FIRE
Biscuit Fire
The 500,000 acre Biscuit Fire burned across the
heart of the Siskiyou Wild Rivers area. This was the largest fire in
North America during the 2002 fire season and focused a spotlight on
our beloved Kalmiopsis wildlands. Though portrayed by some of the
more sensational press as a Monster Fire, U.S. Forest Service
scientists quickly pointed out that Biscuit burned in a mosaic and
performed needed biological functions. Within the 500,000 acre
perimeter, the fire did kill stands of older forest. But it also
underburned large acreages performing valuable biological functions
including reduction of fuels.
Ecology
The forests of the Siskiyou Mountains are fire dependent forests.
This means that fire has, for thousands of years, passed
through these forests and the plants and animals that comprise
the living ecosystem have adapted to the regular occurrence
of fire. Hence, wild fire is an essential ingredient to
the biological health of our Siskiyou forests. Logging has
taken its toll on the biological integrity, diversity and
resilience of our Siskiyou ecosystem. Fire suppression has
also, but in a more subtle way, had an impact. Check
out the Reports and Studies page for more information.
Community safety
The Biscuit Fire threatened residential areas
in the Illinois Valley (near the east side of the fire) and Agness
(near the northwest pat of the fire). Fortunately, the fire never
reached dense residential areas and caused minimal property damage.
The fire did remind us of work that needs to be performed to improve
the fire resistance of residences: managing vegetation around
structures, retrofitting structures with fire resistant building
materials and thinning dense, young stands in the rural interface
areas.
Threats
Now that the fire is extinguished, the smoke has cleared and the Forest
Service has completed its final EIS, the Kalmiopsis
Wildlands face the prospect of salvage logging. Visit our post-fire
logging proposal page for more information on the plan
to log over 373 million board feet from the wild siskiyou.
Biscuit Logging Studies, Reports, & Fact Sheets
General Fire Studies and Reports:
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