Posts Tagged: wildfire
California forests have 'cruel beauty'
With the beginning of the summer fire season looming, media are taking note of UC wildfire management expertise.
The High County News published an article last week about preparations in California for "the next burn." Writer Peter Friederici based his story on a new CalFire map that places Portola Valley in a "very high" fire hazard zone. Residents are concerned the designation will cause insurance companies to cancel their coverage or raise rates and that it could also devalue their property.
The concerns seemed to garner little sympathy from Peter Moraga, speaking for an insurance industry group.
"Those people who aren't in the high fire areas shouldn't be subsidizing those in the high-risk areas," he was quoted in the story. "If you choose to live in a higher-risk area, you should be prepared to pay higher rates."
Breathtaking views, fresh mountain air and proximity to natural areas with lush vegetation outweigh the hazards -- until a fire strikes, Friederici wrote. "Many of these places are beautiful," he quoted Moraga, "but it's a cruel beauty."
For the story, the reporter discussed the idea of homeowners staying and defending their property - instead of evacuating when a fire approaches - with the director of the UC Berkeley Fire Center Max Moritz.
He noted that the full name of the philosophy is "Prepare, stay and defend, or leave early." The key, Moritz told the reporter, is making a property as fire-safe as possible, and then deciding early whether to stay or go.
Early-season Santa Barbara fire unexpected
UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension fire ecology specialist Max Moritz told a Bloomberg.com reporter that the wildfire raging in Santa Barbara County caught forest experts by surprise.
“It is very early, the plants still appear to be quite full of moisture, and when you look at the ferocity of this wind condition, that’s when you say it is surprising,” he was quoted in the story.
Moritz said overzealous fire suppression cannot be blamed for the devastating inferno that has already burned 75 homes and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents.
“There isn’t any such thing as a low-severity fire in the shrub lands,” Moritz said. “The hot, dry wind event has opened the door to what looks like a catastrophe.”
UC studies the use of compost to restore burned areas
Scientists at UC Riverside will apply compost to wildfire-ravaged land after the flames have been doused to determine whether it helps reduce erosion and water pollution and restore vegetation. The project is one of several to be undertaken with funding from the California Integrated Waste Management Board aimed at finding uses for what is expected to be an abundance of compost made from organic waste diverted from landfills, according to a story in the April issue of BioCycle.
The Waste Management Board plans to cut the amount of organic materials now going to landfills by half in the next 10 years. Meeting that goal will require an additional 15 million tons of organic materials to be recycled annually.
The Riverside scientists will quantify the benefits of compost on fire-damaged land by absorbing water, thus reducing surface flow, and by dissipating the energy of rainfall. The study will also attempt to quantify the ability of compost to promote the growth of micro and mesofauna (microbes, worms, insect larvae) in the fire-damaged soil, the BioCycle story says.
Another UC Riverside study funded by the Waste Management Board is focused on using the compost in strawberry, lettuce and tomato production.
Developing crop-specific compost specifications helps farmers avoid using mismatched or poor quality composts, which could result in lower crop yields, according to the article.
Max Moritz speaks to KQED about fire and climate change
The Bay Area National Public Radio affiliate KQED posted "reporter's notes" on the Quest portion of its Web site yesterday featuring comments from UC Berkeley fire ecology specialist Max Moritz about recently published research that predicts changes in world wildfire patterns due to climate change. Quest is a KQED multimedia series exploring Northern California science, environment and nature.
In the written notes, reporter Craig Miller explained that Moritz and a team of researchers found that climate change won't cause a rise in wildfire everywhere in the world.
In audio interview excerpts, Moritz himself says that different climatic variables -- such as precipitation patterns and temperatures -- around the world mean climate change will have different effects on wildfire patterns. Most places, including California, will see increases in wildfire activity; other areas, like the Pacific Northwest, may see fewer, less intense fires.
"(The fact) that just in the next couple of decades we’re going to see very extensive and rapid shifts in fire activity, I think that’s a bit of a surprise," Moritz said.
Max Moritz
Goats can be green weed whackers
Interest in using goats to clear unwanted vegetation on rangeland is growing in popularity, according to UC Cooperative Extension livestock farm advisor Roger Ingram. In a Sacramento Bee story published today, Ingram confirmed writer Ramon Coronado's central thesis: Goats can be a green answer to wildfire prevention.
Coronado reported that more than 60 people attended a recent forum where Ingram discussed the pros and cons of using goats instead of machinery, chemicals and weed whackers.
The use of goats for weed abatement has drawbacks, however. Here are some of the concerns:
- Left unchecked, the animals can overgraze, leading to erosion and flash flooding
- The weeds targeted by goats are the first to grow back and the first to dry up and die, which could create more wildfire fuel
- The goats will produce CO2 during their munching and the trucks that deliver and move them around will also contribute to pollution
Ingram countered, according to the story, "You have to look at the big picture."
Goats on rangeland.