Posted on by Thomas

Episode 42: Forest Fires

In this break from format, I discuss my first broader forestry-related topic: forest fires. Fire is a part of this world that is important to both humans and forest ecology. But due to a century of strict fire suppression and the effects of climate change, wildfires have been having hugely negative effects on the American West in the last two decades. Here, I’ll give a history of our relationship with fire, what decisions lead us to be in the situation we are in today, and lay out just how bad things really are. Music is by Academy Garden. Cover Art is by @boomerangbrit on Instagram. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter @MyFavoriteTrees and on Instagram @treepodcast. 

Sources:

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/59/7/593/334816

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/early-humans-used-fire-to-permanently-change-the-landscape

https://www.history.com/news/native-american-wildfires

https://www.history.com/news/peshtigo-fire-america-deadliest-wildfire

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/lifehistory#

https://foresthistory.org/research-explore/us-forest-service-history/policy-and-law/fire-u-s-forest-service/u-s-forest-service-fire-suppression/

https://www.treehugger.com/serotiny-and-the-serotinous-cone-1342894

https://smokeybear.com/en/smokeys-history/story-of-smokey

https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_ne288/gtr_ne288_011.pdf

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/controlled-burning/

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/controlled-burns-seen-as-a-way-to-reduce-large-forest-fires-/5940264.html

https://www.weather.gov/media/publications/assessments/firewxreport2.pdf

https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Westerling-2008-Climate_change_and_wildfire_in_Californi.pdf

https://www.c2es.org/content/wildfires-and-climate-change/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/665007?seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents

https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change

http://forestry.alaska.gov/Assets/pdfs/firestats/2020%20Alaska%20Fire%20Season%20Statistics.pdf

https://dfpc.colorado.gov/wildfire-information-center/historical-wildfire-information

https://www.frontlinewildfire.com/mendocino-complex-fire/

https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/5121/campfire_cause.pdf

https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/4jandlhh/top20_acres.pdf

https://apnews.com/article/california-fire-killed-10-percent-redwood-trees-63c80e8d28e32596637f3ecc29cfe3c8

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/preliminary-estimates-of-sequoia-mortality-in-the-2020-castle-fire.htm

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/05/california-finds-pge-equipment-responsible-for-massive-dixie-fire-.html

One Reply to “Episode 42: Forest Fires”

  1. Thank you Thomas for all of the information in this podcast! I think controlled fires are necessary and beneficial! Thank you for sharing all this information! I truly enjoy your podcast and I look forward to each new episode! Keep up the good work!!!

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