How can California's timber industry help reduce the risk of wildfires?

[Vger517]

I been keeping an eye out on the recent fires we are experiencing around the California, Oregon, Washington and in the Idaho areas. It seems like as years go by fire season is getting worse. What really spooks me is that the drought areas are spreading to larger regions and impacting wild life, and also farming communities.
Fire season was really horrific last year. This year is one for the books.

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[jim mcnamara]

Seems more a like a discussion piece that does not belong in the science section.

 

[berkeman]

Welcome to the PF.

It seems like as years go by fire season is getting worse.

Yeah, I heard on the news (and the link below seems to support the assertion) that 6 of the worst 10 wildland fires in California have happened in the last 2 years. Yikes...

http://www.fire.ca.gov/communications/downloads/fact_sheets/Top20_Destruction.pdf

 

[berkeman]

Also, recent studies are finding that a big part of the increasing intensity of these wildland fires in California is due to the increasing density of the forests. The forests haven't been getting thinned as much by logging and land management, which makes the intensity of the wildland fires much worse (and helps the fires to move more quickly). Hopefully that will change now that people are realizing that we need to manage our forests better to cut the fire risk some...

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-forest-study-20150119-story.html

Researchers at UC Berkeley, UC Davis and the U.S. Geological Survey compared tree surveys conducted between 1929 and 1936 with surveys conducted between 2001 and 2010. They found that large-tree density fell across California, with declines of up to 50% in the Sierra Nevada highlands, the south and central coast ranges, and Northern California. At the same time, the density of smaller trees increased dramatically.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/03/cal...ybe-piece-of-the-puzzle-to-cut-fire-risk.html

California timber industry may be a 'piece of the puzzle' to help reduce state's raging wildfires

• As California looks for answers to reduce wildfire risk, there's more debate about the thinning overly dense forest lands.
• Gov. Jerry Brown spoke this week during a wildfire press update about the need "to do planned burnings" and "to thin out the forest."
• Some state legislators believe California's private timber industry, which has seen a decline in timber harvesting since the 1990s, could be part of the solution.
• The CEO of the state's forestry trade group says the industry is prepared to help thin out forests but also has a few suggestions, including regulatory relief.