#Fires pacific northwest Patch

It is important to minimize sources of ignition as much as possible during the warm and dry conditions that define our fire season in the Northwest (generally mid-spring to mid-fall), and especially so when winds are high. That said, minimizing the number of unplanned human-caused fires is important for safely and effectively managing forests and fires. Wildfires always have been, and always will be a key part of our forests in the Northwest. What can we do to prevent wildfires in the Pacific Northwest? This sounds scary from our human perspective, but the ecological opportunities created by these severe fires lead to extraordinarily high biodiversity for plants and animals in the decades that follow – including the key natural establishment opportunity for trees like Douglas fir and lodgepole pine. These infrequent fires historically burned through naturally high fuel amounts, resulting in large, severe fires (i.e., they killed nearly 100% of above-ground plants).

#Fires pacific northwest Patch

Conversely, a typical patch of cold subalpine forests or moist Douglas-fir and western hemlock forests like what we see on the crest or west side of the Cascades historically experienced fire every few centuries or longer. These frequent fires remove fuels from the forest, keeping fire intensity and severity relatively low, and the thick bark on trees such as ponderosa pine allows these trees to survive many fires over their multi-century lifetime. For example, a given patch of dry ponderosa pine forest on the east side of the Cascades historically experiences fire every few years to every few decades. How do wildfires impact ecology in the Pacific Northwest?įires are a key part of the ecology of our forests in the Pacific Northwest, and the role fire plays in shaping our forests varies across space. Coupling further climate warming with fuel amounts sufficient to carry fire, we should expect an increase in the potential for fire across the Northwest in the years ahead. since the mid-1980s can be attributed to human-caused climate change. A study in 2016 showed that nearly half of the increase in area burned across the western U.S. While the proportion of area that burns at high severity (e.g., killing most vegetation) hovers around 25% to 35% for most fires, more area burned means more area burned severely.

Recent years have also seen some fires larger than 10,000 acres on the west side of the Cascades, which historically included fire events on the order of several hundreds of thousands of acres. The year 2015 saw the greatest total area burned in recent history for Washington state, and many will remember several fires in eastern Washington burning more than 100,000 acres. that has tracked warming temperatures over the same time period, and the Pacific Northwest is no exception. Recent decades have seen a marked increase in area burned in the western U.S. What changes have occurred in wildfire patterns in recent years? However, in dry, frequent-fire forests, prescribed fire is a key piece of the fire and forest management puzzle, especially in sensitive areas. Wildfires will always remain a key part of our forests, and prescribed fires do not make as much sense in forests where the natural fire regime is characterized by infrequent and severe fires. With prescribed fires, we have a lot more choice as to where and when fire is applied as a management tool, and when and where smoke will be produced. Prescribed fires are an effective tool in such situations, and are a relatively cost-effective way to reduce hazardous fuel buildup so that wildfires can do more of the work they performed historically in a way that is less threatening to society. However, in some contexts of our modern world (e.g., when human safety and infrastructure is at risk), letting wildfires burn unabated is simply too dangerous. Wildfires do a lot “work” in our Pacific Northwest forests removing fuel (by burning it away), recycling nutrients, creating critical opportunities for new trees to establish, and stimulating herbaceous growth that supports high wildlife diversity are all just a few of the critical ecosystem services that wildfires provide. Should we be interfering with this natural process by conducting controlled burns?įire is integral to our forests in the Pacific Northwest-without it, they would look profoundly different than the forests that we know and love today. Wildfires are a natural part of forest management.