West Coast Smoke, UGH!

[MossRoad]

There's an 80's El Camino for sale down the road from me. Maybe I'll go all Mad Max and soup it up. :laughing:

 

[ericm979]

When I think of all the timber going up in smoke and the hundreds of millions spent to mitigate hundreds of fires it sure does seem to make the case for mismanagement...

The majority of California's forests are managed by the US Forest Service. In California the Forest Service doesn't do much thinning (unlike the forest I worked on in Arizona). They haven't done many controlled burns either. Much of California's forest fuel build up problem can be laid on the federal government. The USFS and California recently signed an agreement to treat 1 million acres a year by 2025. I don't know if the feds have money for that yet. California has already set aside $1B for their part. It will take time to see the results from this program assuming it gets funded.

If reports of forests burning being the new normal wouldn't it be better for the burning of wood to produce something useful or harvest for timber...

Logging is not the answer to the fuels problem. The trees that are worth the most are also the trees that should be left from a fire standpoint at they burn the least readily. For really high value timber they can do a select cut that takes only some of the big trees and can spend the extra effort to get rid of the more flammable small trees and brush. But most logging is not high value trees like big redwoods. White fir and sugar pine in the sierras just aren't worth as much. We could require the same treatment for logging those trees but the resulting lumber would be really expensive.

Also we need to leave some forests for the future, to hold water in the soil, for recreation, wildlife habitat, etc. Even if we did clear cut everything, the brush that would grow up in 10 years would be even more flammable than the forests were, so the problem would be worse, not better. A well managed forest with large mature trees spaced apart and not much brush or small trees with intermixed clearings is about as fire resistant as you can get on these lands. But it takes a different management philosophy than what the USFS (and everyone else) has been using for the last 120 years.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've spent a little time at Summit Lake WA... the first time it was ringed with timber...

My next visit it was clearcut... not the cabins lakeside but all the ridge timber...

Asked a local what was going on and was told the land is owned by lumber company and is was harvest time...

I then said it looks bad and learned yes but clear-cutting provides years of fire surpression and jobs here in timber country...

For decades we would meticulously clean the forest floor around the Tahoe cabin and incinerate all the needles/duff

A change made burning illegal and best practice now dictated leaving duff in place except for a narrow strip measured in feet around the cabin...

The Tahoe Angora fire showed the consequences of leaving needles in place...

Grandma paid us 10 cents a bag for needles and let's say not a needle remained after we raked and bagged!

 

[grsthegreat]

When my brother and i were building a custom spec home years ago in malibu canyon, California, we were in the process of cleaning out all the dead brush in a canyon leading up to the new house. A cop showed up and we were told that a neighbor complained we were raping the land. Told to stop. Years later a fire took out the home we built and the nozy neighbors also. Plus alot of other homes. Just goes to show you.

 

[ultrarunner]

When my brother and i were building a custom spec home years ago in malibu canyon, California, we were in the process of cleaning out all the dead brush in a canyon leading up to the new house. A cop showed up and we were told that a neighbor complained we were raping the land. Told to stop. Years later a fire took out the home we built and the nozy neighbors also. Plus alot of other homes. Just goes to show you.

Sad but true... just start a chain saw around here and see what happens.

Had the police come up many times when operating my D3 maintaining required fire breaks...

I was always cordial, provided ID, etc.

Seems bulldozers are seen a very evil by some.

Anyway... said I would be happy to stop if put in writing... this way I would have documentation for Fire Marshall...

The end result was always the same... carry on.

 

[dragoneggs]

Sad but true... just start a chain saw around here and see what happens.

Had the police come up many times when operating my D3 maintaining required fire breaks...

I was always cordial, provided ID, etc.

Seems bulldozers are seen a very evil by some.

Anyway... said I would be happy to stop if put in writing... this way I would have documentation for Fire Marshall...

The end result was always the same... carry on.

ultra, I just don't see how you continue to put up with the insanity. :confused3:

 

[grsthegreat]

i grew up in arizona and southern and central california. moved to idaho in 1996 after buying place in 1993. i was so use to calif stupid policies when i moved i actually went to the city office and asked them what i need to do before i cut some trees on my land. the clerk looked at me like i was nuts. all he asked me was "is it your land" i said yes. then he said all you need is a chainsaw and some fuel and oil.

i knew then that i was in heaven.

now as long as we can keep the crazy people from moving here and destroying everything well be ok. unfortunately this place is building by leaps and bounds. just today an article appeared in paper that a developer plans on building 4,500 new homes in Post Falls (which is just outside town) to help accommodate the new arrivals. just what we need. 4500 x 2.5 average per home...probably from calif and seattle. now, im from calif myself, but i left all my old attitudes behind. the new arrivals dont. we have someone running for sheriff (ex calif sheriff deputy) that actually said he wants a sheriffs department that runs just like los angeles. he thinks that his constituents want the same thing. oh my god. cant i ever get away from these people.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yep... never really "Woke" until my time in Austria which is heavily regulated but they thought I was spinning yarns needing permission to take out a tree on your on property with weeks of community comment time before decision or that someone trespassing and getting hurt can sue the owner...

My Bay Area roots go deep as do family commitments...

Several things I have come to believe is as California goes so goes the nation given enough time which means you can run but can't hide.

Love just about everything about
Western WA but it the climate I like is not kind to antique cars... which is bad for someone with 50 assorted vehicles.... the answer is climate controlled space but at what cost for a working guy?

The other sobering point is it takes almost 8 months rent to cover property tax... way more than CA...

Will have to see what happens on quality of life issues overall... blue sky and abundant water are big pluses where people get along...

 

[oosik]

Well - now it's quit raining - DE. Our total - 0.11". If we got four inches in a couple days...... I'd be floating down the Colombia. It was a light, stead rain and it all soaked in. No runoff - no puddles.

 

[Aquamoose]

i grew up in arizona and southern and central california. moved to idaho in 1996 after buying place in 1993. i was so use to calif stupid policies when i moved i actually went to the city office and asked them what i need to do before i cut some trees on my land. the clerk looked at me like i was nuts. all he asked me was "is it your land" i said yes. then he said all you need is a chainsaw and some fuel and oil.

i knew then that i was in heaven.

now as long as we can keep the crazy people from moving here and destroying everything well be ok. unfortunately this place is building by leaps and bounds. just today an article appeared in paper that a developer plans on building 4,500 new homes in Post Falls (which is just outside town) to help accommodate the new arrivals. just what we need. 4500 x 2.5 average per home...probably from calif and seattle. now, im from calif myself, but i left all my old attitudes behind. the new arrivals dont. we have someone running for sheriff (ex calif sheriff deputy) that actually said he wants a sheriffs department that runs just like los angeles. he thinks that his constituents want the same thing. oh my god. cant i ever get away from these people.

Howdy neighbor! (Sorta). I’m from Deer Park. Moved from SoCal in 2010 BUT I left CA mentality behind and fully adopted the lifestyle here. First night I lived here, I knew I was home and am convinced I was abducted when I was a child.

The town’s growing so yes, it’s a concern of mine. It’s the “small lot” tracts that attracts the wrong type with shiny cars which concerns me.