After burn: wildfire has destroyed forests across the West. Help is needed to restore the life-giving "natural capital" they provide

American Forests, Spring, 2005 by Ethan Kearns

Wildfires are changing the landscape across the country and often not for the better. A long-standing policy of putting out all forest fires resulted in woods that were full of "fuel"--leaf litter and downed limbs and trees that allow fires to burn hotter and slower than they ordinarily would. The result is burned homes, barren acres, infusions of bugs, and erosion. Trees are desparately needed to begin the healing process, and begin to restore cleaner water, homes for animals, and opportunities for recreation.

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AMERICAN FORESTS created its Wildfire ReLeaf program in 2000 to help heal burned lands that might otherwise wait years for planting, allowing an invasion of nonnative species. Within the last three years alone, AMERICAN FORESTS' Wildfire ReLeaf has funded projects in California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Idaho and Montana. You can help us plant trees on these sites in 2005:

CALIFORNIA

For Julian, California, July 29, 2002, brought a scenario seen all too often of late in California and other states. A wildfire--this one set accidentally when a drug-patrolling helicopter clipped a power line--covered nearly 100 square miles and threatened hundreds of homes. It took 25 days to contain.

One casualty from what came to be known as the Pines Fire just north of town was a majority of the San Felipe Valley Wildlife Area, property owned by the state and jointly managed by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) and the Department of Fish and Game.

Included in the northern part of that burn was a wildlife area known as Volcan Mountain. Open to the public, Volcan Mountain is envisioned as a place where the public will be able to learn about all aspects of forest management, says Thom Porter, a unit forester for CDF. Eventually CDF wants the forest there to reflect various stages of development while allowing the resident wildlife to thrive--deer in the summer and Mexican spotted owls, raptors, and other large birds of prey. Potentially there are sites for red- or yellow-legged frogs and other amphibians.

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Volcan Mountain burned so intensely, Porter says, because it had "little islands of forest in a sea of chaparral" adding that it had been 95 years or more since the chaparral last burned.

"Those extreme circumstances made it impossible to manage the fire and keep it out of the timber," Porter says. "Combined with a build-up within the timber stand, it made the fire especially devastating."

Over two years, CDF and AMERICAN FORESTS plan to plant 30,000 Jeffrey pine and incense-cedar over 600 acres on Volcan Mountain.

Volcan Mountain's scene of loss has been repeated across California--and in other states throughout the country. Areas that lose their trees due to wildfire are more susceptible to erosion and the loss of important nutrients. Wildlife from eagles to elk to bear lose nesting habitat and sources of food. And urban dwellers lose valuable places where they can connect with nature.

That was the case at Forest Lawn Scout Reservation near Lake Arrowhead, a popular destination for Boy and Girl Scouts in the Los Angeles area. The Los Angeles Area Council serves more than 50,000 boys and girls and reflects the area's great diversity: 52 percent of the scouts are Latino, 21 percent African-American, and 10 percent Asian-Pacific Islander.

Each year the Council encourages its Scouts to attend summer camp at Forest Lawn. There kids can hike, horseback ride and canoe; for many city kids it may be their first wilderness experience. Started in 1949, Forest Lawn is a "pristine 2000-acre wilderness camp with rolling hills and tall pine trees and a lake," says Brian Curtis, director of support services for the Council. During their week at camp Scouts learn skills that reinforce self-confidence and improve teamwork. They also make memories that last throughout their lives.

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But in October 2003 devastating wildfires swept through the Arrowhead/Cedar Glen area. The "Old Fire" burned more than 2,000 acres, leaving behind $3.6 million in damage. Forest Lawn lost 40 buildings and had to completely shut down two sections of its Scout camp. Included in the loss: all the buildings that housed scouts for winter camp as well as the entire Cub Scout camping area. The maintenance area and buildings also burned.

Curtis says they lost hundreds of acres of trees, which hosted "various birds, deer, an occasional black bear, and small game."

Partnering with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, AMERICAN FORESTS will plant more than 10,000 seedlings at the fire site to help recovery efforts.

Wildfires that swept California in 2003 also wreaked havoc on the San Bernardino Mountains, where approximately 12 million trees weakened by six years of drought are now dead or dying from the resulting stress and an epidemic of bark beetles. The October wildfires left some areas with close to 100 percent of their trees dead. Approximately 500 homes were destroyed on the mountain, with many others destroyed in the San Bernardino Valley.