Wildfire Composition

[doc spring _work]

Not sure I agree that livestock are necessarily an issue, not when using reasonable grazing practices anyway. They actually help keep underbrush clear, eliminating excess fuel. Part of the issue leading to the fires in California years past was they outlawed clearing underbrush in rural areas, something about chipmunk habitat or something. 100 feet of clear defensible space around your house is step one in mitigating wildfire damage, and they made it illegal.

I blame tourists. Everyone wants to keep the fires down so the tourists can have pretty views, but then, like you said, the fuel just builds up until it's one big tinderbox.

We're bordering on politicizing the thread though. Lots of opinions, so let's watch it.

Your right I'm thinking of one particular environment which is a unique exception to the rule!

Definitely should keep politics out of the trees

 

[Sagebrush]

Ecological Succession

A new cohort has established. Noble fir. From cones collected in less-burned areas of the Nakia Creek Fire.

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Container is burnt cedar wood with 1/4” screen on the bottom.
Substrate is fir bark, pumice, lava rock, sand, and ash.

I really like this. The contrast is inspiring. Couple more years and it should be spectacular.

 

[Cruiser]

6/29/24

One seedling did not survive transplant. Others are doing well.

Composition gets full sun and frequent watering.
Applied fertilizer in March (osmocote and organics); also bi-weekly fish emulsion.

Most seedlings have 1-5 branches. First flush has nearly hardened off. A second flush of whorled growth is starting to extend.

Some trees are becoming dominant.
Snags have shifted a bit.

 

[queenofsheba52]

I find myself returning to this thread again and again, going through the pictures and -- well, "enjoying" isn't quite the right word, but being amazed by this planting and how it has totally captured me with its message of hope and renewal.

Very well done Indeed.

 

[doc spring _work]

I really hope this fantastic piece can age into something wonderful, so many ways but it'll be such a challenge to keep scale!! So excited to see it's future

 

[Brain Treez]

Very cool.

My family has a ranch just south of Crater Lake in an area that's been hit pretty hard with wildfires the last few years. Next time I visit I'll have to be on the lookout for similar scenes.

 

[Cruiser]

Sept 2024
Seedlings 3”-7”

Cohort is established and transitioning into the biomass accumulation-stem exclusion stage of development. In other words, trees are branching out to take up more space and get more light at the expense of their neighbors.

To help balance things, the canopy was thinned. Side branches were shortened or removed to create space between the seedlings and maintain some degree of scale. No terninal buds or leaders were cut.

Pre-thin





Post-thin



The thinned canopy doesn’t look much different but the added space will help weaker trees survive and stimulate trunk buds to sprout next season. Eventually, I’ll stop intervening and let some trunks die.

 

[Cruiser]

These beautiful little conks emerged on one of the charred snags. That’s osmocote for scale.

Potentials so far are turkey tail or schweinitzii. I’ve enlisted the help of a mycology i.d. group but if anyone here has educated ideas I’d like to hear them.

 

[Mike Westervelt]

My vote is turkey tail, that's really cool