Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Wildfire

September 29, 2009

Neville ConnellPresident, Greater Alpine Fire Safe Council

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

A Few Questions about Wildfires

How are wildfires different now than in the past?

Are there better ways to protect people and the

environment?

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Richard Dana observed:- that in the summer of 1834 a wildfire burnt the town of Santa Barbara to the ground

- that severe storms frequently brought high southerly winds and rain to California

- by 1859 wildfires were still common but severe winter storms were becoming much less frequent

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Temperature

PineappleExpresses

North PacificStorms

Source: Berkelhammer 2007

Wetter

Drier

Rainfall

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Time of Year for Fire Ignitions

575 ignitions in the last 5 years in the Cleveland NF

- 350 by people

- 50 by lightning

- 40 by mechanical equipment

- others by many smaller miscellaneous categories (including power lines)

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

The Great Fire of 1910 - the “Big Blow Up”

3 million acres burnt in Washington, Idaho and Montana

The largest wildfire in American history - still

USFS adopted the doctrine of fire suppression - “the asbestos forest”

Unintended consequences:

- accumulation of fuels- larger, longer burning wildfires with greater potential for devastation and loss of life.

Source: Professor Morgan Varmer, Forestry & Wildland Resources Department, Humboldt State University

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Fire Intensity

40-Year old Chaparral 10-Year old Chaparral

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

GREATER ALPI NE

FI RE SAFE COUNCI L

ConclusionLarge wildfires

occur every 30 years or so in San Diego

County

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Are there more wildfires this decade?

Most dangerous wildfireareas in San Diego County

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

Conditions in San Diego CountyYesteryear Today

Wetter Drier

Average temperatures Average temperatures

Ignitions by lightning (calm, Indians) Ignitions by people (Santa Ana)

Healthy, younger chaparral Ancient, dry or dead chaparral

Diverse ecosystem More limited diversity

“Conditions for Perfect Fire Storms”

Greater Alpine Fire Safe CouncilProtecting the Alpine community from wildfire and preserving Alpine’s natural and manmade resources through education, land stewardship and fuels management

A Better Way to Protect People and Environment

Return to the Indian practice of using controlled burns as an essential aspect of land management, rejuvenating the landscape in a cyclical manner, and preventing a massive build-up of highly combustible fuels.

Where prescribed burns are impractical, reduce fuels by mechanical treatment (“mastication”)

The result:

- a healthy, frequently burned landscape where new fires move into old fires and put themselves out - a return to the healthy ecological environment that we had before the Big Blow Up

Source: Professors Varmer and Stuart, Forestry & Wildland Resources Department, Humboldt State University