The Rim Fire

It is so horrible to see all of that timber go to waste. Our society depends on timber a lot and we need so much of it to produce so many useful goods. What would happen if we did not have any timber to make homes or proved some type of shelter? We would be lost and have no where to go. Prescribed burns can prevent that great loss of timber and save a lot of trees. Although one purpose of controlled burns is to curve paths for huge forest fires, they are also used to freshen up the area. If an area of trees is left untreated from prescribed burns, the sands are expected to decline in growth (Mitchell 1). Also, to ensure a healthy forest,

Fire has long been understood to have an impact on the ecosystem of our native woodlands, but it is only recently that we have come to understand its importance in maintaining the ecosystem. This report takes samples of the flora structure and growth in two different areas of Anstey Hill Recreation Park. The first was last burnt in 1995, and the second burnt in 2012. The results of these samples can be compared to data sampled in 2011, when the 2012 burnt area had not been burnt since Ash Wednesday in 1983.

The Appalachians span over a distance of 1,600 miles, ranging across 14 states, from Newfoundland in the North, to Alabama in the South. The Appalachians are the oldest chain of mountains on the North American continent. With forest, comes forest fires, some natural and some prescribed by humans. In order to reduce the calamitous damage caused by natural wildfires, the technique of prescribed fires is used. This is done by diminishing the amounts of trees, shrubs, and brush in the intended area. By doing this, new native plant growth is encouraged and it helps maintain some plant and animal species that depend on the periodic fires. With this man made force comes numerous effects on vegetation, wildlife, and the human impact.

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

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (n.d.). U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service :: Fire Management - Wildland Urban Interface. Retrieved May 29, 2016, from https://www.fws.gov/fire/living_with_fire/wildland_urban_interface.shtml

Ecosystems, ever heard of what word? Ever wonder what it is or ever wondered how we are living in one? Ecosystems are a living community of organisms along with their physical environment, functioning as a unit, and for this unit to function there is a need for biodiversity of wildlife including plants and animals. Biodiversity means a variety of living organisms. These ecosystems may be like forests, prairies and oceans as well as many others. Even though they function as a unit, they may be interrupted by disaster, such as tornadoes, floods, wildfires and pollution. For this topic though, it is going to be mainly about forest wildfires, especially in California. Wildfires in California forests can affect animals and plant life. This change

This is a large concern for Yosemite National Park. Scientists have noticed in Yosemite National Park that the population of trees with large diameters has decreased in the past century. The winters have been producing less snow fall which melts and gives the trees water. Large diameter trees are more fire resistant compared to the small diameter trees. Trees with larger diameters take more time for fire to burn through. The large diameter trees were the source of seeds for regrowth in a forest since they had a higher chance of surviving the fire. When Yosemite has wildfires from now on, the more trees will be lost, will take longer to grow back the forest, and will have a loss of habit for many species (United States Geological Survey, 2009). As California is in a drought due to the warming, Yosemite is affected by the drought. The water falls there are still flowing from the snow, but the rivers and lakes in the area are decreasing. Before summer of 2015, the water level of the lake was just below three feet (AFP,

The Pinus palustris, or more commonly referred to as longleaf pine trees, were once the dominant tree type in the Southeastern United States and has been further exterminated at about 97% of its original range (Frost 1995). When you think of fire, you typically will think of destruction, but with the right fire regime in certain ecosystems it can actually help the area become more successful. Due to the degradation of the longleaf pine forests, prescribed burning has become a necessary factor to keep the forests successful (Lavoie et al., 2014). The biodiversity of the longleaf pin ecosystem depends on a lot of rainfall, porous, sandy soils, and a cycle of fires (Greenberg, 2002). Longleaf pine trees have a tolerance of and ability to regenerate in a high frequency fire regime (Loudermilk et al., 2011). Once longleaf pines grow above the height most fires tend to be, they have a high survival chance where as if they were in the shrub state, then they would be burned from being exposed and lack of structure maturity. Most longleaf pines will grow in an area where there are also hardwoods growing

Wildfire in California is a significant environmental problem that is increasing becoming more severe. Recent studies have shown that wildfire frequency, size, and area burned are all increasing in the western United States (Miller et al. 2008). The 2015 fire season set a record for the amount of acres burned in the United States with 68,151 wildfires burning 10,125,149 acres of land (Insurance Information Institute 2015). High severity wildfires have substantial environmental, economic, and human health impacts. Policy changes such as an adaptive management system of fuel reduction, as well as communication and education are essential tools in combating wildfire in California.

