Wednesday, August 13, 2003
The Editor
The Lethbridge Herald
P.O. Box 670
Lethbridge
AB, T1J 3Z7
Re: Another forest fire management issue
Dear Sir,
Brian Horejsi (“Crowsnest Pass wildfire presents a rare opportunity”, 03/08/08, A11) and Ben Van Hees (“Suppression of wildfires needs update”, 03/08/13, A6) outlined a long standing complex dispute on the value of forest fire suppression techniques.
A major new factor is looming on the horizon which warrants escalating thought on the way forests are managed. Canada’s attempts to manage greenhouse gases, focused by the Kyoto protocol, will help bring attention to the role of fire in the transfer of carbon to and from the atmosphere and soil by forests. Growing trees remove carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide and store it in their roots, wood, and leaves – and the lumber we produce from them.
We’ve seen many pictures of trees only partially consumed by flames. Many questions come to mind. What happens to the carbon in dead trunks and roots? Does it build up soil carbon content in a natural forest system? Would a second fire create significant amounts of charcoal? Charcoal is relatively stable and less likely to decay and release stored carbon as methane or carbon dioxide.
Fires allow the forest to grow again, thus maintaining its ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere? Does something similar happen in grasslands? Could the burn and grow cycle in forests and grassland have played a role in building up the significant carbon content of our soils since the last ice age? Can we manage our forests and agriculture to improve nature’s processes for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?
These kinds of questions are adding complexity of the forest fire debate as we move forward with actions to control greenhouse gas emissions to meet Canada’s Kyoto commitment.
Yours truly,
Duane Pendergast