According to the Placer County Water Agency, nearly 100,000 acres of forest burned in the American River watershed 11 years ago. Now that land is being improved – not only restored with new trees, but also landscaped and maintained so that future devastating fires never again impact the land and waters below.
The King's Fire in 2014 didn't just burn down the forest. It also loosened 300,000 tons of soil from hillsides and sent it flowing down the Rubicon River, from there over 30 miles to the Middle Fork American River. All of this sediment impacted communities and wildlife downstream, causing significant knock-on effects long after the fire.
The French Meadows Forest Restoration Project, planning for which began in 2016, aims to restore an important 28,000 hectares of land to protect these waters from future sediment deposition due to wildfires. It includes 7,000 acres of prescribed burn areas and 6,000 acres of ecological thinning to reduce fire risk, as well as 1,600 acres of management on private lands.
The advantages of this approach are many.
First, the risk of a violent, devastating forest fire like the one in 2014 will be virtually eliminated in the managed area. (Similar tactics have been used in other areas to reduce the risk of destructive wildfires.) Even if a fire does occur, it is less intense, is contained, and leaves many of the established trees alive. Maps of the area show historical risk and present-day risk.
At the same time, the forest also becomes more resilient to other stress factors such as insect infestations, disease outbreaks and the effects of rising temperatures. There will be more water and the area will be less prone to drought. Fish and animal habitats are restored, the carbon from air pollution is stored in the trunks of regrowing trees, the soil is held in place by the new growth – and of course the newly grown forest also offers recreational opportunities for people, such as hiking trails.
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All these benefits are the natural result of humanity's interest in environmental protection.
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