So Many Management Systems, So Little Time to Learn!!

Thanks for sharing about forest health and fire management, Allie.  I spent last week in Central Oregon in the Cascade Mountains (volcanoes).  My teens and I took a mountain bike tour which included a guide who offered educational insight at each stop we made on the descent.  At the summit we were able to view an "unhappy" forest.  This portion of the forest, because humans worked too hard to prevent natural forest fires in decades prior, was full of debris, crowded with trees with low hanging branches (mainly lodge pole pines), needles, cones, scrub brush, etc.  Our guide explained that in explorers' journals it is written that the very area used to accomodate at least six men riding horseback side by side, shoulder to shoulder, unimpeded through the forest.  They were able to travel between each ponderosa pine in a row of six easily.  Today in time, as we stood by a giant ponderosa pine, we could barely make out the next large ponderosa as its view was obscured by all the forest fuel crowding the forest floor.  Half way down we were able to observe "The Burn" which was a large portion of the volcano's forest that had burned during a lightning strike 20 years prior.  We were able to see the USFS efforts at re-forestation.  The trees that were planted were about 8-12 feet tall.  We noticed how crowded the USFS has planted the trees.  The guide let us know that 1/3 of the trees would remain for the forest and the rest would eventually be logged to finance the USFS.  At the bottom of our ride we were able to observe the USFS efforts to cut and clear the forest removing all the dead, rotting, and lowest vegetation (needles, cones, scrub, etc) in order to prevent such fast and hot fires and in turn, leaving more open space for the larger pines to thrive.  

My favorite take away was learning how the Ponderosa Pine had adapted to be resistent to forest fires.  It's puzzle piece bark is exceptionally thick providing a protective layer from fire and also providing resiliance to lightning strikes (we saw several Ponderosas thriving in spite of massive lightning strike scars that ran the length of the entire tree top to ground).  A ponderosa has also, over time, learned to pull its branches up in order to avoid catching on fire.  In a healthy forest, without all the fast burning, hot, crowded fuel sources, a ponderosa's bark can actually withstand and survive a typical, cyclical, natural forest fire.  Where the lodge pole pine had all kinds of dead and scraggly branches dragging the forest floor, the Ponderosas branches didn't begin until 20 or more feet above the ground.  Smart tree!

I remember being fascinated when I learned about the geothermal energy source at the capitol while chaperoning my own kids' trip to Boise from Pocatello during their 4th grade year in school when they completed a unit study on Idaho history.  Here in Pocatello there are a few homes in the hills south of town that focus on using solar and wind technologies for energy.  My favorite yurt get-a-way in the outskirts of town uses solar panels.  With the new LDS temple slated for construction here in Pocatello, I am sure it will increase new commercial and residential construction.  It would be fabulous to see some of the developers create a new subdivision that focuses on renewable energy from the beginning phase.  If construction is going to occur regardless and ecosystems are going to be disrupted regardless as population increases and natural lands are used for human living spaces, why not consider developing communities that have less impact on the environment, use renewable energy sources, and give back to the area in which the development occurs?  I know new businesses in town in Pocatello are now required to include retention areas in their parking lots to catch all their own runoff rather than having it dump immediately into the city's storm water system.  One of our larger parks alongside the Portneuf river has a specifically designed wetland for heavy rains/snow melts.  The wetland remains dry most the year, but catches lots of water during emergencies to help prevent the Portneuf from flooding.  We know we will continue to disrupt ecosystems as we continue to grow in population and necessitate land for our own habitat.  I think the goal should be to plan with forethought and consideration for creating less impact.  

Hello Allie!

I'm enjoying following the journey! As far as your comment about not being able to do the fire activity, I say why not? Can't you take them outside to the parking lot? They could build them one day then you could light them the next. They could video each one so that all classes can see each group's results. Just a thought!

Carissa and I did a unit that looks very similar about forest fires and how they burn. We set it up the day before and then burned them in the parking lot the next day. The students loved it. I only had one helper while the rest of them sat a certain distance away recording information or answering questions. It manage just fine. We had cookie sheets underneath each set up and sprayed it down with water afterwards. Back in the classroom, removed the burnt matches into another cookie sheet and disposed it at the end of the day when it was all cooled. 

It definitely got the students' attention. 

Allie, 

I love the pictures! I really wish that I was doing the live trip because I LOVE this kind of stuff. Feild trips and feild work learning was my favorite part about college. I am curious as to whether there is a lesson activity posted somewhere concerning the lesson on the forrest fires? It is facinating and I do not know too much about the dynamics of forest fires, but I would love to. 

My daugher went to the state capital during her 4th grade field trip and learned about the geothermal energy that is used around Boise. It was her favorite part about Idaho history. In fact that field trip is what made her fall in love with the BSU campus and she will be attending this fall. 

I once thought Solar power would be very beneficial to Idaho, but when I drove to Boise this last week I saw all of the solar panals off to the side of the highway and all I could think about what how it messed up the beautiful scenery. Same goes for the wind tourbines in parts of the state. I also wonder if we are actually having any benefit from the wind and solar power that we are generating? Locally I do not know of anyone that has personally had a benefit, electricity is still high and I heard that we sell the energy to other states instead of the locals benefitting. I have no idea if that is completely true, but it would be interesting to research the topic. At least it is much cleaner energy production than methods of the past.