Fires
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Could you bring yourself to set your neighboring forest ablaze? Well the government can, and does several times a year. Why, you may ask. Forest fires are in fact, beneficial to the environment, which contradicts traditional views of fire being a danger or risk to everything in its path. The government actually spends several million dollars yearly on setting and containing controlled fires all around the world. These government agencies, such as USDA, have a specific way in which they can proceed in setting the fires in order to make them safe. One may ask, “How can fire, ultimate destruction, be beneficial to the environment? If controlled forest fires are so beneficial, what would be so bad if they did not occur? How do they exactly control a fire?”
The federal government has several agencies that they invest money into in order for them to safely create and control a fire in your area. The agencies that deal with controlled fires must follow a series of regulations in order to carry on with their operation. If even the smallest precaution is not taken the fire can not even be started. This is because they, the companies set up, are checked and double checked for safety before they can proceed with the fire(“Smokey Bear”).
Many find it hard to believe but, “Fire is one of natures most essential agents of change”(“Smokey Bear”). Early American settlers did not know that forest fires were beneficial so they would try to prevent and suppress fire at all costs. Because of their beliefs, it caused a huge mass of fire fuel, such as stick, leaves, brush, to build up over a long period of time. This in connection with the increased amount of human traffic, and human ignition sources lead to the period in time that scientist Stephen Payen calls “The Great Barbecue”. This is when wildfire swept the nation destroying several acres of forest. Following the outbreak of wildfires, “in 1905, fire suppression became the official U.S. government policy,” this lead to the creation of the USFD. They set and control fires allowing that ecosystem to be balanced, and “prevent the catastrophic losses of uncontrolled, unwanted wildfire”(“Smokey Bear”).
By eliminating fire as one of natures cleaning agents, we have allowed a centurys worth of fuel to accumulate, meaning when fire is introduced in these areas Ð- natural or otherwise Ð- the result is often catastrophic wildfire: fire that burns at an intensity and temperature much too high to leave behind the beneficial post-burn effects that most ecosystems are adapted to. Ecosystems that were dependent on fire to thin the forest canopy and cultivate the forest floor have been transformed, and sunlight-dependent native plant species have been overtaken by the shade-tolerant. The net effect is that fire suppressed ecosystems become less diverse, denser with overgrowth, and littered with dead plant material.(“Smokey Bear”).
This is the best way to describe what natural fires do to provide that balance within the environment. Fire needs three things in order to happen: it needs a fuel source (wood, coal, gas, dry/dead trees/grass, or leaf litter), oxygen, and an ignition source such as heat. If these three
things are controlled and/or regulated than it will be safer to the surrounding communities (“Forest Fires”). Fire can be harmful to neighborhoods, homes, and most important people that live in or near a forest or wooded area. When fire is controlled properly everything surrounding it can be saved from harm, such as buildings, and other structures.
The USDA, on of the main fire control agencies, sets small surface fires. This fire only burns the undergrowth and leaf litter that has fallen from the trees. After a surface fire is finished it helps with the release of natural nutrients that would have otherwise taken several generations to decompose, this also aids in the germination process of many kinds of trees and plants. Regular surface fires keep the number of pathogens and insects in check, and also maintain that habitat that many animals live in (“Forest Fires”).
Fire thins out the trees be eliminating some while leaving other key trees in the forest. This allows animals to have greater mobility throughout the forest allowing them to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Some ecosystems depend on periodic fires, “such as prairies, savannas, chaparral, and jack pine forests”(“Forest