Olive Spohnholz-Johnson

The War Against Wildfire

1. The main issue that the author is addressing is how the forests in the American west are
shaped by fires and the reasons that these fires continue to be fought.
2. The author of this article is very interested in wildfires and appreciates the effects of a
fire in a landscape. Chad Hansen is the co-founder of the John Muir project and earned
a Ph.D. in ecology. Both men are ecologists who have studied forest fires nationally.
3. The dominant species in an ecosystem often suffers intensive mortality after a wildfire.
Some plants survive and contribute to post-fire regeneration. This regeneration
immediately begins and often occurs through stump or root-sprouting. The heat of the
fire could trigger long-lived seeds to grow and new species could invade the burned site.
Windblown seeds are the most efficient at colonizing.
4. It is beneficial to leave snag forests in place after forest fires because these standing
dead trees provide shelter for birds and mammals to raise their young. This, in turn,
attracts predators which aides in post-fire succession.
5. Argument for:
Prevents spread and destruction of forest lands
Fear of increase in logging
Fear of replacement of old-growth forests with tree plantations
Argument against:
Tree density doesnt cause fires, climatic conditions do
Economically stressful
Fire aids succession process
6. Climatic conditions control the spread spread of wildfires under dry, windy conditions as
embers are taken by the wind ahead of the front of the fire. By putting fuel on the
ground, thinning could increase the spread of fire. These fuels are dried out due to an
open canopy which allows for wind.
7. A major lesson that was learned in the Yellowstone fire of 1988 was that when the
weather is dry, hot, and windy, a fire cannot be stopped. Only changes in weather can
extinguish fires, not humans. This fire was not put out until Septembers snowfall, despite
measures taken by humans.
8. Global warming, meaning warmer and drier conditions, has led to weather that is much
more fire-susceptible. However, it has been predicted that less precipitation will lead to
less understory vegetation which will lead to fires of a lower intensity.
9. Many homes are built in areas that are fire-prone which means a lot of fire management
happens. This high degree of management has physical and economic effects on the
firefighters that work to protect lives and property.
10. I agree with many of the arguments that were presented in this article, and I think that
the evidence given by the author strengthens these arguments immensely.