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.)

Using controlled fires is highly recommended for wildlife habitat management where loblolly, shortleaf, longleaf, or slash pine is the primary species. The lives of several endangered species, including the Florida panther, gopher tortoise, indigo snake, and red cockaded woodpecker are also enhanced greatly when controlled fires are used to upkeep their habitats. Many different species lives' are improved when using the right kind of controlled burns to help keep their environments healthy and habitable. For example fruit and seed production is stimulated, yield and quality increases occur in herbage, legumes, and browse from hardwood sprouts, and openings are created for feeding, travel, and

2001). Natural Forest fires do provide many benefits for the forest itself because it allows nutrients to be returned to the soil and allows the forest to renew itself (McCoy and Burn, 2005, P.276). Although, climate change affects forest fires in a few ways as well. One of them being that the patterns for "fire-weather" become less predictable and spread out over the entirety of North America (Dale, et al. 2001). The severity rating also increases throughout North America as well, with a 30% increase in the southern area of United states (2001). While the area of severe forest fires increases, the intensity of the fire also increases significantly, from about 25% to 50%, making it much stronger than it was before. Also, based off of another potential case that may happen, there is also an increase in the destruction of area and biomass (2001). Fires harm forests through a variety of ways, some of which being the depletion of seed banks, loss of many trees, can ruin the soil so it becomes infertile (Virginia et al. 2001, P.725). It also destroys homes for many species, destroys potential lumber and recreational activities (P.725). An example of a forest fire being affected by climate change is the Yellowstone fire in 1998 (Virginia et al, 2000, P.202). It had burned down more than 250,000 hectares of trees due to climate change (2000, P.202). The climate change had slowly made the drought in that area worse, as it did with the strong winds which were able to spread it even quicker (2000, P.202). According to Virginia, climate change will only get worse and slowly make other natural threats even worse (2000,

Forests are an irreplaceable part of Earths ecosystem. Every forest is unique due to flora and fauna which houses it. They are homes for many species from simple bacteria to big carnivore animals. Forests absorb carbon dioxide and provide oxygen and is a great place for recreation and biological studies. Temperate forest of northeast United States is an example of rich diversity and harmony of plants and animals. Unfortunately, constant growing of human population and demand for more land for agriculture and housing leads to deforestation and destroying of the natural habitats. Deforestation and Agriculture, are an two of many factors which have negative impact on temperate forest in northeast United States.

The first stop was 25 years of age, with the white ash as a dominant species. This stand had a well-developed understory, with many young seedlings and saplings. Stop number 2 was 75 years old and was dominant with sugar maple. This stop had less undergrowth than stop 1 and had older, more mature trees. Finally, stop 3 was 75-125 years of age and was also dominant in sugar maple. This stop had the least amount of understory compared to the other stops. It had the oldest trees, which were even-aged. In order to compare the stands, the stems per acre, total basal area, average diameter at breast height (DBH) and relative stand density were observed for each stand.

Anthropogenic climate change is causing hotter and drier conditions across the southwest United States. Decades of fire suppression campaigns have led to an accumulation of ladder fuels within forests across this region. Both of these factors are now contributing to more frequent and more extreme fires in recent years. These catastrophic fires cause significant changes to ground cover along stream corridors. The loss of ground cover significantly increases the amount of sediment entering watersheds, which can alter both temperature and dissolved oxygen levels throughout the system. The purpose of this paper is to examine the changes in water temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration associated with wildfire, how these changes can be controlled, how effective these controls are, and what more can be done.