Thread by @smartereveryday

First of all, I'm sad for any loss of life and property that has occurred.

When I saw this headline, it made me think that all the Redwoods in Big Basin were burned. Then I remembered what I learned about native forests by talking to @ausfws.

A tiny thread 🧵

https://twitter.com/NYTScience/status/1297190646520909825

There's an area in Southern Alabama/Northern Florida called the Nokuse Plantation (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokuse_Pl…). I visited there and scientists who explained to me that fire is key to the good health of some forests. The fire burns the undergrowth allowing big trees to thrive

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After speaking to these scientist, I became convinced that fighting fires in forests may not always be the best course of action. Controlled burns are usually a healthier way to manage our forests. Here's a (long) video I made to learn about the topic



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I'm sad that the historic buildings were destroyed.

One reason I've heard scientists say fires may be burning hotter and more out of control is the underbrush and litter on the forest floor are providing more fuel, creating hotter fires which are more difficult to control.

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As a child of the 80's, when I heard Smokey Bear saying "Only you can prevent FOREST FIRES!", I mistakenly thought this meant that "All fires near trees are bad." I now know this is a childish way to think about it. Let's look at @smokey_bear's website to learn more

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There's no "the" in Smokey Bear by the way.
Also, Smokey retweeted the same article.

Scroll down on SmokeyBear.com and you'll see this section down at the bottom. Yeah...Smokey Bear talking about the benefits of fire. Interesting huh?

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There's a link on smokeybear.com that talks about the "benefits of fire." This is worth reading for yourself.

smokeybear.com/en/about-wildl…

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There are no mentions of the benefits of fire in this @NYTScience article, which largely focuses on the understandable emotional response.
(Open in Incognito to avoid the paywall).

nytimes.com/2020/08/21/us/…

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One scientist was quoted in the article (after the lawyer, librarian, photographer, and marathon runner). She wrote her own article which can be read here:

savetheredwoods.org/blog/cautious-…

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My worry is that when we only view fire as BAD, (I did most of my life because of Smokey's messaging) are we actually doing more damage? What if we leaned into the science and used periodic prescribed burns as a preventative tool to remove excess fuel from the forest floor?

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What if we change the public discussion around this topic, and instead or more articles that heavily emphasizes the emotional response, what if they explored scientific prevention using prescribed burns?

Large out of control fires are bad
Could controlled fires be good?
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Disclaimer:
I am not an arborist or forester, I'm an engineer who loves trees and have spent lots of time talking to experts about how to best manage forests. Most of my tree exploration has centered around the South, so I do not fully understand the issues in the West.

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Thanks in advance for any info you have on this topic! I'm excited to learn from you, especially if you've done scientific research or have first hand experience dealing with these issues (firefighter, forester, etc).

Please teach me!

Help plant trees: teamtrees.org