The dark side of prescribed burns
On April 8, a day after the Las Dispensas prescribed burn got away from the U.S. Forest Service crew and became the Hermits Peak Fire, we watched the 10 p.m. news with anger and disgust as a Forest Service officer gave a tortured explanation, dripping with doublespeak, about what had happened and how it was going to be good for the forest; neigh even that it was evidence of why we need more such prescribed burns.
My point in writing is not just to call out the apparent incompetence of U.S. Forest Service prescribed burn planning and implementation, but to warn of the risks of such prescribed burns — not only to property and human beings, but also to the true “health” of the forest and the species that call it home. Unfortunately, forestry and fire staff are not wildlife or habitat ecologists; their goal-by-prescription approach to “forest restoration” does not adequately consider the needs of wildlife, especially bird species. The science (and I am a scientist) is simply not there to justify the what-and-how of the Forest Service’s “wildfire crisis” planning. One can find a multitude of examples of how such prescribed burns have gotten away, leading to complete devastation. In an overreaction to Smokey Bear, the Forest Service has pivoted 180 degrees in the wrong direction, drinking the “must manipulate everywhere” KoolAid with questionable outcomes.
A huge infusion of funding is coming soon to the Forest Service through the new infrastructure law — $4.2 billion. Much of that will go to “fuel mitigation” and “habitat restoration” efforts, including prescribed burns, mechanical thinning and timber harvest. That means this is a critical time for concerned citizens to research, watchdog and speak up about what the agency is planning to do on our precious public lands.
Big money translates to big pressure, likely leading to some inadvisable, poorly timed and damaging actions to meet “restoration” goals. In this era of intensifying climate change, what will be left and what comes back after their “treatments” of the forest likely will not provide either habitat for wildlife or beauty for human beings. Nor will it stop wildfires.
An eagerly anticipated hike in the Hermits Peak area was in our plans for my husband’s birthday; now we will not go, but that’s just recreation. Consider the impacts from this (and future) Forest Service-caused wildfires on the air and water quality and future flooding of nearby communities.