Montgomery Woods Burn

[gf beranek]

Terri and I went to Montgomery woods yesterday to check out the burn. The park entrance was barricade and signs saying it was closed until further notice. So we hiked in to see why.

I was surprised to see quite a few trees downed by the fire. Ones that had been previously fire scared. The fire eroded the bases and roots. Some burned up so completely there's hardly anything left.

Wild.

 

[Blinky]

Damn!

 

[vharrison]

Very sad.

 

[JohnB]

In the second picture why is hillside carved out where the tree is laying? Did the fire do that or the tree when it fell?

 

[sotc]

wow! hopefully it will explode with growth!
john, looks like its just a gully or wash out

 

[rbtree]

Dang....thanks for the posting, Ger!

Do you know if the Yosemite fire, which has already burned some homes, is near any old growth sequoia? The news that I read didn't say...I sure hope not!

 

[Altissimus]

Holy Shit!

 

[hugashe]

thats sad. thanks for the pics.

 

[gf beranek]

More pics to be posted later. That gully under the tree that fell up slope. It makes me wonder too. I'll have to check my archive of pics from 30 years ago to confirm.

The most awesome impact on a single tree was a monarch 14 foot in dia. Not a limb for over 100 feet and after that it was fully limb to a perfect top over 300 feet tall. Magnificent tree. Now it's a 200 foot smoldering stove pipe stub without a single limb left on it, and it is still burning.

Nature has a way of doing things. More pic's to come later.

 

[No_Bivy]

.......................natural fire?

 

[gf beranek]

Ah natural, but stopped before it consumed the whole grove. Thank you CDF!! (California Dept of Forestry)

In some ways I have mixed feelings about stopping the fire in the grove, but in the long run it didn't really hurt it much either way.

Those old growth groves are a direct result of fire and natures tenacity to over come it. Somehow it works out fine on its own.

 

[NickfromWI]

Not to make light of a drastic fire, but I thought this thread was going to be about:

 

[OTGBOSTON]

nope

That'd be the Montgomery Burns wood.....

 

[Bodean]

ShaZaam!!!

 

[Old Monkey]

Excellent!

 

[stehansen]

I thought those trees could handle a fire.

 

[Old Monkey]

We've suppressed fire too long and now the fires are more intense. They can easily withstand fires creeping through the duff, but if it climbs into the canopy its tougher on the old timers.

 

[stehansen]

We've suppressed fire too long and now the fires are more intense. They can easily withstand fires creeping through the duff, but if it climbs into the canopy its tougher on the old timers.

What do we do to correct this?

 

[Old Monkey]

Prescribed fire is one way. Goats work pretty good in some areas.

 

[sotc]

haha, not to well on the tall brush though

 

[Frans]

Goats are great for re-growth, but will not mulch up mature brush. You have a good point, Darin.
'bout the only solution I can figure out is to get the government involved to release funding.

Let the private loggers go in and work specific areas mulching , removing deadwood, and yes, logging specific types of logs.

The forest service is still in the past as regards to forest management. But they have made a tiny bit of improvements over the past few years.

I am old enough to remember when the forest service was full on suppression at any cost. Smokey the Bear, etc.
Last time I was in Yosemite I laughed to see a sign on the edge of the road, explaining the 'merits' of controlled burning.
Bout time.

I am just thinking that the forest service and the government is so politically based, that it cannot really make any policy which actually works.

Reminds me of the post office actually.

 

[sotc]

the greenies have them afraid to sell a job. it has turned to politics instead of management.

 

[Burnham]

Part of the problem getting movement forward on logical fire management and more use of prescribed burns is strong resistance from the general public.

Now one might argue that decades of Smokey the Bear PSA's have shaped the way folks view fire in the forest, but for many it is a visceral reaction to the inevitable damage and loss of some characteristics people enjoy in forests...especially forests near their homes.

And selling the idea that one should utilize vegetation management practices, i.e. logging, to reduce fire hazards is not an easy one...a certain percentage of the population does not believe that, thinking that cutting anything in a forest equals destroying said forest.

Say what you wish about gov't agencies, but the hard reality is the elected officials control those agencies through the purse strings, and the public elects those officials...we have to accept part of the blame ourselves.

 

[Frans]

I just listened to a radio show about the fire on my way home today.

Learned alot!
the causes of these fires and the costs are numerous and not just one factor involved.

 

[gf beranek]

Ok. What are they?