How We’re Saving Old Growth Forests from Fire
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- An often overlooked threat to old growth forests is the accumulation of debris around the base of some trees. Ponderosa pine especially can accumulate a lot of debris around their bases.
Especially the larger old growth trees. These trees are adapted to be wildfire resistant. But after nearly a century of suppressing wildfires, this accumulated fuel will burn so hot and long, it often burns through the bark and kills the trees. We got a volunteer group together to clean up this fuel around the base of the old growth ponderosa pine trees on my family's forest land. These trees will now be more fire resistant and will be more likely to survive a wildfire.
You can support the channel through Patreon at / wilsonforestlands
Items I Use
USA Made Smart Wool Socks 10 Year Guarantee
www.camelcitym...
Wuben Head Lamps Flashlights
www.wubenlight...
Trail Cameras I Use
amzn.to/4d2yzi6
LiFePo4 100ah Batteries I Use
www.wattcycle....
Chainsaw Files for Square Filing
amzn.to/3uMjeSg
Spencer Log Tape
amzn.to/431roD2
RODE Wireless Go II Microphone
amzn.to/3OZ8HKb
RODE Lavalier Mic
amzn.to/3OTBeRC
If you buy anything through these links, I will receive a small commission.
Years ago attempting to volunteer at the local National Forest for maintenance of a multi-use trail (dirtbike, small ATV/SxS, horse, bicycle) we were told we were required to attend USFS classes depending on our activities. At least a day of first aid for everyone. A day of hand tools. A day or two for sharp tools. A day of training to operate an ATV unless we walk or are given a ride to the worksite. Two days for chainsaw plus 2 day first aid. And, everything we did had to be approved, supervised, and documented by a USFS botanist to ensure we didn’t harm any protected or delicate plants. In summary, they had very few volunteer workers. Not me. Local dirtbike club had none of that, and 5000 acres.
Enjoy your videos. Great tone, subject matter and topics.
That would be a great, productive vacation trip. Maybe exchange 20 cleaned trees per day - per person - for free camping? For a 5 day trip, that's 200 clean trees between the wife and I! .. much better than being on a lazy beach.
Out here in NC were dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane' in my area we've been without powe/ the water plants are shut down because of the water being contaminated by the flood waters' groceries stores are shut down along with gas stations/ trees down everywhere/roads washed out etc.
It's been like that since last Friday' just now got cellphone service back on.
So, I'm so sorry for all of the hartships from the storms and the hurricane .Hopefully, the electricity will get reconnected, and life will get better soon
Prayers
Four two legged hard workers and one four legged supervisor.
Was the dog not volunteering? They would be perfect for digging away the duff!
Love your videos
Not exactly what you're talking about, but most areas have volunteer trail maintenance crews, and hiking trails ALWAYS need maintenance. A well maintained hiking trail with a properly cleared trail corridor free of brush can at times be enough of a fire break if a fire is on the ground. If nothing else, the trails provide access for fire crews. The Back Country Horsemen have chapters in every state. There's Trail Keepers of Oregon, Washington Trails Association, Pacific Crest Trail Association, the Siskiyou Mountain Club, Idaho Trails Association, Pacific Northwest Trail Association, Continental Divide Trails Association, and many, many, many others. I have 2.8 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail that's I've adopted as the Steward. I'm out there several times a year clearing blowdown, brush and maintaining the tread. In fact, heading up that way tomorrow to improve drainage before the fall rains do too much damage. Been doing that kind of volunteer work since '09. Fun with crosscuts, chainsaws, brush saws, Pulaski's, McLeod's and all the other myriad tools of the trail crew.
4 beautiful big trees growing close together over time. As it has widely been through time. Much less so now and that which can again be in the future. 1 person working alone in the woods clearing fire hazard debris from the base of these trees and then 3 more appear and all 4 work together to protect more big beautiful trees. A divine archetypal pattern for the future forest.
