Is it better to contain forest fires through man-made resources and human intervention, or allow nature to run its course on its own? #stopdropandroll
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Learn More About Fire-Management
Wildfires can be beneficial to the ecosystem and the environment, but it also can have negative effects including the safety of visitors, economic decline, and problems with policy. It is important to keep humans safe when they are in the park but it is also important to preserve the natural process that fires bring to the environment. For 14,000 years, fires have shaped the landscape of Yellowstone National Park. Different plant species and the ecosystem have adapted to survive the fires, while weaker species are killed off in the fires. A wildfire is defined as any fire that is burning in a natural environment. These fires provide nutrients released from the burning wood to help lower the decomposition rates in the more humid areas of the park.
The park staff intentionally ignite some of these fires as a vegetation management tool that reduce hazardous fuels in more developed areas, restore the natural landscape, and maintain the cultural landscapes as well. All of this must be strategically planned so that the people who come to the park will not be affected by these conditions. Though they ignite their own fires at times, the park staff also allows nature to run its course. They do not put out lightning-ignited fires out because they are not a threat to the property or the humans.
Wildfires have more benefits than negative factors, but we tend to think of fires as always a bad thing. Wildfires burn off plant species that can no longer compete to survive and it removes the tree branches that are blocking sunlight for the plants on the forest floor. The ashes provide nutrients to the soil and vegetation as well as when the when trees decay. Wildfires also kill off bug and insect species that have infected the trees and leaving the young healthier trees to grow more.
Although wildfires have many benefits, their effects may also cause great harm to the environment. Wildfires can be detrimental to soil, as they burn of a layer of organic material that provide nutrients to the ground below. Without this layer of organic matter, water runs off rather than being absorbed. This overall soil damage can also be attributed to soil erosion.
Another aspect of wildfire control pertains to the controversy surrounding the destruction of man- made buildings. According to the National Fire Protecting Agency, a total of 4,312 structures were destroyed by forest fires in 2016, including 3,000 homes and 70 residential buildings. Unfortunately, we are given the difficult choice of letting nature run its course or intervening to save residential and commercial properties.
What do you think? Should we continue burning our own fires, or solely depend on nature? Or, should we begin containing even naturally occurring fires?
Additional Resources
https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/upload/RI_2016_FINAL_Fire_web.pdf
This article discusses the use and impact of fire within Yellowstone National Park. It details the downfalls and benefits of igniting fires throughout the park.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5323075.pdf
This resource covers the different types of forest fires, and defines the different kinds there may be. It explains how we manage and monitor fire conditions in our forests.
https://www.nps.gov/fire/wildland-fire/what-we-do/wildfires-prescribed-fires-and-fuels.cfm
This article also discusses the different types of forest fires and how we manage them differently.
http://www.pacificbio.org/initiatives/fire/fire_ecology.html
This resource details benefits and disadvantages to fire ecology. Fire ecology is focused on how fire relates to the environment surrounding it.
http://www.nfpa.org/public-education/by-topic/wildfire-and-seasonal-fires/wildland-fires
This resource is sponsored by the National Fire Protecting Agency and provides public education on wildfires.