Roll over to see the effects of a low intensity fire

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  Fire Ecology

  Planned Fires

  Sequoias and Fire

  Fire History

  Fire Policies

istorically, fires have burned in the Sierra every 5 to 15 years. But now, 100 years of fire suppression has blocked this important process, a vast accumulation of dead wood and other fuel puts the biggest trees at risk. Unlike centuries past, needles and limbs from the big trees and other more flammable species fill the forest floor. Smaller trees that would have been burned out form a ladder into the upper branches that allows fire to climb into the crowns of the forest giants like in the fire shown to the right.

And, Sequoias, some of them 3,000 years old, either reproduce slowly or never without fire to clear the way.

Next- Fire Policies...