A healthy northwest forest

We hiked today to Twin Peaks. What a gorgeous day with a nice breeze. This photo depicts a healthy forest. In the Eastern (or dry side) of the Cascades, the native trees are Ponderosa Pines. Ponderosas are great because they survive in a fire-prone area because of their thick bark and their growth habits. In fact, they can't reproduce unless there is a fire. Unfortunately, loggers in the late 1800s early 1900s replanted many forests of Ponderosa Pines with Douglas Fir. While the fir are fast growers, they have low hanging branches, thinner bark and fire can get up into the canopies and jump from tree to tree causing massive fires. With the Ponderosas, fires can go through the forest and burn the underbrush but not kill the trees.

The forest depicted here is a Pondersoa Pine forest. Note there is a lot of space between trees (some social distancing going on here!) and this forest would not be devastated if a fire came through.

#firescience