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Unkempt forests are nothing new, but the west has caught fire and burned all summer for 5 bad fire years since 2000. I've lived in the mountain west all my life, and I've never seen so many bad fire seasons come so close together in my life.
And the 20th century's forests were a hell of a lot more unkempt than they are now. The forest service and all the state forest agencies have been steadily working at clearing out the overgrowth and deadfall ever since the early 80s. When Yellowstone Park burned down in 1988, those efforts tripled, and never let up.
And throughout the 20th century, months of 100º days were a real rarity, but not now. The rare summer here is a cool one, not a hot one.
I'm not blaming anyone or anything. I'm just watching.
And I've seen the intermountain west is growing hotter. Our winters are beginning later and are shorter, our springs are longer and often rainier, and our summers are far hotter than in the past, and the heat stays longer once it sets in.
Last year a major range fire hit my area, the worst in local history. The west doesn't ever burn all at once everywhere, but every year, there is somewhere a much bigger fire that burns longer is breaking out now, and it's been a rare summer when our air isn't smoky at some time.
The fire may be burning hundreds of miles away, but the smoke will drift hundreds of miles. Tonight, the full moon is dark orange again, due to all the smoke drifting in from the Montana fires, and my eyes are irritated. When they air is smoky, my eyes aways get irritated.
Last month, it was the fires in Washington. I don't expect the fires to quit until the snow falls, and the snows may not come until the middle of December; they often have in this century. Rain in December was once uncommon here, but not these days.
This. It's not unkempt forests that are causing all of these fires, it's climate change. Look at the record breaking fires in British Columbia this year and Alberta last year. Whole cities were evacuated.
One of the big problems of modern mega fires is that they're burning a LOT hotter than the fires of yesteryear, which sterilizes the soil and leaves areas prone to debris flows when the rains arrive, further endangering those who live and work in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). In some cases, just ten minutes of rain destabilized the ground enough to cause a devastating mudslide.
Last edited by randomparent; 09-05-2017 at 08:42 AM..
Reason: typo
To a point you are correct. Where it becomes a problem is there are lots of people that have moved into forested areas or around forested areas, then add in regulations restricting people from touching said forests or even trees they live around.
You've got to then look at the lack of homeowners preparing their properties for a fire if one should occur. When we built in the trees I specifically cleared back 30-50 feet and added a couple of frost heads 20 feet +/- away from the house in case we had to set up large sprinklers to spray down the house and surrounding trees/ground cover.
Prior to moving we were looking at buying 20 gallons of Barracade Fire Gel to spray.
Remember that the forest fires are being caused by Evil Big Government regulation and Evil Environmentalist policy. Climate change has nothing to do with it. Climate change is a myth created by Evil Big Government and Evil Environmentalists.
Remember that the forest fires are being caused by Evil Big Government regulation and Evil Environmentalist policy. Climate change has nothing to do with it. Climate change is a myth created by Evil Big Government and Evil Environmentalists.
Capitalizing on evolutionary changes is created by Evil Big Government and Evil Environmentalists.
lmao....What a stupid thing to say. All the load left over from not clearing it or burning it causes the fires to get out of control. That's why there is this thing called controlled burning.
Remember that the forest fires are being caused by Evil Big Government regulation and Evil Environmentalist policy. Climate change has nothing to do with it. Climate change is a myth created by Evil Big Government and Evil Environmentalists.
I think big government passed a bill allowing +100 degree days in the west this summer, climate change is a myth.
Remember that the forest fires are being caused by Evil Big Government regulation and Evil Environmentalist policy. Climate change has nothing to do with it. Climate change is a myth created by Evil Big Government and Evil Environmentalists.
To make your statement a little more accurate it should say "human caused Climate Change" is a myth.
As of today we stand to lose a good portion of Glacier Park in MT, Washington State has multiple fires, the Jolly Mountain Fire is threatening thousands of homes and 4000 homes are being evacuated.
the skies over the seattle region were grey yesterday and i woke up to ashes falling this morning.... my car the streets, everything is covered in ashes. i am wondering will it be blocking up ac filters etc.
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