Conifers and Fire
from the US Forest Service...
Conifers and Fire
Part One in a series on Fire Ecology in the Los Padres National Forest
February 20, 2008
7:00 p.m.
Botanic Garden Blaksley Library
1212 Mission Canyon Road
Santa Barbara
Los Padres ForestWatch and the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden are pleased to sponsor a three-part series: Fire Ecology in the Los Padres National Forest. The first presentation in this series, Conifers and Fire, will be held February 20, 2008, at 7:00 PM in the Botanic Garden’s Blaksley Library. The evening will include talks by Dr. Bob Haller, Botanic Garden Research Associate and expert on conifer forests in California, and Mark Borchert, Province Ecologist for the US Forest Service, who has conducted extensive research on conifers in the Los Padres. Los Padres ForestWatch is a local nonprofit, working to protect the Los Padres National Forest. Additional information on this event can be found on the ForestWatch website at www.LPFW.org or by calling ForestWatch at 805-617-4610. Future presentations include one on chaparral in March and one on rare plants in April.
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Comments (1)
There is a misconception that cutting down an old tree will result in a net release of carbon. Yet wooden furniture made in the Elizabethan era still holds the carbon fixed hundreds of years ago.
Berman, a veteran of the forestry protest movement, should by now have learned that young forests outperform old growth in carbon sequestration.
Although old trees contain huge amounts of carbon, their rate of sequestration has slowed to a near halt. A young tree, although it contains little fixed carbon, pulls CO2 from the atmosphere at a much faster rate.
When a tree rots or burns, the carbon contained in the wood is released back to the atmosphere. Since combustion releases carbon, active forest management -- such as removing dead trees and clearing debris from the forest floor -- will be imperative in reducing the number and intensity of fires.
---From Patric Moore interview
I wonder is they are going to address any of the density issues in the Sierras. In the Los Padres forest there are so few pines that it is a diferent situation.
My post on how the sierra club is destroying our forests:
http://www.ojaipost.com/2007/07/tahoe_residents_seethe_at_gree_1.shtml
Comment #1 Posted by: Brian | February 18, 2008 11:01 AM