Over the millennia in our temperate western forests, conifers and fire have a long, symbiotic relationship.
When unimpeded by fire, the forest grows proportionally beyond its sustainability for maintaining balanced, healthy habitat. Aggressive conifers will start invading undesirable habitat and become weak and more susceptible to disease and unwanted visits from opportunistic, noxious insects. A lighting strike ignites a spark and the deteriorating conifers will start to burn. Eventually when there is less wood to burn fire will gradually reach an equilibrium with conifers.
Centuries ago when Europeans arrived the intricate balance of conifer and fire dramatically changed. Fire became the villain and suppression of fire became the over whelming goal. Even today the national forest's policy is geared towards suppressing fire. As a result conifers have enjoyed an explosion of growth, substantially increasing the volume of wood as potential combustible fuel. The unusual intensity of heat brought on by global warming further escalated the furnace effect, sucking out what little moisture was left in the soil. This has been disastrous for survival of small mammals and birds. The unusual die-off of thousands of birds recorded recently in the southwestern region is attributed, in part, to the current imbalance of conifer and fire. Also, many birds perished as a result of the poisons gasses emitted by the fire.
This short post is adapted from a blog from the Bird Conservancy by David McNitt Modern Wild Fires.
Bob Righter
Denver, CO
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