National Forest Time-Lapse: 88 Years of Management and Rebound
- Posted on August 23, 2012 at 3:15pm by
Liz Klimas
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With forest fires scaring more than 7 million acres of land this year, NPR has been looking into how the nation’s forests themselves have changed over the years and the management practices that help shape them.
It reports that some forests at this point are so overgrown that it’s no wonder recent years have seen such extreme fires:
This “tree epidemic” stems from Forest Service policy dating back to the early 1900s of aggressively fighting all forest fires. But regular, small fires clean out dead wood, grasses and low brush — and if fires are quashed, the forest just grows into fuel.
In its hunt for historical context, NPR happened upon a photo study from 13 years ago — although the project is still ongoing — that showed 88 years of change in Bitterroot National Forest in Montana.
The photo series shows “how dynamic the forest is with management.“ The images depict ”selective logging“ in an effort to help thin the forest but at the same time they also show just how ”quickly the forest land rebounds” from this management.
The study itself looks at 13 points in the forest every 10 to 15 years, taking photos of that same spot to track the change. NRP reports the first photos were taken to document logging in the area, so they are not indicative of the forest in its “original” state.
Here is the series of photographs from Lick Creek Drainage Photopoint #4:
1909 (Photo: USDA FS 86467)
1927 (Photo: USDA FS 86467) 204817)
1938 (Photo: USDA FS 354395)
1948 (Photo: USDA FS 452646)
1958 (Photo: USDA FS 487741)
1979 (Photo: USDA FS 518769)
1989 (Photo: USDA FS Photo)
1997 (Photo: USDA FS Photo)
Map of the sites were photos are taken within the forest. (Image: USDA FS)
Check out all the photo series in the report starting at page 57 here.
Last year, the Forest Service spent a record $48 million for recovery work alone on burned areas. By the end of July, the agency had already spent $28 million on recovery and is on track for another possible record.
The number of fires and total acres burned this year in the West is within range of the last decade’s average, but the fires have been bigger and have burned with more severity. They have also intruded into areas where the potential impact is greater.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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cosmic dogma
Posted on August 24, 2012 at 10:34pmAlways highly amusing, the most rabid “conservationists” inevitably live in highly urban areas. Those of us who live with nature understand its incredible power. Try an experiment, if you don‘t think nature is incredibly resilient and majestic in it’s power, don’t mow your lawn for a summer. See how petty and small humans are. We are meaningless to the Earth, another organism, another era to add to layers of eras, a gray film on a rock face.
Report Post »xkfxy7j
Posted on August 24, 2012 at 10:06pmAside from the poltitcal discussion, check out the tree stump in the center of the pictures. There 1909 and still there in 1997. I have always wondered how long it takes some of the trees to go from dead and standing, back to compost.
Report Post »tajloc
Posted on August 24, 2012 at 9:38amHere in Colorado the pine beetle is wrecking havoc. The trees are brown but are useful. If we harvested all the dead trees we could limit the beetle and get cheap wood (log homes, plywood, etc). The greens do not want roads into these areas and thats it. So sometime soon we will have one heckova fire. I live in a safe area and am not worried but our beautiful state will be burned up. Don’t Californicate Colorado.
Report Post »fish2mar
Posted on August 24, 2012 at 9:37amThe Antiquities Act of 1908 started all of this. Teddy was the first in a long line of Progressives, and the original act was designed to protect Native American Burial grounds, and not to exceed five acres in size. One of the last things that Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton did before leaving office was to grab millions of acres under the auspices of the Antiquities Act. This was just a Federal land grab, to stop any private use of the land by it’s citizens. Obama seized land from Montana to Arizona & New Mexico, to supposedly ‘PROTECT’ the Common Prairie Chicken, and the Sand Dune Lizard. BullSh*T ! This was done to stop any exploration for energy resources, so that we remain dependent on foreign sources, and thus under control of the international power brokers….(Did someone say Soros ?)
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on August 24, 2012 at 4:26amAn Atom… does not properly describe… The Universe!
Report Post »Grawpy
Posted on August 24, 2012 at 1:43amThis is Bush’s fault, right Mr. Obama?
Report Post »elkslayer
Posted on August 24, 2012 at 12:21amfifteen years ago the forest in Az were shut down by the animal rights groups. No pulp wood to make paper. The forests got over grown and a huge forest fire burned up a 1/2 million acres. Az put a stop to it and made the animal rights group first prove before shutting down. Then a fire started in a wilderness area 10 years later. It could have been put out but policy said no, let it take it’s natural course. Over 600,000 acres were burned up.. I found more dead wild life than I care to have seen. So much for protecting the animals.
Report Post »TexasHunter
Posted on August 24, 2012 at 12:11pmYes the “greenies” end doing more harm than good always and eventually. Nice ELK !
Report Post »soybomb315_II
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 5:14pmfederal government should give all non-military lands back to the states. Why does the federal government own land that is not used for military anyways????
