The forest fires spreading across thousands of acres in the Western states are raising many questions. The George Street Journal's Janet Kerlin turned to ecologist Steven Hamburg (below), the Ittleson Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology at the Center for Environmental Studies, for some answers.
The forest fires currently affecting the West are dependent on fuel which has built up for several decades. Since these are systems naturally prone to fire they will burn until humans or nature puts them out. Prehistorically, this would be lack of fuel, which is not the case this year, or when the rains and lack of winds keep them from traveling. Sometimes they also run into nonburnable objects such as rivers, nonvegetated regions, etc.
Why is this the worst fire in 50 years? What are the conditions that made it the worst? Is this a cycle of nature that we can expect in another 50 years?
As I mentioned, the extent of forest fires are driven by two major factors, fuel loadings and weather. Because of Smokey the Bear we have allowed our forests to accumulate large amounts of fuel. When the weather is hot, dry and windy it is ideal for fire to be extensive. In a world undergoing climate change we can expect more of this type of thing unless we begin to manage the landscape more holistically. We need to use fire as a management tool and make sure that we manage forests such that they do not build up unusually large fuel loads.
Will nature recover? How? When?
Nature will recover, but the forest may look different. Natural systems are very resilient, but the species that survive in them will change. If we disturb the system too often we select for the more cosmopolitan species, which will threaten the species relying on special habitats.