"Habitat--Forming"

[ebsi2001]

Ecologists move toward pinelands management...

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/story/6883921p-6748679c.html

CONTROLLED BURNING !!! ???


Yikes!!! Who's gonna "control" the "Control Burners"???

ebsi

 

[Badfish740]

I thought controlled burning was a relatively common practice in the pines?

 

[woodjin]

It is. It is a good idea time tested proven. Some argue it's effectiveness relative to a wild fire, but hey, it is better than nothing.

Jeff

 

[ebsi2001]

I thought controlled burning was a relatively common practice in the pines?

It is; and it's usually performed by "qualified experts," or by people with some expertise, such as Pineland Fire Companies.

However, when "private landowners" are solicited to "improve/enhance" their "habitats," some might take to performing the "improving" themselves.

Need I point to the recent fires in California?
_______________________________________

"Arson" is nothing more than an out--of--control "controlled burn."

ebsi​

 

[dragoncjo]

I swear when I was a kid every summer I remember wildfires in the pine barrens. My grandparents live in leisuretowne(did) and always remember seeing it on the news. I can't remember the last time I heard about fires in the barrens, but when I was a kid I swear it was happening all the time.

 

[Furball1]

Fire

The fires in California were started by arsonist(s), and its intensity was more than likely fueled by the "fuel" or dead and dry brush/shrub/tree litter covering the ground, plus a strong Santa Anna wind coming off the Pacific. When a forest floor has had a controlled burn, a lot of nonindigenous plant life is destroyed and is replaced by native plants that aren't as invasive. I get forestry publications that demonstrate controlled-burn before and after photos, and invasive briars and the like are gone and replaced with native flowers and grasses. The trees benefit, too, since the native plants do not rob water and needed nutrients the trees require, and they grow faster and healthier. Florida has had its share of fires, and we can see the benefits of controlled burns.

 

[ebsi2001]

The fires in California were... <SNIP>...more than likely fueled by the "fuel" or dead and dry brush/shrub/tree litter covering the ground, ...<SNIP>...we can see the benefits of controlled burns.

When I was in high school, there were really BIG fires in and around the Warren Grove area: We had many, many days off, as all hands were needed to rake, and spread sand on the smoldering embers, in order to prevent flare--ups well behind the fire line...

The Pinelands ecology requires occasional wide--spread fires so that the pigmy pine cones will open and "drop" their seeds. Thus, I have no really big problem with controlled burns --- for ecological purposes --- or to prevent, for example, the "British Soldiers" groundcover from posing a danger to the Pineland communities and forests.

However, such controlled burns are best performed by Pineland fire companies because they have the expertise (and the equipment) to keep things under control. The danger in printing such an article is that private landowners may get the idea that they can perform their own "controlled burns" --- definitely NOT a good idea!

________________________________

"Arson" is nothing more than an out--of--control "controlled burn."

ebsi

 

[Furball1]

Good Article

On page 3A of todays USA Today, is a good article about forest fire management. "Forest Fire Strategy: Just Let It Go", affirming how beneficial fires can be--the "reasoning is that fire is a natural part of the landscape that clears out underbrush and small trees and creates openings in a mosaic pattern...decades of aggressively fighting fires was a mistake because it allowed forests to become overcrowded and ripe for fires nearly impossible to control..." To summarize, the Forest Service has developed fire management plans (formalized in 1995) which detail where fires need to be fought, like populated areas. Allowing fires to burn, of course, has its risks, and should be monitored by trained firefighting crews. Allowing fires to burn in designated areas helps to prevent conflagrations in the future.I know I get heartsick when I see a burned out area, like we had this past Spring here in Florida--but by the end of the Summer everything was green again.