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 10:46pmEnd Programs… of Socialist Government ownership of Lands… started the Progressive TR!
Report Post »landman1
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 4:01pmOne thing this series of photos helps put into perspective is the fact that the Earth can heal itself from most of mans intrusions. All this EPA hysteria and the resulting rules that hamper growth and stifle what a person can do on his property are not needed. I live in an area of coastal North Carolina that is collapsing under the weight of the myriad of knee jerk rules governing wetlands and development when if left alone, the Earth will completely return to a natural state that absorbs anything that man will place there. Man will come and go with what ever creature that comes next left to sort through the fossils just as we do now. Earth is still here. If it has lasted through the last billion years I do not think man can destroy it in a few thousand. I am positive that the EPA will have no influence on the outcome other than to intrude into peoples lives that are struggling here now just to get by.
Report Post »shoulda coulda woulda
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 4:25pmYou know I am pretty conservative, but this reaction to environmental laws on the part of conservatives is a little lopsided. You may recall prior to significant conservation and environmental protection laws the country had done some particular harm to itself. Lake Erie was waning, the Cuyahoga River burned for the best part of a week and the Pennsylvania town of Centralia was abandoned. Now I agree that the EPA has to much authority and often oversteps even those limits, but I believe there will always need to be those who look out for the environment.
Report Post »ExTex
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 4:28pmI’ve been saying the same thing for years.
Report Post »landman1
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 5:00pmshoulda, If left alone, all those places you mentioned will revert back to their pristine selves in due time. The presence of man and all his intrusions are but a partial blink of the eye in terms of the Earth’s history. I’m talking in terms of millions upon millions of years versus thousands of years. In the short time the EPA has been in existence they have over stepped their bounds and made life miserable to private landowners under the guise of saving the world. You just haven’t been subjugated yet apparently. Just give ‘em time, they’ll get to you.
Report Post »iblvingd
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 6:55pmHow many thousands of years has the world been under the influence of people? And people who used a lot more natural resources than we do today? Now the Government and EPA and Agenda 21 say they can control it better? The world and humanity did just fine without all the Boozo government controls, for thousands of years. God and mother earths plan works just fine.
Report Post »iblvingd
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 7:05pmAs a matter of fact we had much less garbage on the earth prior to the sixties. More has been done to hurt the environment through manufacturing of products that fill the Elites pockets with money, and fill the landfills with more garbage than ever before in history. Their garbage is strewn throughout the world. Their garbage is histories new artifacts that will be dug up in 500 years from now. But somehow the EPA cannot see this?
Report Post »Caballosinnombre
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 3:55pmAnd of course those who are against logging have little to say when a large forest fire totally wipes out all the trees. A properly managed forest doesn’t have that negative impact the liberals would like you to believe.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 4:00pmIndeed.
Report Post »RocktheCasbah
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 6:04pmExactly, properly managed land/forests with prescribed burning helps prevent these massive wildfires.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 10:53pmBut prescribed or natural burns make the forest look so yucky and ashy…
I still wonder why we are spending money to make nature more “natural”. Why don’t they just leave the wild places they want to be wild alone? It makes more sense to me, but then again, I’m not a Keynesian.
Report Post »jackofiron
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 3:42pmQ: What do you call a 40 year old CLEARCUT ?
A: a FOREST.
Report Post »landman1
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 4:24pmYour observation is spot on. The Earth will take care of herself. Why do you think we mow our lawns every week? If left alone your yard would revert back to its natural state in short order. That’s a small sample of the cycle that goes on every minute. Man can’t stop it or alter it. He can only co-exist with nature while he’s here.
Report Post »iblvingd
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 7:18pmCouldn’t resist the crazy analogy…….I just had a major infestation of squash bugs in my zucchini. So to git rid of the pests I had to completely give the zucchini a haircut to get rid of the eggs the pests had laid and also be able to control and kill the pests. They looked really sad when I was done….but a week and a half later the pests are gone and it doesn’t look like I gave them a haircut they are doing great.
Yes the earth takes care of itself if it is managed properly……but I also decided it is just like our corrupt government too…clean house…it may be sad at first but America can recover!
Report Post »avgconservative
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 3:28pmWatching trees grow is sort of like watching paint dry, isn’t it?
Report Post »huey6367
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 3:57pmSO they manage the natural order? The forest will reclaim the land. Mother nature always wins.
Report Post »huey6367
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 3:58pmSo what if it is a painting of a tree?
Report Post »the_system_disconnect
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 3:59pmIf you’re a democrat, you’re sniffing the paint too, so it can’t really quite be compared ;)
Report Post »Sirfoldallot
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 3:28pmSome of those trees r ready to be cut down.
Report Post »MittensKittens
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 3:24pm1 word WOW….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Report Post »princessnutsack
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 3:39pmlol. funny.
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