initiative would allow for swift responses to the threats of wildfires. The process in which the United States Forest Service (USFS) goes about reducing the forest fires includes the thinning of forests by timbering, and removal of hazardous materials such as small trees, species of brush and shrub, logs, stumps, and whatever material could lead to an increase in forest fires or their severity. Most materials that could lead to an increase in forest fires are seen and defined as hazardous fuels. Reducing forest fires seems like a noble idea, especially when seeing the damaged caused after that fire season during the year 2000; however, the way in which the U.S. Forest Service is going about the removing of these hazardous fuels has come under much scrutiny. Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), with additions from after the enactment of the Healthy Forest Initiative, the U.S. Forest Service is allowed to remove hazardous fuels or reduce the threat of wildfires without doing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or an Environmental Analysis (EA) under a categorical exclusion. A categorical exclusion being defined under NEPA §1.3 as “a category of actions that have no potential for significant environmental impacts, you may categorically exclude the action from analysis in an EA or EIS before deciding to implement

Wild land firefighting is a rapidly spreading fire that acts very quickly and intensely. Captain Moses Harris assumes the command of Yellowstone national parks first wild land fire fighters on August 20, 1886. The cavalry remained for thirty-two years in Yellowstone National Park. The soldiers began fighting the fires throughout Yellowstone national park and were also the first wild land fire fighters to get paid (1). In1910 the “Big Blowup” fire in northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, and western Montana destroyed three million acres of timber and killed over eighty firefighters. In 1911 Congress passed the Weeks Act, which among alternative things, provided help for state forestry organizations that participated in cooperative fire protection work with the federal government. In 1935, Ferdinand Silcox, the Forest Service Chief, introduced the “10AM Policy,” that became afresh universal U.S. Forest Service goal to manage a fire by 10AM the morning following its recognizing. While the amount of forest