Restoring Ecosystem Health in Frequent-Fire Forests of the American West - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 224

problem. I submit that there are four general statements on which to begin a dialog about
this situation. They are as follows: (1) we are faced with a complex, but understandable
problem; (2) we believe that ecological restoration provides a solution to this problem;
(3) there are benefits and challenges to implementing ecological restoration on dry forests
in the West; and (4) we need to act swiftly but with great care and with the best available
knowledge and forethought of the consequences of both our actions and inactions.
12.4.1 A Complex, but Understandable Problem
We now know from historical ecology studies that frequent fires were typical of
pre-European settlement ponderosa pine and dry mixed conifer forests in the western
United States. These studies also indicate that the current overcrowded stands of trees
do not sustain the diversity of wildlife and plants that existed a century ago. Moreover,
today's large, catastrophic, stand-replacing fires, which are natural in chaparral, lodgepole
pine ( Pinus contorta ), and spruce-fir ( Picea-Abies ) forests, are a major ecological threat to the
integrity and sustainability of frequent-fire forest types. In addition, research dating from
the 1940s to the present indicates that prescribed burning and mechanical thinning in
combination with raking heavy fuels from the base of old-growth trees can rapidly restore
ecosystem health. 8
From an ecological perspective, we know that the areas that support these dry forest
ecosystems have had, and probably always will have, periodic droughts. The problem is
not droughty conditions, but the unprecedented high levels of fuel in the forests. The prob-
lem is about too few old-growth trees and far too many younger trees. We also recognize
that crownfires in these systems are symptomatic, like unnatural epidemics of pine beetles
and other insect infestations, of failing ecosystem health. This failing health can also be
seen in the loss of native biodiversity, the decline of watershed functions, and increased
erosion and sedimentation.
From a social perspective, we know that small-scale fuel reduction projects (40 ac stands
or a quarter-mile strip around a town) are not the answer. The problem concerns landscape-
scale, overgrown forested ecosystems that are no longer sustainable and which represent
a danger to present and future generations. We also recognize that there is increasing
pressure to build homes in the urban-wildland zone, and that these buildings and their
occupants are often in the path of dangerous wildfires.
12.4.2 Ecological Restoration Represents a Solution
Ecological restoration of dry western forests is pretty straightforward. It involves the
following: (1) retaining trees that predate European settlement, (2) retaining post-
European settlement trees that are needed to reestablish pre-settlement stand structure,
(3) thinning and removing most of the excess trees, (4) raking heavy fuels from the bases
of the remaining trees, (5) conducting prescribed burns to emulate the natural disturbance
regime, (6) seeding or planting native species, (7) controlling exotic plants where necessary,
and (8) restoring meadows, seeps, and springs (Figure 12.2). Naturally, this work should be
done in a systematic and scientifically rigorous fashion.
In terms of removing trees, ecological restoration is about thinning (cutting selected
trees) that will release larger old-growth and open the understory for native species
as opposed to logging (cutting trees for the highest yield of a commodity). Restoration
activities should always be focused on working at the landscape or watershed scale in