Fire and Vegetation Change in the Yolla Bolly

Fire and Vegetation Change in the Yolla Bolly

by Susan Nolan

A recent backpack trip to the Yolla Bolly Wilderness gave an immersion in fire ecology.

In Indian times Cedar Basin must have been frequently burned. Someone pointed out that Indians burned to manage vegetation, not for fire control, and that would certainly be true in Cedar Basin, a place that would have been used for summer gathering and hunting, not a place to live year round. (Both the Wailaki and the Wintun used that area.)

The early ranchers who ran cattle up there continued the burning regime to keep pastures clear. But as the young Forest Service gained traction it suppressed fire to preserve timber resources. Protected from their greatest natural enemy, trees began filling in the grassland.

It was quite striking to me on this trip that so many of the trees are young, short and pointy-topped.

There are scattered old growth trees. Their progeny crowd around them:

You can see this tree grew up without near neighbors by the dead lower branches remaining on the trunk—those would have been shed much earlier in shade. With more frequent fires, the little trees would have been killed off.

An interesting spot is Saunder’s Place, a small stand of old growth next to an unusual meadow, very near a creek, a natural campsite. Note size of red backpack. Looking south.

Looking north across the meadow from within the small grove, you can see dense young trees filling in.

I bet the Wintu had a name for Saunder’s Place too; it is definitely a place. And reading the forest, it looks like in their day this little grove stood by itself in a mostly open grassland.

Here’s an opening filling in with young trees. Very common.

Young Trees, Yolla Bolly Wilderness

Frequent fires would wipe most of these out, but with fire suppression they turn into thickets, then dense stands, which burn hard, leaving lots of standing dead wood.

.

There was also a lot of deadfall. Here is a firebreak, I think the original fire was in 2008 and the firebreak made more recently, defending against a different fire:

Firebreak, Yolla Bolly Wilderness

Lots of fuel standing and on the ground. This could become a catastrophic fire, killing the big surviving trees.

.

Also, not one but two trails on my route in burned areas had been neglected by the Forest Service, and become blocked by deadfall and brush until they disappeared. This meant a change of plan for me, but more seriously, hinders access for future firefighting. I would guess that the Forest Service has half the trail mileage they did 50 years ago.

.

So lots of time to consider fire on this trip. After a century of fire suppression, it will take more than one or two prescribed burns to restore some places to a healthy balance. And it can’t happen fast enough, we can’t do the work fast enough, so a great deal of catastrophic fire lies ahead—and that's no solution either. Climate change complicates the problem as this ecosystem adapts to new conditions. We can expect that a new equilibrium will establish itself, likely more like biomes further south.

.

Sorry if this sounds glum. It was a wonderful trip, with bears and grouse and wild lilies, so much of interest and beauty. And that place will be there, whatever the changes.