[RWG] FIRE 07 Great Basin and Southwest conditions Costs for restoration and management Plan? Re: Increase in fires in arid USA maybe result of six reasons

[Wayne Tyson]

Dear Penny and all:

My hat is off to you for working on this issue for a very long time!

I agree that cheatgrass is a very big problem, and quite a challenge 
for wildlands managers.  I also agree that any bright three-year-old, 
not to mention third-grader, should be able to recognize the value of 
shade in soil moisture conservation; the same should be true for most 
of the other factors I mentioned.  But it is also human nature to 
overlook the obvious, so we have to patient with those who do, and 
thank those who write up "the obvious" as dissertations.  Some years 
ago I did a field trial that illustrated the value of almost any kind 
of cover to soil moisture preservation.

The restoration of something resembling the complex ecosystem that 
preceded the alien invasion can be quite effective in minimizing the 
adverse effects, populations, and reproductive success of alien plant 
species.  However, this can't always be done under the conditions of 
continual disturbance, such as that caused by the presence of alien 
animal species such as livestock.  I believe that the potential for 
restoration as a tool for combatting alien plant species domination 
is inadequately explored.  However, Jayne Belknap 
(http://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/impacts/biology/crypto/) and others 
have done considerable work with cryptobiotic (cryptogamic) soil 
crust communities in the Great Basin region, and I suspect that the 
restoration of these communities would go a long way toward reducing 
the adverse effects of many alien plant species.  Just planting a few 
shrub and tree species might help, but restoring a disturbed area to 
ecosystem health requires a comprehensive approach.  But you can 
start by planting pinyons and junipers and "understory" 
shrubs--whatever you can.  Can't hurt!  But keep them widely 
spaced.  Trim them up for fire resistance--if you can spare the 
time.  Even one tree per acre or ten acres would help--I'm in favor 
of treating more area less intensively in most cases, even though 
"creating" a "woodland" is more satisfying.  Just having them close 
enough for the pinyon jays and other interdependent creatures can get 
from one to another and survive is often good enough.

There are lots of effects of pinyon removal, but you no doubt know 
them as well as I, so I won't blab on about them.

Good luck!

