Posted: 12/12/2008 4:48:41 PM EDT
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... Keep pressure on this!
The U.S. Forest Service could decide within the next 60 days whether to sign off on a landmark proposal that could allow as many as 1 million acres of ponderosa-pine forest in northern Arizona to be thinned over the next 20 years .
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2008/12/12/20081212foresthealth1212.html |
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I'm happy they are considering this.. but i'm a little concerned about the short term (within 10 years) effects after the cutting.
I spend a lot of time around Forest Lakes and Heber.. The clearing that they have done around the area really rips the shit out of the forest.. The ground gets ripped up from the heavy equipment.. the cutting really guts the forests.. disrupts the animals. I understand completely that it's necessary for the preservation of the forest.. but I'm not very excited to see what the area is going to look like over the next 5 years. The burn areas I've spent time in are starting to bounce back with lots of undergrowth, but that's 6.5 years after the burns. And the animals are definitely not at the same population levels they were. I hope this helps long term, but i'm not looking forward to the short term effects. |
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Quoted:
The clearing that they have done around the area really rips the shit out of the forest.. The ground gets ripped up from the heavy equipment.. the cutting really guts the forests.. disrupts the animals. ... Necessary and short term damage. Not culling undergrowth and deadwood by either natural wildfire or managed by man creates this terrible fire-prone condition we have in the Ponderosa groves today. Fuck disrupted animals; they're very resilient - that and Arizona Game & Fish manage the herd very well too I vote managed by man |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
The clearing that they have done around the area really rips the shit out of the forest.. The ground gets ripped up from the heavy equipment.. the cutting really guts the forests.. disrupts the animals. ... Necessary and short term damage. Not culling undergrowth and deadwood by either natural wildfire or managed by man creates this terrible fire-prone condition we have in the Ponderosa groves today. Fuck disrupted animals; they're very resilient - that and Arizona Game & Fish manage the herd very well too I vote managed by man I'm happy they are considering this.. but i'm a little concerned about the short term (within 10 years) effects after the cutting. ..... I understand completely that it's necessary for the preservation of the forest.. but I'm not very excited to see what the area is going to look like over the next 5 years. I hope this helps long term, but i'm not looking forward to the short term effects. I agree with you, but having seen what the clearing does around my cabin in 4B, the next decade is going to bring a lot of change to the landscape, but it's a better alternative to a black smoldering wasteland. |
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I live right in the middle of that forest and spent my 30 year career as a firefighter. The approach that is taking place now is the result of decades of putting out every little fire that started. Now instead of 20 trees per acre there are 200. That is too many straws drinking out of the same glass and the result is that all the trees get stressed and susceptible to disease and their moisture content plummets making them even more fire prone. In the Pine/Strawberry area where they have done considerable thinning, the ability of the sun to now reach the forest floor is allowing the kind of browse that is actually conducive to the wildlife in the area. We have seen hardly any change in the herds of elk or deer and other critters as a result of the thinning. As I write this a herd of about a dozen cow elk just went through my front yard.
What the USFS is finally doing is a good thing. Yes it will chnge the environment that some folks are used to, but the one they thought was "normal" actually was an abberation of what a natural forest in the desert Southwest should be like. Now if the "tree huggers" will just stop with the lawsuits and let them get on with it, the forest and those that dwell in it, people and critters, will be better off. |