Forests and Trees

Dr. Lenny was surfing the net, gleaning information when he located two (!) Counterpunch articles on forest resource management.

Living at ground zero of the timber battles of the Umpqua and Rogue Rivers, I have learned quite a bit about both sides of the coin. When you look at forests in terms of combustible carbon, there is a huge fuel load that creates a ladder for fires to get from the ground to the trees that allows current fires to burn hotter and longer. Had earlier fires not been put out, those ladders would likely have burnt to the ground well before they became significant.

Having said this, I enjoyed Wuerthner's take on the topic of forest ecology. Always willing to share an opinion, I agree that the entire approach needs to be thought out from a different perspective. The second article is Donnelly's piece concerning the energy game and forest biomass. The cost of moving woody forest debris puncture anything but in situ energy generation.

The Umpqua National Forest is demonstrating their pyrolysis unit next week - but it still requires hauling wood. If a third of the mass of biomass was ground and sprayed back onto the forest floor, this would enable soil building to occur. The eco-system processes of soil building, oxygen generation, water and air purification and general aesthetic pleasure are reasons to take a hands-on approach to forest resource management. Come join the discussion!