Wildfires sweeping across California are threatening the US state’s famed Sequoia trees, with firefighters scrambling to protect the national treasures.
The so-called Rough Fire, the largest of more than a dozen burning across northern and central California, has edged closer to the giant trees in recent days with firefighters scrambling to protect them.
“The fire has moved into a number of Sequoia groves in King’s Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Forest and we are taking preventive measures to make sure nothing happens to them,” park spokesman Mike Theune told AFP.
Of particular concern is the General Grant tree, the second largest Sequoia in the world. It stands 268 feet (81.7 meters) tall.
Theune said firefighters are monitoring the tree round-the-clock, spraying water and clearing the area around Grant grove.
Wildfires threaten California’s treasured Sequoias – Yahoo News
Fire is an essential part of the Giant Sequoia life cycle.
Fire in this forest (1) prepares a seedbed; (2) cycles nutrients; (3) sets back succession in certain relatively small areas; (4) provides conditions which favor wildlife; (5) provides a mosaic of age classes and vegetation types; (6) reduces numbers of trees susceptible to attack by insects and disease; and (7) reduces fire hazards.
The 1890 photograph below shows what Giant Sequoia forest is supposed to look like. Large trees, some with bases hollowed out by hundreds of fires.
Humans decided to fix this natural balance, and quit allowing fires to occur. As a result, there is a huge amount of underbrush growing in the forest now, which makes fires burn much hotter and makes them much more dangerous to the large trees. The photo below was taken in 1970
Fire’s Role in a Sequoia Forest – Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (U.S. National Park Service)
Government created the hazard to the trees, and now they blame their stupidity on your SUV creating imaginary global warming.
Smokey 1947 after the crazy fires of that time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Bear
In this ongoing study, we have, to date, identified 26 historical alarmist movements. None of the forecasts for the analogous alarms proved correct. In the 25 alarms that called for government intervention, the government impost regulations in 23. None of the 23 interventions was effective and harm was caused by 20 of them.
http://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/hearings/Report%20for%20Congressional%20hearing-R14%20%282%29%20armstrong%20update.pdf
I really really like Professor J. Scott Armstrong. His “Bafflegab Pays,” is an absolute classic!
Dick Pothier wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer on March 23, 1982 about another Scott Armstrong study Plain Prose: It’s Seldom Seen in Journals
Those two studies sum up present day academia perfectly.
And you can add this study to get a really complete picture of the state of science in the USA.
US scientists significantly more likely to publish fake research, study finds
Gail,
Nice to see you back!
Andy
Thanks Andy.
Yep! They don’t know when, where, or how to “conserve”.
My wife and I intentionally got off the beaten path when we visited Kings Canyon and the Sequoia National forest years ago to see some of the giant trees both standing and fallen in groves that are less visited. I got the impression that some groves of Sequoias and Red woods wouldn’t be missed by about 90% of the people that visit those parks because they just go see the 1 or 2 most accessible groves and that’s it. I wasn’t until I could get up close to a fallen tree that I could really get a handle on how immense they really are.
You ought to hear one fall. I did as a Boy Scout way back when in Sequoia National Park. We later got to see the tree on the ground. Not a big one, by the way, as the things are. But impressive noise and an impressive fallen tree.
We went through the whole story on Green policy and fuel buildup in Australia. Even after people died it wasn’t enough to make the councils admit they caused it to happen. They blamed everything but themselves.
However, they did at least relent on forcing people to grow trees right up alongside their houses.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/02/11/weve-lost-two-people-in-my-family-because-you-dickheads-wont-cut-trees-down/
Giant sequoias are lightning rods. And yes, pine forests love forest fires.
Even TREES are learning the 9 most terrifying words:
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
This is a continuing story in California. Find fire damage and you will find uncut brush that fueled it. The stupidity of not cutting the brush back around the sequoias should be criminal.
Reblogged this on lectrikdog and commented:
Forest fires are a natural occurrence. Forest mismanagement and reckless land use such as developing houses on the fringes of National Forest land has led to disastrous consequences.
Re-blogged on https://lectrikdog.wordpress.com/
oops you can delete this and immediate above. I didn’t realize wp would post an automatic comment.
My understanding is that these trees are highly resistant to fire.
And that the entire biome is adapted to having periodic fires.
Yes?
No?
Maybe?
Yes, don’t have the link but you actually need fire to get the cones to open and spread the seed IIRC. Eucalyptus is another fire adapted tree and much much more dangerous.
The tree of choice for carbon credits is an aggressive invasive plant the Eucalyptus.
Genetically Modified Eucalyptus Trees Ignite Controversy
DesertYote mentioned a science fair project he helped with. In the USA the only species that did well (as in thrived) under the gum trees was Toxicodendron diversilobum, aka western poison oak. It is even worse than poison ivy.
This is NOT a nice tree to dump on southern Americans or African and South American third world farmers.
PALATABILITY :
Bluegum eucalyptus foliage is unpalatable to cattle, sheep, and goats
http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/eucglo/all.html#7
The grass “fogged” with eucalyptus oil is also “unpalatable” and even a goat won’t eat it….
FIRE:
Thousands of invasive trees cleared in UC Berkeley fire project
Can you imagine what a nightmare these trees will be for the Africans?
Remember Anthony’s article (New York Times) on They had to burn the village to save it from global warming? about Friday Mukamperezida death by burning thanks to New Forest.
“…In 2005, the Ugandan government granted New Forests a 50-year license to grow pine and eucalyptus forests in three districts, and the company has applied to the United Nations to trade under the mechanism. The company expects that it could earn up to $1.8 million a year.
“…But there was just one problem: people were living on the land where the company wanted to plant trees. Indeed, they had been there a while….”
https://jennafeld.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/tree.jpeg
Government, which sounds like a swear word at times, to borrow a phrase, is an ass. The restrictions, or outlawing of the use of fire to clear underbrush, dead branches, weeds and anything else really, is one of the biggest examples of how the nanny state actually threatens it’s people with extreme danger. Putting out every last natural fire, as most people now know, just leads to the situation where the fire that can’t be put out right away, has decades of fuel, and we see these un-natural fire storms and disasters.
But I’m preaching to the choir. Keep up the good work Tony. Almost always a joy to read.
Reblogged this on Climate Collections.