Fire and Climate Change

If there is one point that all of our speakers have emphasized in our series of talks about wildfire, it is that fire in the mountains has been with us for a very long time, and that it is an essential component of our regional biome. (Wait! Is that two points?) These points were hammered home by Dr. Arielle Halpern, co-chair of the Ecology Dept. at SOU.

History of Fire in the Klamath-Siskiyou

Dr. Halpern reminded us that fire has been an integral element in this region for about 13,000 years.  This fact underscores the conclusion that the Klamath-Siskiyou region has evolved to accommodate seasonal, periodic wildfire. This point is borne out by tree ring analysis dating from about 1650 to the present.  Most naturally occurring wildfires are caused by lightning strikes and are, for the most part, small & localized, allowing the dominant plant and animal communities  to adapt to the seasonal phenomenon of fire.

Role of Fire in the Klamath-Siskiyou

This process of adapting to fire has resulted in a complex web of plant-animal-soil interrelationships that we refer to as biome diversity.  Over the last 13,000 years the ecological role of fire has become to maintain this diversity.  Fire is thus a major force in developing the composition of forests, from towering, thick-barked trees, through woody shrubs, plants, animal from mammals to mollusks that thrive in the region.  Fire even affects soil nutrients, maintaining the health of the understory that supports the plant and animal communities.  As another source puts it, "Fire is a forest's way of re-newing itself."  (Strangely Like War, Jensen & Draffan, Chelsea Green, 2003 at 65.)

Over time, native Americans recognized the importance of fire to the ecosystem and learned how to control it to maintain valued populations that supported human heath and culture.  The practice of using controlled burns imitated the effect of naturally-occurring fires in creating a diverse mosaic of plant and animal communities that keep the forests  healthy and productive through supporting and enhancing diversity.

The Takeaway

Instead of continuing the century-old practice of trying to suppress wildfires, we need to learn from the our native American forebears how to use controlled burns to keep our Klamath-Siskiyou forests healthy and biologically diverse.