If you’ve been noticing it’s a quite a bit smokier in Yosemite of late don’t be alarmed. Fire is a natural thing and it’s part of the process of growth and rebirth. For hundreds of years before the european settlers came native peoples managed the growth in the Valley through fire. Fire today is allowed to burn when possible to help restore and replenish soil and plant populations.
The fires you see burning in Yosemite today have been smoldering for quite some time and are being closely monitored. As the high pressure moved in that is giving us this nice heat wave it’s also making for ideal conditions for the fires to grow. The two major fires burning are the Grouse and the Harden Fires.
NPS: Grouse (37 41.445 x 119 41.017; 6500’, Mariposa Co.) The fire began May 30, and has grown to approximately 75 acres. Personnel are working ahead of the fire implementing management actions along Steamboat Ridge to prevent northward fire spread. On Sunday, personnel will take measures to hold the fire in Grouse Creek drainage. The fire is visible along Highway 41 and temporary road closures may be enacted for visitor safety.
Harden (37 53.624 x 119 42.221; 7800’, Tuolumne Co); Lightning-caused, probably on June 8. It is north of White Wolf, west of Harden Lake and within the 1996 Ackerson fire perimeter. It is 20 acres and burning mostly in brush and Red Fir. Fire officials are assessing the need for closures around Harden Lake, Smith Peak and the old Aspen Valley Rd.
For more information on the fires please check out: http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/current_fire.htm
Photo by Edie Howe-Byrne.
Comments
2 responses to “Don’t Be Alarmed, It’s Just a Fire”
While fire is indeed a natural phenomenon, we feel that the number of prescribed burns and lightning fires permitted to burn themselves out has become excessive in recent years. We’ve seen the trees along the roads into and out of Yosemite become hideously scarred. In an attempt to remove the underbrush, the healthy trees and shrubs are heavily damaged by the prescribed burns and left to die, drying out and creating even more “kindling” for the next fire season. The pendulum has swung from trying to prevent all fires in the early “Smokey the Bear” days to burning continually. The new policy is analogous to removing a healthy part of the body to prevent a cancer from later developing there. The cancer may or may not ever develop, but the damage has been done. Some Parks, such as the North Rim of the Grand Canyon where the “control burns” got out of control, have been devastated for generations to come.
There are other methods that can be implemented to control wildfires such as clearing, pile burns and careful monitoring with fire equipment close by. Yosemite Valley is fortunate to be protected by natural barriers, granite cliffs on both sides, the Merced River down the center, and the Northside and Southside Drives as fire breaks.
Our local Mariposa County residents have been forced to breathe the smoke-filled air and afterwards, the pungent smoldering. For a family with an asthmatic member, this is no small challenge. The health of both the residents in the Park and in the neighboring communities is being endangered.
Reported in the December 29, 2008 Fresno Bee:
“Mounting research shows the microscopic soot from wood burning is among the biggest air-pollution threats to the public. The specks, known as PM-2.5, can evade body defenses, lodge in the lungs, trigger many illnesses and result in premature death.”
Hopefully, some compromise solution will be implemented that protects both the Park and the health of local residents.
Interesting thoughts, Dee. Although I personally don’t mind seeing the trees that have burnt in the fire and I’d rather not present Yosemite as a “groomed theme park”. It’s a wild place. To quote my dad, “Shit happens.” Fires happen. Things die. Things get burnt. It’s part of life. If there wasn’t ugly how would we define what is beautiful? There are numerous plant that only reproduce after fires. Ash and charred trees add nutrients back into soil. They help sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as minerals and carbon are baked into the topsoil. This gives new plants a fertile place to grow. It helps balance the PH of the soil and remove the duff that lets non-native plants invade. This isn’t brainwashing or party line I’m repeating, this is many years growing up as a farm boy, tending 1000 acres of trees.
As for the particulate matter, there are lots of different sources for the 2.5 micron particulate matter (PM 2.5) including wood burning stoves, trash burning in people’s yards, burning fields and brush piles on farms. diesel engines and automobile exhaust.