And since the 1980s, the size and ferocity of the fires that sweep across the state have only trended upward. As a result, the area burned across California during the summertime is about 8X higher today than it was in the 1970s. As a result, California consistently surpasses their yearly firefighting budgets, with little left over for the important work of fire prevention.Īt the same time, summertime air temperatures in California have warmed by over 3.5 degrees F since the late 1800s. And veteran firefighters say that the fires they used to fight were smaller and less intense. Practically at risk year round, Californian firefighters have little time to recover between “seasons”. In other places, fir trees have encroached into traditional oak woodlands, effectively choking them out. California’s ecosystems have changed profoundly - and in areas like the western Sierra Nevada, pine forests are being replaced with oak. After all, how could you not do all you can to save precious wildlife when it looks like this?Īfter a century of widespread and systematic fire suppression, deforestation, and settlement, coupled with the increasing effects of climate change, we’re reaping the results. The intention was safety and disaster prevention. And after the Great Fire of 1910 burned 3 million acres across North Idaho, Western Montana, Eastern Washington, and Southeast British Columbia, the newly established United States Forest Service only doubled down on those efforts, rolling out their classic “Smokey the Bear” campaign. Fearful of fire, they deployed every fire suppression tactic they could to keep it at bay. And as they probed further and further into the wilderness, their influence spread with them. In 1849, all of that changed when Europeans flooded California, hacking down primary forests to build infrastructure and settlements. In doing so, they also helped to keep the ecosystem healthy, thinning the forests and allowing fire-dependent species to germinate and grow. Because they observed and understood the integral role that fire plays there, they created fire burns periodically to reduce pests and improve acorn crops. With massive wildfires carving a destructive path through the state with increasing frequency, California’s iconic forests are under threat.Īround 13,000 years ago, Native Americans settled in California - and for about 1,000 generations, they lived in harmony with nature. But these delicate systems often operate on specific cycles - for example, a chaparral stand may have a burn cycle ranging anywhere from 30 to 100 years, while a ponderosa pine stand may only need a few years between each fire. As a result, many of California’s ecosystems are fire-adapted - and some native plant and tree species like giant sequoias, oaks, pines, and chaparral actually require fire to reproduce, germinate, and establish themselves. But the varied terrain that makes California so beautiful also makes it difficult for firefighters, who regularly have to navigate deep canyons and steep hills while battling historic blazes.Ĭalifornia Has Adapted to Fire in the Landscapeįor millions of years, small-medium sized fires were a regular feature of the landscape, thinning vegetation and stimulating regeneration. And with more native plants than any other state in the union, 1/3 of which are found nowhere else on earth, there’s no doubt that the title is deserved. This great mountain range separates desert from ocean and creates incredible climatic and topographic diversity, making California one of 35 biodiversity hotspots on the planet. To answer that we have to go back 11 million years, when the Pacific and North American plates began pushing against each other, forming the Sierra Nevada.
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