Forest Health Project in Mountain Park to commence soon
Forest Health Project in Mountain Park to commence soon
By: Joe Fontaine
Topics: mountain park, fire safety
Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 347 times
0 responses 0 comments For the past several years, trees in Mountain Park have been dying in large numbers due to dry conditions and bug kill in the overcrowded conifer forest. Natural fire that would normally burn dead fuels as they accumulate and the seedlings that come up in large numbers has been excluded from the mountains south of Tehachapi for many years. Small crowded trees and dead vegetation have accumulated to the point that there is a serious fire hazard. Thick stands of small trees compete for scarce water and nutrients. In some stands there is as much as 90 percent mortality.
A project has been approved to remove as many of the dead and dying trees as commercially feasible. This will be followed by stacking much of the remaining dead material to be burned later when it is safe to do so. Once enough of the dangerous fuels are removed, it is hoped that it will be possible to use controlled fire to get the fuels down to an acceptable level. Once the long term goals are met it is expected the forests in the Tehachapi Mountain Park will be returned to a healthy condition with future management plans to keep them that way.
On May 1 I will be leading a field trip to the park to give the interested public a chance to inspect the project first hand. The plan is to show the public locations where the project is completed and other locations where clean-up operations have not started, because this is a public park, operated by Kern County, the public has a right to see for themselves what the current fire conditions are and compare them to treated areas.
There will be opportunities to look at the fuels remaining after tree removal and hear an explanation of how those fuels will be treated once the current phase of the project is completed. It will be an excellent opportunity to learn about how a healthy forest should appear compared to the existing dangerous fire conditions.
The Greater Tehachapi Fire Safe Council feels this project is the first step in returning the forest in the county park to a healthy, fire safe condition. The council is helping plan the tour and will be present to discuss fire issues with the participants of the field trip.
— Joe Fontaine, President of the Greater Tehachapi Fire Safe Council
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