Photos

The Power Fire, and the Blackbacked Woodpecker

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This helicopter unit experienced significant dieback, even as the fallers returned multiple times. The marking guidelines allowed for cutting trees with low crown ratios, and with the Forest Service getting projects together so quickly (six months!), the bark beetles hadn’t run their course, yet. In addition to the snag specifications in the project’s plans, you can clearly see that there are a great many more snags now, than the plans required. Also important in this is that snag of certain sizes had to be cut and flown out, as part of the fuels treatment (a HUGE expenditure!)  The Power Fire salvage project was halted by the Ninth Circuit Court, due to the new salvage marking guidelines, and a perceived need for more blackbacked woodpecker analysis. The cutting unit below was completed, though.

Also seen in the foreground is that nasty bear clover, which will dominate, until it is shaded out, or killed with herbicides. It is great to have this smelly carpet (AKA mountain misery) under a nice canopy but, in this case, it will hinder all trees from germinating and growing. Their roots can go 12 feet deep. Even the deerbrush is kept at bay by the bear clover.

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April Showers…

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… bring Maple flowers!

I went to Yosemite Valley on Monday and saw the waterfalls, maybe at their spring peaks. Luckily, here in California, our wet spring has helped us avoid a terrible water year. This week had free admission to our National Parks, and I had no excuse to not get up there and collect a bunch of pictures. I took 547 pictures, in all!

I also was asked about my availability to work on the marking crew on the adjacent Ranger District. They saw my name and acted quickly to get the wheels turning. Hopefully, I can do that job, given my elderly condition. (smirks)

Giant Jeffreyii’s

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Many of you have seen ponderosa pine but, its higher-and-drier cousin, the Jeffrey Pine, is pretty easily identified. There are some areas where the two species compete with each other but, their “preferred habitats” are different. While ponderosas have a more yellow-green needle color, the Jeffrey is more grey-green. What I like best about the Jeffreys are their oversized limbs. They put a lot more effort into growing these very stout, large diameter limbs. Since Jeffrey “habitat” is more open, with more groundwater, maybe those big limbs are just a way of the tree using up energy not needed for growing so tall and dominant. Of course, the easiest way to tell the two species apart is the old saying; “Gentle Jeffrey, Prickly Ponderosa”, when handling their cones.

Way back in 1987, I was working on the Hat Creek RD off the Lassen NF, and we had a bunch of lightning fires. Three crews from the east came in on buses and as soon as they stepped off the bus, they saw these ancient Jeffrey pines. They stared at them for a while until the mushroom cloud from the big fire we had caught their attention. We had 43 fires burning during those three days of lightning.

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Mono Lake Tufa Preserve

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On the south shore of the picturesque Mono Lake is a collection of rock formations known as tufa. For thousands of centuries, the level of Mono Lake has fluctuated, with ancient lakeshores easily visible from commercial airliners. As the lake rises, more minerals cling to the existing structures, building them larger and taller. It really seems unlikely that the water levels will be rising, in the near future, even with the waters from Rush Creek being permanently sustained. There are just a few pocket glaciers left in the Sierra Nevada but, there were some very wet years in the 80’s which pushed water levels higher. This is a Forest Service site, which requires a fee or pass. Improvements include a nice boardwalk, bathrooms, a parking area and periodic road grading.

I stayed until well after sundown, capturing some dramatic shots. There were about another 30 photographers there, as well. It is a fragile place but, I haven’t seen much damage in the 30 years since I first saw it.

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Biscuit “Big Pine”

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Here is a true scenic picture from the Biscuit Fire locale. This giant tree is rather famous, as John Muir, himself, marveled at the jaw-dropping majesty of such an ancient king of the forest. We measured the diameter, and one of the local District folks told us about the height. While the tree is “only” 86″ in diameter, the height is towering at 257 feet. Equally amazing is the surrounding Douglas-fir stand, with trees that aren’t really that old topping out at over 200 feet. This is in Big Pine campground, near the northeast flank of the Biscuit Fire.

Enjoy!

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Biscuit “Scenic” Pictures

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This is an example of a “protected” nesting site for a northern spotted owl. It was never logged and will not be habitat for many decades, especially if a reburn occurs. It sure doesn’t look “natural and beneficial”, to me, OR the owls and goshawks.

Here are the kind of snags (the large orange-marked one) that were selected to be “saved”, within Biscuit cutting units. Of course, only 4% of the 500,000 acres of the Biscuit were salvaged, so there certainly is no lack of snags in the huge burn.

Here is a cutting unit where mortality was close to 100%, in unlogged old growth. Instead of thinning a green stand, we ended up “thinning” snags.

Here is some erosion, in a small gully. I wonder what the “cumulative impacts” of hundreds of similar gullies have upon salmon populations, and other aquatic organisms. Surely, some of these gullies experienced accelerated erosion in the 5+ years since I took this picture.

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Winter Turns to Spring

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I went out into the deep new snow yesterday and shot quite a few frames. I love how my wide angle captured this scene. Since the temperatures were in the high 20’s, the snow hadn’t started falling off the trees yet. This piece of land appears to be Forest Service but, the local water entity seems to be using it on a special use permit. This is clearly within the WUI but, very little has been done in the last 11 years I have lived here. About 6 years ago, they brought a convict crew in to do some hand piling. The land still remains highly flammable, with ample, oily bear clover (aka mountain misery) ready to burn. They just don’t do broadcast burning around here, despite how easy it is to burn off the bear clover.

People get so surprised when we have snow during spring. The biggest storm period I have ever seen was in the first week of April, 1982. The snow was so deep, it was ABOVE the chairlift cables at Squaw Valley’s Headwall lift. They had to cut a notch in the snow, so the chairlift could run. I’ve seen fresh snow during every month of the year. Back in July 1987, a 10,000 acre wildfire I was on was put out by 4 inches of new snow. We had the biggest snowball fight I’ve ever seen, in fire camp, while everyone was waiting to be “de-mob-ed”.

Sumter Hardwood Forest

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I spent about six months in “the Piedmont” of South Carolina, doing stand exams. Most units were plantations, reforested from the old cotton fields. Some of the units were bottomland areas, with lots of interesting biodiversity. I discovered 41 different hardwoods species, with 20 of them being oaks. I did pretty well identifying the trees, despite having taken Dendrology 25 years beforehand. This oak was really unusual. with a branch being longer than the tree was tall. I paced the 55 foot distance of this limb that grew its way to the road opening.

Baldcypress on the De Soto National Forest

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While inspecting the work of re-establishing property lines in the De Soto National Forest in Mississippi, I ran across this patch of baldcypress trees. They immediately became one of my favorite trees, when I first discovered them, years before, in South Carolina. One of the oddest things I saw was a mall parking lot planted with baldcypress. About half of them weren’t doing very well but, the other half had those “knees” coming up through the pavement. On that same assignment, I saw some of the Katrina damages, as well. You can see a few downed trees, in this picture.

Feather Falls

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This large waterfall, near Oroville, California, takes some effort in getting to. A round trip of almost 9 miles will keep the “tenderfoots” away. Luckily, the hike in the Plumas NF is quite shady and enjoyable. The diversity of plant life is impressive, with even some rare plants, like the California Nutmeg, finding places to grow. This view of the falls only includes about two thirds of the entire height.

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