The Fire Suppression Fallacy

How Agencies Justify the Destruction of Habitat with Chainsaws, Grinding Machines, and Herbicides

The Beginning of the Fire Suppression Fallacy

How did the observation that fire suppression has caused some forests to miss several natural fire cycles metastasize into a pernicious stereotype that has convinced huge numbers of people that Nature is sick, clogged with dead trees and unhealthy vegetation, and is ready to vaporize in the next wildfire?
As is the case with fear-mongering media outlets, catastrophizing even the most insignificant events to obtain attention, images and situations are cherry-picked by proponents of the fire suppression fallacy to communicate the most dire circumstance. The propaganda has been incredibly successful, convincing politicians to allocate billions of dollars to “fix” Nature with grinding machines, chainsaws, and herbicide.
As with most stories designed to panic, the truth becomes embellished and inconvenient facts are ignored or forgotten. The origins of the fire suppression fallacy can be traced back to
the late 1800’s when westward expansion brought more human beings, and hence sources of ignition, into a highly flammable environment. Vast piles of logging slash (limbs and other waste from timber operations), hot cinders from trains traveling deep into the back country, unattended fires utilized to clear land, outright carelessness (Pyne 1982), and most importantly drought and high winds, all played a role in adding more, larger fires to the landscape. Between 1865 and 1910 large wildfires from the Great Lakes region to California led federal and state governments to form cooperative firefighting agreements and pass regulations attempting to reduce the likelihood of human caused ignitions and fight fires when they started. Many of these fires, such as the 1871 Peshtigo fire in Wisconsin, which killed an estimated 1,500 people, were linked to piles of logging slash... Continue reading here on our online journal, Chaparral Wisdom.

The Techniques Used to "Fix" Nature

Old-growth manzanita chaparral masticated. San Bernardino National Forest.
Chainsaws and livestock. Stanislaus National Forest.
Ceanothus sprayed with herbicide. Rancho Cuyamaca State Park.
Please listen to this special podcast with Roy Ben-Tzvi This interview provides an excellent overview of all things chaparral including what we do, what chaparral is, the best way to deal with wildfire risk, and the role Nature can play to create better lives and a more positive society.
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