WT

At 07:10 PM 10/15/2007, penny at pinenut.com wrote:
>I would to reply to several posts at once. I have worked on this 
>issue for a very long time .
>
>Patricia:
>>The article below mentions two conditions that will contribute to 
>>the proliferation of invasives in >response to global climate change:
>
>
>The cheatgrasslong been  recognized as the primary fuel problem, but 
>the response has been to treat pinyon trees.
>
>"We found that a fire cycle had developed, referred to in recent 
>science reports as the 'cheatgrass-wildfire cycle.' This problem is 
>acute in Nevada, where the cycle of fire disturbance has spurred the 
>invasive cheat grass to alter range and wildlife habitats."
>
>State Director, Nevada Bureau of Land Management Before the United 
>States Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Concerning 
>Nevada Wildlife Conservation Initiatives April 10, 2001 
>http://www.doi.gov/ocl/2001/nvwild.htm
>
>See generally,
>www.pinenut.com/cheatgrass.htm
>
>Wayne:
>
>>By not understanding the entire phenomenon, the linear-thinking 
>>armchair cow boys and their pseudo-intellectual academic.....
>
>The problem was BAD science created to justify the conversions.  One 
>of my favorite moments in pinyon literature- 1998, Dr. David D. 
>Breshears of Los Alamos Laboratories wrote a paper on the value of 
>pinyon shade and the role of shade in cooling the earth. In short, 
>it took a rocket scientist to write a dissertation on an issue every 
>third grader knows. Trees make shade and cool the earth. What 
>happens when they are removed in massive quanities?
>
>
>Bonnie,
>>knowing that the vegetation changes caused by climate change will 
>>not fit our previous understanding of plant dynamics
>
>I would suggest, that vegetation change is causing much of the 
>climate changein the Great Basin
>
>"Historical annual fire starts from lightning on BLM land (1964-96) 
>and U.S.D.A. Forest Service land (1970-96) are plotted for each 
>western state to show interannual variability and trends. 
>Interannual variability is large in all states, but only certain BLM 
>states (primarily in the Great Basin) show evidence of increasing 
>fire starts through time. We are in the process of analyzing these 
>data further, but we believe that these trends are due largely to 
>changes in vegetation type (primarily grasses) which are more 
>condusive to ignition by lightning. We are also examining these 
>vegetation changes in context of regional climate change."Western 
>Regional Climate Center http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/fire/FW2.html
>Craig-
>
>Thank you!~
>
>Penny Frazier
>
>Goods From The Woods
>
>See generally, www.pinenut.com/advocay
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Wayne Tyson" <landrest at cox.net>
>To: "Craig Dremann" <craig at astreet.com>; <penny at pinenut.com>
>Cc: <native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org>; 
><apwg at lists.plantconservation.org>; <rwg at lists.plantconservation.org>
>Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 4:51 PM
>Subject: FIRE 07 Great Basin and Southwest conditions Costs for 
>restoration and management Plan? Re: Increase in fires in arid USA 
>maybe result of six reasons
>
>
>>Dear Craig and all:
>>
>>Well, this is quite a contribution!  I'm going to try to take on 
>>one issue at a time, as that's about all my poor brain can handle.
>>
>>I'm going to advance the proposition that more direct anthropogenic 
>>effects may be more important than those which might affect climate 
>>change, and that changing our habits will have many other benefits 
>>beyond climate change.
>>
>>I don't have good data about Great Basin and Southwest fire 
>>history, but even if I did, the standard measurements might not be 
>>adequate for any kind of real understanding of the phenomena 
>>involved, and might even be misleading.  Data over a long period 
>>would be necessary to see any trends, and the complexity of the 
>>issue might still be more confusing that revelatory.
>>
>>But, for starters, I would like to see the theoretical foundations 
>>and the data from which the " . . . $10 billion a year for 20 years 
>>. . . " was derived.  I don't necessarily doubt those figures, I 
>>just want to know how they were constructed.
>>
>>I will attempt to respond to other points under different subheadings.
>>
>>WT
>>
>>At 10:13 AM 10/15/2007, Craig Dremann wrote:
>>>Dear Penny, Wayne and All,
>>>
>>>Weeds and climate change may be only two of the issues causing the fires
>>>in the Great Basin, and the huge fires experienced in the last 10 years,
>>>and the Great Basin and desert Southwest fires will continue to be
>>>fueled, by at least six separate reasons:
>>>
>>>1.) FEDERAL MANAGEMENT & LACK OF MONEY FROM CONGRESS. A large percentage
>>>of the lands in the Great Basin where the fires are occurring, are
>>>Federally managed, and Congress currently only gives BLM a few cents per
>>>acre per year, to restore native ecosystems or conduct exotic weed
>>>management.
>>>
>>>Perhaps someone on one of these lists can give us the FY 2008 per-acre
>>>figures?
>>>
>>>The costs to restore the Great Basin native ecosystems, to make them
>>>more or less "fireproof" would probably be about $10 billion a year for
>>>20 years.
>>>
>>>It's an issue of delayed costs of ecological restoration and management,
>>>of not making any ecological restoration or weed management investments
>>>over the last 100 years, and then the ecosystem is so broken down, that
>>>all of a sudden, you have to spend a huge amount of money to save it
>>>from going over the cliff.
>>>
>>>2.) GRAZING CAUSING EMPTY SPACES - Cattle and sheep grazing have created
>>>huge empty spaces the Great Basin and Southwestern arid ecosystems,
>>>where the perennial grasses used to be, like what my 1997 Megatransect
>>>measured at http://www.ecoseeds.com/megatransect.html or you can see
>>>photos of at http://www.ecoseeds.com/desertgrass.html
>>>
>>>3.) EMPTY SPACES GETTING EXOTIC-FILLED - Those cattle and sheep created
>>>empty spaces in the ecosystems getting filled by annual fire-fuel
>>>exotics, like cheatgrass in the Great Basin or Saharan mustard in the
>>>Southwest.  See some spectacular pictures showing how nicely the Saharan
>>>mustard burns at http://www.ecoseeds.com/mustards.globeARIZ.html
>>>
>>>4.) EMPTY SPACES & DESERTIFICATION - More cattle and sheep-created empty
>>>spaces and bare soil in arid areas, and less vegetation causing
>>>desertification of the soils, and ultimately less rainfall.
>>>
>>>There's a MIT professor, Prof. Elfatih Eltahir, doing a very interesting
>>>study of the relationship between arid-lands vegetation and annual
>>>rainfall, at http://web.mit.edu/eltahir/www/dhofar/content/fdi.htm
>>>
>>>5.) PERPETUAL DROUGHT - Changes in the weather patterns, like perpetual
>>>droughts, that you can see on the national weekly drought map at
>>>http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html  -- perpetual droughts
>>>combined with continued sheep and cattle grazing, causes more bare
>>>areas, creating perfect spots for those exotic annual weeds to colonize.
>>>
>>>6.) LONG-TERM ARID LAND GRAZING MAKING THE SOILS TOO POOR, where only
>>>the exotic annuals can survive?  Long-term arid-lands grazing can drop
>>>soil nutient levels below what the native local plants need, to survive
>>>as seedlings. Arid lands have naturally-low nutrient levels to begin
>>>with, but what about the phosphorus that is removed by the sheep and
>>>cattle grazing, and is taken out of the ecosystem in their bones?
>>>
>>>When I measure soil phosphorus all over the arid West, the mineral has
>>>been mined out of the soil by 100-150 years of grazing, with the sheep
>>>and cattle having walked away with it, leaving the soils too poor to
>>>sustain a native ecosystem---producing lands where only the exotic
>>>annual weeds like cheatgrass and Saharan mustard can now survive.
>>>
>>>For example, the BLM-managed Mojave desert of California, for the whole
>>>rainfall year of 2006-2007, got less than 1/2 inch of
>>>precipitation---but BLM is still signing long-term sheep and cattle
>>>grazing leases, despite the extreme drought, low vegetation production
>>>even in normal rainfall years, low soil nutrient levels and the
>>>objections of ecologists.
>>>
>>>Unless we start making a serious investment in restoring our Federally
>>>managed lands, and make progress with these issues, like soil nutrient
>>>levels, and start filling in the bare-empty spaces with local native
>>>plants, we may produce another "Empty Quarter" like what they have on
>>>the Arabian peninsula. See pics at
>>>http://www.confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=19&lon=43
>>>
>>>You can read a protest of three of the 2007 California BLM leases from
>>>an ecological and phosphorus-perspective, at
>>>http://www.ecoseeds.com/blmprotest.html
>>>
>>>Sincerely,  Craig Dremann, Redwood City, CA (650) 325-7333
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>--
>>No virus found in this incoming message.
>>Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.488 / Virus Database: 
>>269.14.10/1070 - Release Date: 10/14/2007 9:22 AM
>>
>