Quote:
Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy
I read an interesting article a while back about this topic. They contended that the natural cycle of the forest was small fires on a semi-regular basis that generally reduced the amount of fuel available. But today we actively suppress any fires due to development, leading to the fuel simply accumulating. Then boom, something sets it off and we have these massive fires that we can’t control. It’s an interesting perspective.
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I read something similar many years ago. They've tried to simulate natural burn cycles with prescribed burns, managed burns and thinning which is a good idea. The problem is we're so far behind now with built up fuel. There are also vast stands of dead trees (beetles).
In Arizona the Prescott and Coconino Nat. Forests are so unnaturally thick now, they're years behind the curve but you can see areas where they've made progress with thinning and burns.