The devastation from last year’s wildfires is still unfolding at a scale that has not even begun to be understood.
The socioeconomic impacts (loss of life, property, natural resources, massive impact on health and healthcare, economic impacts on business and real property, etc.) from last year’s wildfires are continuing to mount as other new impacts are just surfacing. The total annualized losses and costs are in the realm of hundreds of $-billions annually and unsustainable.
Legislators must CHANGE how they are handling this most serious problem; the usual methods (and people) are not providing the greatly needed solution. We need new blood and ideas if we are to devolve this monumental devastation, which is certain to be worsening year over year, as it already is trending.
Here is a Plan to save human life, wildlife, forests, watersheds, fisheries, property and native-species American wild horses, which are approaching extinction under the BLM’s awful management according to Dr. Ross MacPhee, Curator of Vertebrates – American Museum of Natural History (Here is a transcript of his testimony to that point)
Here is what an intelligent forest management plan encompasses: Three synergistic actions
1. Correcting Unnatural 1-hour Fuel Loading:
First and foremost, correcting the core fundamental problem of prodigious 1-hour fuel loading in and around forests and wildlands that stems from an ecological imbalance (wildlife management FAIL; severely depleted herbivores due to overly abundant predators, especially lions).
a. Prescribed burns generally are not the answer because; (i) they cost a lot of money and must be repeated often compared to the free-of-cost year-round mixed-herbivory method proposed in this Mixed Herbivory Plan, and (ii) prescribed burns release even more sequestered carbon compounds into the atmosphere, and (iii) prescribed burns can quickly turn into dangerous uncontrolled wildfires, and (iv) more burning is illogical when a mixed herbivory program can accomplish much of the needed 1-hr. fuel abatement, especially in remote rugged areas (aka: ‘firesheds’) where aerial fire suppression costs are about $1-Million/hour.
It’s important to note that: When native Americans used fire to manage the landscape, there were about 100-million more large-bodied herbivores grazing on the landscape than today. Those now missing native-species herbivores consumed about 273-Million tons of annual grass and brush (1-hour fuels), based on an average grazing of 15-lbs/day across various native species herbivores. The best science informs us that when native-species herbivores are depleted, catastrophic wildfire evolves.
Reducing the current prodigious 1-hour fuel loading requires the reestablishment and re-wilding of; (i) large-bodied native-species herbivores (cervids and wild horses); and (ii) applying intelligent application of invasive-species grazing herbivores (cattle, sheep, goats) into suitable areas that do not contain abundant predators or sensitive ecosystems with rare and threatened native flora. We know that the key in using any ‘invasive species’ of herbivore is careful application and management of their deployment. This lesson was learned in Salem, Oregon. Cattle and sheep can present the same problem to some extent or another as well.
Unfortunately, we are having to address all of the intentional misinformation put into narratives by the BLM about native-species American wild horses, which do not harm riparian areas, and are actually used in Europe to reestablish riparian areas as we seen in This Video.
2. Logging And Thinning Forests:
a. Forests must be managed by experienced managers who have a holistic approach to forest management. Overstocked (high tree densities) forests must be culled so tree densities are optimal (based on species and carrying capacity of landscape) in order to preserve water and light resources for the best trees and this requires intelligent thinning.
In ecologically sensitive areas containing rare flora and fauna, domestic draft horses have been well-proven to be a successful method for both logging and thinning in ecological sensitive forests. In other less sensitive areas, traditional methods (mechanized) can be employed with proven success.
b. Access Roads: Fewer access roads are needed when logging and thinning the interior areas of ecologically sensitive forests and wilderness areas is accomplished using horse logging as seen in just one of many videos on this subject (OPB Video on Horse Logging In Oregon).
For other non-ecologically sensitive areas, traditional well-designed and maintained 2-blade (two track) roads provide access into and around forest areas and also provide needed points of access for wildfire suppression by ground crews.
3. Wildfire Suppression: With the assumption that the foregoing programs and methods are implemented, full wildfire suppression is logical and made far more effective by the implementation of the best-practices as outlined herein above, and therefore must be set as established policy by all agencies.
The foregoing information has also been published HERE and can be shared using the link at the published article.
Capt. William E. Simpson: Intelligent Forest And Wildland Management Reduces Catastrophic Wildfire