Quick thought and this will probably sound crazy, but let me say I'm a wildlife biologist and regenerative livestock farmer, so at least my hands are dirty: have you considered pigs? Many smaller farms now use pigs to turn compost. The way they do this is by scattering dried corn in the cattle bedding pack over the course of the winter, and then letting pigs at it in the spring. The pigs are relentless in pursuing the corn, and in doing so, turn and aerate the compost. Concerns about creating feral hogs notwithstanding, I wonder if you could use a quickly deployed electric wire that pigs are easily trained to, establish a perimeter, and then scatter corn at the base of the trees. In short order, the duff layer should be retracted and you can knock out five acres at a time pretty easily. Then market your "old growth forest-raised artisanal pork". I can actually see you pulling this off.
You are 100% spot on about us already messing with nature about taking the fire out of it. For so long I was saying that we have to get back into control burns here in Northern California. Well....that didn't happen and now we all know what has been happening here.
up here in BC Canada, Fuel management has been a practice for the last 5 years or so. The idea being we mimik low intensity fires to reduce the fuel load and hopefully avoid higher ranking fires.
Having people in a community almost feels as important nowadays as doing something to help the forests out. Almost like we're all pulling further apart.
Really appreciate all the tips on making our forests more wildfire resistant. Between removing the material at the base of trees, to removing some of dead laddering limbs from the bases of trees, these are simple, addressable solutions that can really make a difference. We'll keep working on this and other projects on our land up here in WA 👍
One of the things i do often is remove much of the ladder fuel around the base of trees to stop grass fires which are common here becoming huge canopy fires, i do as much as i can and enjoy a nice campfire at the same time. I have been clearing deadfall off of trails for nearly 30 years now and love doing it.
In Florida, we do have longleaf pines which remind me a lot of ponderosas. I'll have to take a look next time, but I'm thinking that the Longleaves and my local state park don't have the duff problem, partly because they've been clearing a lot of understory to restore that Longleaf pine savanna habitat, of which, sadly, we've lost too much. Thanks Mr. Wilson for caring about trees and forests the way you do!
What a wonderful idea. I don't think you will have any problem getting young and old folks to help clean up around the base of the trees. People here in Northern California try to protect as many trees as possible. Most of the trees are Redwoods, but farther out in the mountains are a lot of big fir trees and others.
Thank you for sharing.
Amazing work neighbor! I live down the road, so to speak, and I will start doing this in my woods too!
Why don't you try and get the government to use prisoners with minor non-violent crimes to do some of the work? It would give them a purpose to rehabilitate and would help the prisoners back into society as well.
Is it possible to do a controlled burn on that material you're clearing away from the base of those trees?
Well said! Thank you for the video
The major fires in west central Idaho this year are due to years of fire suppression and lack of thinning. The Stanely area (mostly lodgepole) was so overgrown in the past decades it ws bound to happen sooner or later. So of $ millions have been spent on more suppression to protect land/homeowners??
Lodgepole pine forests are notorious for becoming massively overgrown if not checked. Where I hunt in Northern California there’s pockets of lodgepole so thick you can’t walk through it. Literally impenetrable.
It isn't just western forests. It is most US forests.
Learning about our forests thank you
Put out a contract for a mini excavator and I’ll bid on it.
Reminds me of PUM and YUM yarding. We used to cable log on USFS sales in old growth and the dead material was yarded un-merchantable (YUM) and piled un-merchantable (PUM). We used to log through streams and then clean them with dynamite, that was fun. I used to burn piled slash on private timberland, now they just leave it. Management is necessary but over the course of forty years it changes.
Great work.
That’s some big timber hero. Wish we had trees like that in North Carolina. Stay safe brother 👍🏻🇺🇸
It’s up to the landowners. Where I live all land is private property. I’d like to see a once a year cleaning.
Be nice if someone from the Sierra Club saw this and followed up with it.
Sure, and as long as your'e getting your work done for free you think this is a great way to protect your property after not doing it yourself for years on end.
There was a time we did controlled burns to protect the forest from wildfire. Back 40 years ago or so. You know why the don't do it anymore.....🤷
It still is done...
@@DrDjones and more than before too
@@DrDjones not here and not anywhere I know of. Where? And is it large scale?
Awesome, job !!!!
Mountain 🏔️ Chicken 🐔 looking for a Camera to Peck.