Forest experts have warned for years that millions of small-diameter trees are a threat to the nation\u2019s forests, and the massive Wallow Fire in eastern Arizona is further evidence.<\/p>\n
With upwards of 400,000 acres engulfed in flames and zero percent containment, the\u00a0Wallow Fire<\/a>\u00a0is now the second largest fire in Arizona history behind the massive Rodeo-Chediski Fire in 2002.<\/p>\n \u201cDecades of scientific research reveal that the West is suffocating under too many trees,\u201d said\u00a0Wally Covington<\/strong>, Regents professor of forest ecology at Northern Arizona University and executive director of NAU\u2019s Ecological Restoration Institute. \u201cWhere we once had 10 to 25 trees per acre, we now have hundreds.\u201d<\/p>\n As a result of this unnatural forest structure, the forest cannot self-regulate, and the heavy fuel load from too many trees is setting the stage for catastrophic wildfire, he explained.<\/p>\n In the overly dense ponderosa pine forests, where fire once burned naturally along the forest floor every two to 10 years\u2014killing excess tree seedlings, recycling nutrients and removing the dead and dying debris\u2014it is now burning through the treetops.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we have disturbances such as wildfires, massive\u00a0bark beetle infestations<\/a>\u00a0and disease outbreaks that are on the scale of hundreds of thousands of acres, then we have to restore landscapes on the scale of hundreds of thousands of acres. That\u2019s exactly where we\u2019re headed with the\u00a0Four Forest Restoration Initiative<\/a>\u00a0and eight other landscape-scale restoration efforts across the West.\u201d<\/p>\n Covington said about 180 million acres of ponderosa pine across the West are at risk and more than 300 million acres with the addition of degraded mixed conifer forests.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially with drought and climate change, there is an urgent need to restore forests to their most resilient condition,\u201d he said. \u201cThat requires protecting the old growth trees and thinning most of the small diameter trees.\u201d<\/p>\n Covington said collaborative efforts such as the Four Forest Initiative that aim to accelerate large forest restoration efforts will make the difference between forests that have become liabilities and put neighboring structures at risk and forests that are assets.<\/p>\n \u201cOur success in restoring forest health during the next two decades will determine whether we can leave landscape legacies for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"