Quote:
Originally Posted by GastonGlock
And all their forests are burning because they stopped performing brush clearing.
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It is not just Cali...
There was a time, he said, when fires flared up naturally—after a lightning strike, for example—and simply burned themselves out. This regular phenomenon served to keep the density of trees relatively low, which also meant fires tended to be relatively localized. New trees that sprouted after a fire also didn’t have the time to grow as tall as old growth, as the next fire would consume them but spare the older, taller pines. This process repeated with each fire.
But all that changed when humans began to see fires as threats. In his book Collapse, Jared Diamond tells us that in the early 20th century, the US Forest Service began interfering in this natural cycle. They felt they had to protect homes and lives; they also could not allow valuable timber to simply burn down. So, it became official Forest Service policy to fight and extinguish forest fires.
Over several decades, the Forest Service pursued this policy with extraordinary success. But the result is forests that are denser and even more prone to fires. Not only that, newer trees, previously kept in check, now grow unhindered, approaching the height of old growth pines. So, these forests are choked with trees that tend to catch fire and are also tall—a recipe for fire on a different scale altogether.
Sen. Cruz finally shuts his mouth
