Historical fire regimes and the 2020 Labor Day fires on the west side of Oregon and Washington with locations of large (>10,000 ha) and small fires (<10,000 ha), b) Reburns following the 1902 Yacolt Fire in 1902 in the western Washington Cascades, c) Reburns following the 1933 Tillamook Fire in the Oregon Coast Range.
2020 fire perimeters and mapped extent of “stand-replacing fire” in 1902 and perimeters of known large westside fires.
I know many folks are interested in this topic…here’s the link. We might have talked about these studies before. Thanks to Nick Smith !
Hidden stories of fire: tree rings reveal fire histories of Pacific Northwest rainforests
Webinar Date–Andrew Merschel and colleagues at the Pacific Northwest Research Station and Oregon State University have constructed dozens of new fire histories in the western Cascades of Oregon and Washington. These histories refine our understanding of historical fire regimes in Pacific Northwest rainforests. For the first time, this research pairs direct evidence of historical fires with precisely dated tree establishment data. The novel fire and forest development histories reveal tremendous diversity in the tempo of historical fires and their influence on forest development and conditions.
Contrary to conventional theory, many old trees and forests in the Pacific Northwest were shaped by recurrent low- to moderate-severity fires. Across these landscapes, variation in the number of fires, their timing, and their effects increased diversity in forest successional conditions (e.g., ages) and diversity in tree structure and species composition. Many of the remarkable and beloved features of old forests in the Pacific Northwest including old trees with enormous and complex crowns, multi-layered canopies, and a diverse mixture of tree species developed with fire, not without fire.
In some study locations, exceptionally high fire frequency prior to European colonization is indicative of Indigenous fire stewardship practiced for millennia by Indigenous cultures. This highlights the critical role that Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest had in stewarding and shaping the old trees and forests that contemporary forest management is aiming to restore and conserve. Merschel’s innovative research is sparking a shift in how we think about fires in the Pacific Northwest. Tune in to this webinar to learn some surprising things that we are learning about historical fire regimes and forest dynamics, and how this information might inform restoration of old-growth forests, fire mitigation, and adaptation to a warmer and drier climate.
Interesting, but did I miss a link to sign up for the webinar?
The webinar will be hosted on Teams and there’s no need to register in advance. But if you click on the link provided above, there’s an “Add to calendar” button.
Thanks, Rachel. It’s on my calendar.
One word; “duh”! We knew this (practicing silviculturists) in the 1970’s. Interesting take on spell check, it first corrected my words to “praying silviculturists” – that worked well too…..🤣🤣
So did James K. Agee. See his 2013 book, Fire Ecology of Pacific Northwest Forests.
https://islandpress.org/books/fire-ecology-pacific-northwest-forests#desc