Ecology of fire

The Bitterroot National Forest has established a new auto tour of the infamous Lick Creek site. A series of historical photos taken at Lick Creek indicates that forests in the area may have been more open during the pre-European settlement era than they are today. Logging and fire suppression are considered the prime culprits, and restorative thinning projects followed by a regime of controlled burns is the cure.

The Lick Creek example has been used across the west by those advocating restoration forestry. Unfortunately, the photos don't tell the whole story. The original photos, taken in 1909, apparently show the forest after a logging project. So maybe the presettlement forest wasn't as open as we believe.

By the way, we are supporters of restoration forestry here at www.mthookandbullet.com. But we also think restoration advocates sometimes stretch the truth about how open presettlement forests really were. For instance, in Arizona restoration advocates sometimes make their point with dubious claims such as pioneers being able to ride their wagons from New Mexico to Flagstaff as the pine forests of the Arizona highlands were so open. They also sometimes exaggerate the ecological harm of stand replacement fires. Yeah, some areas get burnt to a crisp. But its rarely an across-the-forest catastrophe. Even the Rodeo-Chediski Fire in Arizona in 2002, which burned 462,614 acres and was the largest in that state's history, left a mosaic of conditions on the ground following the blaze. And mosaics, not continuous stands of old yellow-barked ponderosas, leads to biodiversity.

By the way, we think restoration opponents are just as likely to exaggerate the ill-effects of thinning projects. We'll take that point up some other time.