LosPadresForest
Source: Los Padres National Forest
Los Padres National Forest officials have completed the environmental review of the Reyes Peak Forest Health and Fuels Reduction project. Ojai and Mt. Pinos District Ranger Karina Medina signed the Decision Memo on September 30.
The Reyes Peak project addresses the impact of widespread tree mortality due to overstocking, drought and the devastating effects of insect and disease infestation across 755 acres that extend along Pine Mountain between state Highway 33 and Reyes Peak in Ventura County. The project is located within a federally designated Insect and Disease Treatment Area where declining forest health places the area at risk to substantial tree mortality over the next 15 years.
This project will improve forest health by removing small diameter and dead trees from densely packed stands and using prescribed burning to reduce the understory biomass. The treatment of these areas will reduce unhealthy competition, enhance the survivability of the remaining trees, and increase the overall stand diameter. Trees between the 24” and 64” diameter would be retained unless they are dead or dying.
A combination of mechanical treatments, mastication of brush and smaller trees, and hand treatments will be used to reduce the stocking in selected stands and to change the structure of live and dead material in treated stands. Project design features applied during implementation will ensure endangered and sensitive species are not imperiled by the project.
For more information, please contact Project Leader Greg Thompson at (661) 245-7236 or at gregory.thompson@usda.gov or visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=58012.
This is a great project. This work will help restore this beautiful forest to it’s natural condition and preserve it for future generations to enjoy.
Chip, sounds like words from someone who believes we should rake our forests. “this work will help restore this beautiful forest to it’s natural condition and preserve it for future generations.”
OK…
1> how many times have you actually been there? I have been so many times i couldn’t even count. I’ve been camping, hiking, backpacking that exact area since i was 12, over 40 years. I can tell you just about every detail of that spot and the trails and where they lead to. I’ve been up there during heavy snow fall, and during 100+degree heat.
There is nothing wrong with it. Your statement is just baffling. Restore it to it’s natural condition? DUDE! It’s a forest and it’s in its natural condition. Sending humans in there to rake the forest and prune trees and cut saplings down does jack squat. That’s straight up dumb.
2> how is the forest, now, not in it’s natural condition? the point i made above, is that i’ve been enjoying it for over 40 years, my grandfather and father and godfather all have been going there for many more decades…but according to you, it’s not in it’s natural state and we won’t be able to enjoy it. Fact. Your words come directly from a thing trump said. Which is one of the dumbest things i’ve ever heard. I bet you have as much experience in a forest as he does. The forest is fine. Mother nature cares for herself without our intervention. We tend to screw things up for her. Fact. Look at the condition of the planet. Oh yeah, you’re all for big oil, fracking, and more air pollution in the name of capitalism.
Zero, this forest has become overcrowded and diseased. The reason that has happened is because humans imposed a regimen of fire suppression on an ecosystem that is adapted to fire. If humans do not allow the forest to burn for long enough, it will become overgrown, disease will take hold, and fuel mass will accumulate. Ironically, fire suppression endangers large trees because accumulated ladder fuels can kill a large tree that would benefit from more frequent and lower intensity fires. Unfortunately, fire suppression has been going on for so long that few people alive today have seen what forests looked like prior to human intervention. It’s sad that people today with the best of intentions are destroying our forests because they still believe fire is bad and that a forest can stay healthy without fire. We need more public awareness about the role of fire in our forests and how we can reintroduce fire. To that end, here is a paper on the subject. http://www.georgewright.org/243kilgore.pdf
After intense public opposition, the LPNF approved this project – there, fixed the first sentence. Forest “health” – what a crock. People use that term to push their agendas. This is nothing more than a job creation project. The science that went into this decision was sketchy at best.