2009 Research Highlights
Long-term effects of fire management in coast redwood forests
Coast redwood forests are among the most spectacular temperate forests on earth, yet unlike most forests of North America, the importance of fire for their perpetuation remains highly controversial. Due to the humid climate of California’s north coast and the low incidence of lightning there, the fire regime is thought to be both ignition- and climate-limited. Yet surprisingly, past fires burned there as often as they did anywhere, largely due to human ignitions.
Managers who are charged with sustaining these ancient old growth forests can choose to ignore the cultural fire regimes of centuries past and manage forests toward outcomes that may yield unwanted surprises. Alternatively, they can follow a historical model of frequent fire that will lead to the short-term loss of some centuries-old trees, endangered species habitat, and conflicts with diverse social values. Their decisions are particularly difficult because of the time scale involved. By burning or not burning, the long-term structural and compositional state of trees that can live for over a millennium will be affected.
Several Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center collaborative research projects across the northern redwood range have helped managers better understand the historical importance of fire and the long-term effects of continued fire exclusion. This timely knowledge will improve the quality of the choices that managers make today and well into the future.
Contact: Steve Norman, ecologist, (828) 259-0535, steve.norman@usda.gov
Partners: Bureau of Land Management; California Department of Parks and Recreation; Redwood National and State Parks; Humboldt State University
