Prescribed Burn Set for Tomorrow in the Kneeland Area

Prescribed Burn

[Background image from the Redwood National and State Parks]

Press release from Cal Fire:

What: Professionally controlled prescribed burn planned for the consumption of grass and brush on 450 acres of ranch land.
When: The prescribed burn will take place as conditions allow, on Friday, October 12th,2018.
Where: Area of Lone Star Junction, CA, (Kneeland Road cross of Showers Pass Road)
Why: These burns are part of the prescribed fire program for vegetative management and hazardous fire fuels reduction. This treatment will help to enhance the health of the native plant communities, aid in the control of non-native plant species, protect and enhance prairie habitat for animal species, aid in the reduction and control of uncontrolled wildfire.
Who: CAL FIRE, private stakeholders.
During these prescribed fire operations, residents may see an increase in fire suppression resource traffic, smoke will be visible and traffic control may be in place. Please be cautious for your safety as well as those working on the prescribed burns.
Residents are reminded that there is an outdoor burn suspension in effect due to the threat of wildfire. Learn more how you can prepare for wildfire by visiting www.ReadyForWidlfire.org.
For more information please contact the CAL FIRE Humboldt-Del Norte Unit Public Information Officer Line at: (707) 726-1285
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Humboldt-Del Norte Unit CAL FIIRE NEWS RELEASE
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

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Guest 55
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Guest 55
5 years ago

So setting plants on fire and whole 400 acre plots is good for the environment but a 100 by 100 flat put in for growing cannabis is bad for the environment unless you pay a fee . Hypocrites. I think both are ok .

Cy
Guest
Cy
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest 55

Those 2 things are not directly comparable. One involves using a natural disturbance under controlled conditions to maintain ecological communities and natural fuel levels. The other is deforestation through conversion to a highly artificial industrial production facility with water diversions, chemical wastes, increased erosion and sediment, and introduced and invasive species.

Curious
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Curious
5 years ago
Reply to  Cy

I wonder about the “naturalness” of controlled burns. If it really mimicked nature, why are there dense woods in old growth forests? Fire does not create prairies without repeated burns as rarely happens in nature. When a fire does happen, it only burns scrub and small trees. Not the bigger old trees. This is not a true prairie area- they need help to be anything more than a temporary exploitive phase in the forest.

I suspect that the prairies close to the coast were started when a big tree came down or a slide happened and the area was subsequently fired to keep replacement trees from getting a foot hold. Over centuries they were expanded. Created a useful ecosystem but not natural.

Dave Kahan
Guest
Dave Kahan
5 years ago
Reply to  Curious

It is commonly accepted by scientists and resource managers that for thousands of years native human ignitions supplemented lightning to constitute the fire regimes existing in California at the time of European contact. Part of the response to your question involves how you define “natural.” These same groups tend to agree that restoration of historical fire regimes are necessary for ecosystem health in these areas. Public safety in the form of reduced volume and altered distribution (less ladder fuels) of fuels is an important benefit of these projects. A large percentage of early explorers and settlers commented on both the ubiquitous smoke in late summer/early fall, and the open nature of the forest understories at that time. There are many references to being able to ride a horse comfortably through the forest. I heard one multi-generational local say that when he was young he could ride a horse on the ridges between Garberville and Shelter Cove and never be in the shade. It is also widely accepted that we’re losing much of our meadow and prairie ecosystems to encroachment by brush and trees.
As to the denseness of present old growth understories, that can in most cases be due to the success of decades of fire suppression. There are many shades of gray when it comes to wildfire intensities and their effects on the vegetation. These days even many old growth forests are threatened by extreme fire behavior. Until recent decades what are known as “stand-replacing fires,” which burn hot enough to kill even the larger trees, were mostly limited in area and made for a patchwork mosaic of varying fire effects over the landscape. These days we’re seeing more and much larger instances of stand-replacement, due to over stocked understories and the effects of climate change. In addition, the proliferation of what’s known as the wildland-urban interface complicates wildfire suppression tremendously and helps contribute to more destructive wildfires.
I and many others believe we need much more prescribed fire; major impediments to achieving this goal include smoke impacts to sensitive people in the area (better a little smoke from a prescribed fire than a month long siege of denser wildfire smoke) and fear of escape from control.

Vern
Guest
Vern
5 years ago
Reply to  Cy

Exceptionally well said Cy.

Jim
Guest
Jim
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest 55

I think both are acceptable to be burned

Turbo
Guest
Turbo
5 years ago

So like basically, was there a fire? I didnt see any smoke?