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It only takes a spark
The Las Conchas fire that recently consumed nearly 137,000 acres in Los Alamos, N.M., serves as a reminder of how quickly fire can move if given fuel. I can’t light a barbecue with matches and lighter fluid, but a small ember drifting on the wind can find so many ways to burn down people’s homes if given the right conditions.
Removal of vegetation near Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is part of the UC system, created a buffer and helped spare the lab from the Las Conchas fire, which came within 50 feet. Creating a buffer is one of many preventive measures that can be taken to protect property from wildfires.
In a wildfire-prone area, even if you have a house with a concrete tile roof and noncombustible siding, an ember landing on landscape mulch, igniting plants around the home or floating into a vent on the house or under decks may set the house ablaze, warns a UC Cooperative Extension fire expert.
“From years of observing the aftermath of fires and testing fire-resistant building materials, we have developed a much better understanding about what happens,” says Steve Quarles, UC Cooperative Extension wood performance and durability advisor.
Quarles lists six priority areas for evaluating the vulnerability of homes in fire hazard zones: the roof, vents, landscape plants, windows, decking and siding. For details on how you can reduce the threat of wildfire to your home, visit Quarles' Homeowner's Wildfire Mitigation Guide.
“We know that the zone within about five feet of the home is very important to home survival during a wildfire,” Quarles says.
Landscape mulch provides many benefits to a garden, but Quarles and his colleague Ed Smith, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension natural resource specialist, found that many types of mulch are capable of catching fire and burning. Within five feet of a house, they recommend placing only rock, pavers, brick chips or well-irrigated, low-combustible plants such as lawn or flowers.
Quarles and Smith have published a new manual comparing the relative susceptibility of eight mulch treatments to igniting and burning. To download a free copy of “The Combustibility of Landscape Mulches,” visit the UC Fire Center website.
The scientists tested eight types of landscape mulches, shown in this test plot.
Think tank urges radical farm policy reforms
The American Enterprise Institute got a great deal of media coverage this week after releasing the organization’s recommendations and detailed background information relating to the reauthorization of the U.S. Farm Bill in 2012.
The institute says that farms and farm households have no more need for federal programs that subsidize incomes and risk-protection strategies than any other businesses or households. Eliminating inefficient and outdated agricultural subsidies in the Farm Bill could save U.S. taxpayers more than $100 billion over the next decade while having little impact on the country’s food supply or its farmers’ viability.
The AEI statements were packaged under a headline describing American farm subsidies as an “American Boondoggle.” One of the articles, titled Picking on the Poor: How US Agricultural Policy Hurts the Developing World, was written by the director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center Dan Sumner.
“In many ways, U.S. agricultural policy is harmful to the global poor. Farm-commodity and related subsidies reduce world prices, especially when prices are already low,” Sumner wrote. “A typical small cotton farm in Africa would have gained more than $100 per year if U.S. programs had not depressed cotton prices.”
This isn’t the first time the American Enterprise Institute has called for farm subsidy cuts, said an article in the Billings Gazette, but with a tight U.S. budget and the number of U.S. citizens with farming-related jobs down to one in 50, AEI officials said they believe they have a good chance of influencing cuts to the 2012 Farm Bill.
Other publications that picked up the story included:
Dan Sumner
Bee-ing There for the Bee-a-Thon
There are marathons, read-a-thons, dance-a-thons, quilt-a-thons, paint-a-thons, geek-a-thons and sleep-a-thons. So why not a...
Inside the hive--every bee has a job to do. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Inside the hive--the queen bee and her retinue. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Outside the hive--worker bee heading toward a New Zealand tea tree, Leptospermum scoparium keatleyi. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Outside the hive--a honey bee foraging on a begonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Colusa UCCE gets coverage of capitol display
When the California State Fair opens for its 18-day run tomorrow, visitors to the county exhibits will see Colusa County's all-new display, which was coordinated by UC Cooperative Extension, said an article in the Orland Press Register.
Colusa County's agriculture, tourist spots, natural resources and vital statistics are part of the interactive exhibit, said Gerry Hernandez, Colusa County UCCE research assistant and Master Gardener coordinator and project leader. The display pays tribute to the Colusa Wildlife Refuge and includes a walking path to a separate section highlighting agriculture and special events. Parents can snap photos of their kids sticking their faces through cut out holes on a painted panel featuring "Marty Mallard."
A second, smaller display, near the governor's office in the state Capitol building, also highlights Colusa County agriculture, recreation areas, forest and wildlife refuges.
"The last time it was changed was about 20 years ago," Hernandez said. "This is really more up-to-date and modern. It is really a tribute to rural living."
Photos for the displays and the picture below were taken by local photographer Sue Graue.
Left to right at the capitol display are Ashley Indrieri, Supervisor Kim Dolbow-Vann, Sen. Doug LaMalfa, Mike Murray, Kim Davis, Gerry Hernandez, Chris Greer and Kay Spurgeon.
A Firecracker of a Dragonfly
You can't miss the flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata). You especially can't miss the male, which is firecracker red. We watched a male...
Flame skimmer (Libellula saturata) rests on a tomato stake after hunting prey over a fish pond. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
