Ironically, to Prevent Wildfires, We Need to Utilize Fire.
Published Oct 4, 2022
In the last few years, California endured the most extreme fires in its recorded history. In 2018, Camp Fire became the state’s deadliest and most destructive fire on record. The 2021 Dixie Fire, the second deadliest, burned for months through five Northern California counties.
Due to climate change, drought, and other factors, 25% of the state's population – over 11 million people – currently live in high-risk areas.
Ironically, to prevent wildfires, we need to utilize fire.
Wildfires are a natural component of California's ecosystem. For millions of years, lightning and volcanic activity have started beneficial fires that help the plants and animals that have adapted to thrive in these environments.
In chaparral (scrubland) and closed-cone conifer communities, seeds need fire to germinate and grow.
Fires clear the forest of underbrush, reducing the accumulation of fallen branches and dry litter. This plant detritus acts as fuel for fires; the more fuel, the bigger the fire. Periodic burns help use up that fuel so that successive fires are less intense and destructive.
Fires support new plant life. Ash can enrich the soil with potassium, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, zinc, and copper. Periodic burns also open the forest floor to sunlight. As a result grasses, herbs, and shrubs regenerate here and provide food for many wildlife species.
When fire removes a thick stand of shrubs, the overall water supply in the area increases. Fewer plants absorb water, so streams are fuller, redistributing moisture to other plants and animals.
Ecological records and oral Indigenous history describe how fire, sparked by lightning or planned by tribes, played an essential role in maintaining California’s landscape for thousands of years. Fire periodically freed the land from wildfire fuel: dry debris, plant remains, scrub, undergrowth, and grasses. However, early European settlers didn’t understand fire’s important role in the ecosystem. They believed setting fire to the land was primitive behavior.
In 1850, California passed the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. This act outlawed intentional burning. Additional changes on the federal and state level forced tribes to vacate the land they maintained. As a result, the landscape began to accumulate debris and undergrowth.
As early as the 1940s and 50s, ecologists began to question the act of fire suppression, pointing to a loss of wildlife habitat and the increased severity of fires fueled by decades of plant buildup. In response to a report by UC Berkeley conservationist A. Starker Leopold, the U.S. National Park Service changed its policy in 1968 to allow lightning fires to burn within special fire management zones. Forestry and park services have also shifted their approaches to include strategic fire use, known as prescribed burning. This is only performed by fire experts under specific conditions in designated areas.
In March 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force launched the "Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire.” State, federal, and local agencies will partner with tribes to reintroduce the tradition of controlled burning and reduce the risk of uncontainable fires.
Sources:
California Air Resources Board. Prescribed Burning. ARB. <https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/prescribed-burning>
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Benefits of Fire. CalFire. <https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/5425/benifitsoffire.pdf>
California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force. California’s Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire. California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force. <https://wildfiretaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/californias-strategic-plan-for-expanding-the-use-of-beneficial-fire.pdf>
National Park Services. Indigenous Fire Practices Shape our Land. NPS. <https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fire/indigenous-fire-practices-shape-our-land.htm>
Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor’s Task Force Launches Strategic Plan to Ramp Up Wildfire Mitigation with Prescribed Fire Efforts. Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. <https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/03/30/governors-task-force-launches-strategic-plan-to-ramp-up-wildfire-mitigation-with-prescribed-fire-efforts/>
Saunders, O. (Updated June 2018). Guide to Using Wood Ash as an Agricultural Soil Amendment. University of New Hampshire. <https://extension.unh.edu/sites/default/files/migrated_unmanaged_files/Resource004042_Rep5718.pdf>
Schelenz, R. (April 6, 2022). How the Indigenous Practice of ‘Good Fire’ Can Help Our Forests Thrive. University of California. <https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/how-indigenous-practice-good-fire-can-help-our-forests-thrive#:~:text=In%201850%2C%20California%20passed%20the,in%20other%20ways%20as%20well.>
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