Western Wildfires Still Raging; More Than 8.7 Million Acres Burned So Far

The wildfire season did not end when the monsoon arrived in the Southwest this summer. It just moved north. Now most of the biggest fires are in Idaho, Washington, Montana, and Oregon. Many scientists are concerned that climate change, with more intense wildfires like those we are seeing today, may turn many Western forests from carbon sinks into carbon emission sources in the years ahead. What can be done to address this? What role might bioenergy markets play supporting adaptive forest management?

The 2012 wildfire season got started early and intensely this year (see the SBFF post from July 6) , and, so far, it has not let up. Fires have consumed more than 8.7 million acres of forests, 33 percent more than the ten-year average . Click here for the latest map.

Previous forest management practices in the last century suppressed natural fire regimes, allowing biomass to build up. Intensifying drought and heat are now drying out the denser stands of trees in many parts of the West. As a consequence, fires are becoming hotter, more intense, and more destructive – spreading rapidly across the tops of trees rather than staying on the ground. With the hotter fires, destruction is more complete. Soils are often sterilized, and fewer trees survive. With continued heat and drought and a changed climate, many forests may not come back. In the wake of such destruction come increased flash flooding, soil erosion, water pollution, and the loss of many other critical ecosystem functions and attributes.

All of the conditions and trends seem right for more numerous, and more intense and damaging wildfires, in the years ahead. The various effects of climate change (from pine beetle destruction to increased heat and drought) are adding stress to the forests and making them more vulnerable to fires.

The question is: what can forest managers and communities do to help restore and sustain healthy forest ecosystems in the face of a changing climate and to reduce the danger of more intense and more destructive wildfires?

Here are two initiatives that are being undertaken by the U.S. Forest Service and the State of California.

The Chief of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Tom Tidwell, addressed this in an op-ed in the Denver Post September 23. The USFS is striving to restore four million acres of national forests this year, which includes thinning forests and reducing fuel loads. "We also continue to work with our partners, providing expertise and the financial assistance to jointly treat millions of acres beyond the borders of the national forests. The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, in its first year alone, treated more than 150,000 acres and created 1,550 jobs on 10 projects across the country. In its second year of funding, these programs contributed $21 million to local economies, and produced 121 million board feet of lumber and 267,000 tons of woody biomass."

August 22, California released its 2012 Bioenergy Action Plan which places a similar priority on forest thinning and fuel reduction. In a press release , CAL FIRE Chief Ken Pimlott observed: "Wildfire is an increasing threat in many parts of California, costing hundreds of millions of dollars per year in fire suppression and property losses, not to mention impacts on public health and safety. One of the most important and cost-effective ways to reduce forest fire hazards is to generate energy from forest biomass collected to reduce dangerous fuel loads. Using forest biomass to generate energy protects health, safety and property while providing jobs, income and local energy supplies."

The plan calls for increasing bioenergy from forest waste to reduce fire hazards; establishing sustainability standards for forest biomass feedstock sourcing, emerging markets and ecosystem health; promoting the development of community-scale bioenergy facilities; and developing biomass combined heat and power plants at state facilities.

For further reading, see:
"Droughts are Pushing Trees to the Limit," Science Digest , September 10, 2012.
"Why Forest-Killing Mega-Fires Are the New Normal," NPR series , August 23-26, 2012.
"Washington’s Forests Will Lose Stored Carbon as Area Burned by Wildfire Increases," Science Digest , July 23, 2012.
"More Catastrophic Fires Ahead for Western U.S.," Science Digest , February 27, 2012.