Greater Reforestation Efforts Needed In California Efforts To Fight Global Warming, Say Forest Foundation, Forest Service Retirees
On Heels of Arbor Day, Groups Encourage Reforestation of Burned Federal Forests
AUBURN, Calif., May 2, 2007 - While Americans celebrated Arbor Day last week, it was not a time of celebration for those concerned about the future of forests on federal land in California.
Following the 1992 Cleveland Fire in the Eldorado National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service replanted some lands, and left some untouched in an experimental ecoplot. Today, trees stand more than 17 feet tall on replanted lands, but brush dominates the untreated ecoplot.Tens of thousands of acres of burned federal forests in California are turning to brush after years without the re-planting needed to restore and ensure forests for future generations, two groups said today.
And, without the reforestation, there are fewer trees to absorb carbon gases that contribute to global warming.
Nearly four years after fires burned more than 133,000 acres of California's national forests
in 2003, a survey by The Forest Foundation of Forest Service data found that less than 1 percent were replanted by the Forest Service.
The result has an impact on more than just the forests - it limits the amount of carbon that could be absorbed by forests in California. According to the non-profit group American Forests, a restored acre has the ability of absorbing and storing 200 tons of carbon dioxide - or the equivalent of absorbing carbon emitted by 35 minivans.
"We are allowing our forests to turn to fire-prone brush and we are losing an opportunity to plant trees that could absorb carbon," said George M. Leonard, Chair of the National Association of Forest Service Retirees and former Associate Chief of the US Forest Service. "Experience has shown that prompt rehabilitation and replanting of burned areas is the surest and quickest way to restore these burned forests. Active replanting is necessary to keep these forests, protect against catastrophic wildfire and fight global warming."
While low-intensity natural wildfires historically created forest clearings and ecological conditions conducive to forest regeneration, more recent catastrophic fires often degrade soil quality and destroy forests so completely that natural regeneration likely will take decades to centuries, if it happens at all.
"Arbor Day gives Americans the opportunity to plant trees - and they should," said John Stuart, Ph.D., CSU Humboldt professor and Forest Foundation Scientific Advisory Board member. "But we have to face the fact that we've turned our backs on our forests by not replanting them."
The lack of reforestation stands in stark contrast to past efforts to reforest. In 1993, for example, following the 1992 Cleveland fire in California that consumed more than 20,000 acres, reforestation occurred - leaving us today with trees that are 15 to 20 feet tall. As part of an experiment, a small "ecoplot" was left untouched to see what would happen. Today, that land is filled with brush.
"Replanting and stewardship are critical for Californians to have healthy forests in the future," Stuart said. "Not only do the forests provide us with a unique renewable resource for wood products, they also can fight global warming as nothing else can. Our failure to replant will cost us future, sustainable forests and much more."
Unlike government-owned lands, private forest landowners quickly remove dead trees and other fuels for additional fires and then replant. For example, after the 2000 Storrie fire in Plumas and Lassen Counties, local private land manager W.M. Beaty and Associates removed dead trees and fuels on the 3,200 acres it managed that burned in the fire. Its reforestation efforts, including the planting of nearly one million trees, were completed by 2004. Some trees in this young, mixed conifer forest are now 6-7 feet tall.
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Note: Photos of forests turning to brush are available by contacting Kathleen Kahrl at The Forest Foundation, tel. 1 866 241 8733, email: kk@calforestfoundation.org
About The Forest Foundation
The Forest Foundation is a non-profit organization that strives to conserve our forests and keep them healthy by sharing the knowledge of forestry experts with the public. Based in Auburn, Calif., its programs include scientific research, community outreach, education programs, and forestry exhibits. For more information, visit www.calforestfoundation.org.
About the National Association of Forest Service Retirees (NAFSR)
The National Association of Forest Service Retirees is a national, nonprofit organization of former Forest Service employees and associates who possess a unique body of knowledge, expertise and experience in the management of the National Forests and other forestland. NAFSR members strive to contribute to the understanding and resolving of natural resource issues through periodic review and critiques of agency policies and programs. For more information, visit http://www.fsx.org/NAFSRpg.html
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