| Ninety percent of Utah forests
at risk of wildfire
(Note: While this article has its share of misinformation, there is also some good reading in the last part of it, especially. Its author is a sports writer...?) August 27, 2003 By Brett Prettyman, sports reporter bpretty@sltrib.com or 801-257-8902 The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake City, Utah To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@sltrib.com Utah's ecosystems are under attack at all levels. The exotic tamarisk plant has been choking out willows and other native plants along river bottoms for decades. Huge stands of sagebrush -- officials estimate 500,000 acres' worth -- are dead across the state, and cheat grass, another exotic species, is taking its place. And, according to a recent report from the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, 90 percent of Utah's forests run a moderate to high risk of catastrophic wildfire. Another 2.2 million acres of the state's forests are susceptible to attack from the bark beetle. More than 1.7 million trees have already fallen to the destructive beetle, leaving once green forests speckled in brown. Prolonged drought has contributed to the demise of the forests because stressed trees are more vulnerable to beetles and disease. Outdated policies of stamping out every spark have created huge tinderbox forests on the verge of catastrophic fire. The dense forests are attractive to bark beetles because they can move easily from tree to tree. "We talk about the President's Healthy Forests Initiative, but there are not many healthy forests left," said Joel Frandsen, a state forester with the division. "Environmentally, we have lost the spruce component on the Wasatch Plateau." More than 663,000 acres of spruce forests, including Engelmann and blue spruce, have been affected by the bark beetle. That is more than half of the state's spruce forests. "It's actually worse than that," Frandsen said. "Those numbers are based on last year's inventory. It takes a year or two for trees to die from the beetles and some stay green while they are dying." Aspen forests, once believed to have covered as much as 2.9 million acres in Utah, have shrunk to 1.4 million. Forests can be especially important in times of drought. While high-elevation forests only cover 10 percent of the state, they provide some of Utah's most critical watersheds. The forests of Utah are important to the state's wildlife also -- not to mention the visitors who travel from around the world for a mountain experience. Tourism numbers will drop if all Utah has to offer is brown trees. Officials say beetles kill more mature trees than wildfire each year. The insect has been the largest cause of forest die-off since the late 1980s. Ranges in central and southern Utah have been hit particularly hard. Wildfire has long been viewed as a disaster; it took the 1988 fire season in Yellowstone National Park to convince land managers about the true value of wilderness blazes. Setting prescribed fires is now a common management tool for all land agencies. "Because much of the forested areas have such a buildup of fuels, the fires burn too hot to help the forest in a lot of cases," said Jim Springer of the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. The results, he adds, are extensive fires that place property and human life in jeopardy. Forest officials say they often recognize problems with beetles and dense timber stands in time to take preemptive action, but their efforts are thwarted by people concerned about the control practices. "Land managers should have the opportunity to manage natural resources for sustainable benefits that meet the needs of a variety of our state's and nation's citizens. Increased flexibility is needed to allow appropriate and timely action to deal with forest health threats," reads the report. Springer believes guidelines under the National Environmental Policy Act need to be altered in a way that will allow foresters to "move forward and get ahead of a beetle outbreak, preventing damage to the forest rather than watching it die." |