Illegal Alien wildfires affects on native animal species.
BAG LADIES (and men)
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| We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. -Native American Proverb |
| Cleveland National Forest Fire Report
|
While forest fire's affect upon animals is mainly through the effects to their habitats
themselves, in cases of endangered or struggling species, where breeding is all
important for the species survival, this creates a very fine line between survival and
extinction. Animals form immediate responses to fires, these responses are
influenced by intensity, severity, rate of speed, uniformity and size of fires. These
responses include injury, mortality, immigration, or emigration. Species with limited
mobility, such as young animals, are far more vulnerable to injury and mortality then
mature animals and with endangered species and struggling species, their future
depends on their youngs survival.
Habitat changes caused by fire profoundly influence faunal populations and
communities more so then the fires themselves. Long-term faunal response to fire is
determined by habitat changes, which influence feeding, movement, reproduction and
available shelter. For animals, vegetation is needed to live and reproduce. Different
fires have different effects, some fires only mildly alter vegetation structures by
reducing litter and dead herbs and flora. Other fires, the kind resulting from
abandoned illegal campfires and discarded night torches, change nearly every aspect
of the vegetation's structure in the affected areas. Woody plants are stripped of
foliage and killed; litter and duff is consumed, exposing mineral soil; underground
structures, such as roots and rhizomes may be killed or in some cases rejuvinated.
Types of Fires:
Each type can be used in a controlled environment to successfully aid
the forest and its inhabitants. In cases of illegal alien set fires no control
exists and some or all of the various types often exist creating
destruction to natural habitats.
susceptible trees, and/or by killing or top-killing a cohort of tree
regeneration to aid in reduction of understory plant biomass. Such
understory fires in and of themselves are not dramatic, but repeated
understory fires, which result from illegal set fires burning the same
forests each year, create a forest structure much like a park setting
where some large, old trees exist, but few understory trees can be
found and vegetation is scarse.
to effectively regenerate itself.
root systems causing a starvation of light for any new growth.
Through Stand-Replacement fire techniques, this old growth is
removed allowing fresh new foliage to thrive in the first and second
postfire years, with full structure reestablishment obtained in 3 years
postfire. Illegal set fires do not allow such lands the time needed to
fully recover and reestablish, thus resulting in historic altering of the
land, the flora and the fauna which dwells there.
canopy cover is severely reduced, initial regrowth increases cover of
grasses and forbs. Dead stems remain and serve as perch sites for
songbirds, raptors and even lizards. Reduced canopy increases
visibility to predators of small mammals, but also increases visibility of
predators to small mammals. Recovery of such shrub regenerated
locations can be anywhere from 2 years, to more then 50 years.
Illegal fires do not give recovery time to these locations and thus
repeatedly reduce the canopy and permanently alter the landscape
while pushing small mammals to new locations to attempt to exist.
These fires consume not only the tree crown, but also destroy surface
vegetation as well. This destroys all cover and canopy for wildlife.
They alter key survivial resources for herbivores as well as predators
through transforming the habitat they once existed in. It takes 10 to
20 years to replace the forest floor biomass and an additional 30 to
50 years to replace the canopy. Uncontrolled Illegal set fires offer no
time for this replacement of habitat to restablish itself, and does not
weight the dangers of where or what direction it impacts thus creating
great threats to the flora and fauna existing in those affected locations,
possibly even extinction of some species already threatened.
Severe threats with illegal alien caused fires is that none of those
stand-replacement fires are in controlled settings. As such some or all
of them might apply at any given time to any fires set in our National
Parks and Forests. They offer no recovery time for the ecosystems to
restablish themselves in affected locations and as such they destroy
necessary vital habitats native species need for survivial.
Animal Responses:
The majority of animal species respond in a predictable manner to the
passage of fire. Their responses very widely among species however.
Many vertebrate flee or seek refuge, yet some vertebrate and insects
are attracted to the burning areas. Mothers will habitually respond by
attempting to rescue young from burrows often at loss of their own
lives. Some will approach flames and smoke seeking to forage from
the fleeing food chain mammels, and yet others enter recent burns to
eat the charcoal and ash left behind.
Injury and Mortality -
Ambient temperatures of 145 degrees are lethal to small mammals,
large mammals and birds. This known most fires have potential to
injure and kill fauna. Large and intense uncontrolled fires are highly
dangerous to animals caught in their paths. Animals with limited above
ground mobility are most vulnerable to fire caused injury and mortality.
Tortoise are a prime example of this as they are slow moving and
unable to flee from approaching smoke and flames that consume them.
Even large mammals are occasionally killed directly by fire. In 1988
in Greater Yellowstone 1 percent of the elk population was directly
killed by fires sweeping through the region.
It is not often the fires themselves that do the most deadly damage
however, Fire effects on habitat influenced species are much more
dramatically influenced then direct fire mortality. Species with limited
range, mobility or specialized reproductive habits are especially
vulnerable. The now extinct Health Hen is a prime example of how
fire can adversely affect a species already in threat.
During nesting seasons mortality rates are highest. Small mammals
and birds suffer great loss in their breeding colonies during such times
as aboveground nests of mice and ground, shrub and tree nesting
birds are destroyed and young burned alive, unable to escape.
Birds
Fire-caused bird mortality depends highly on the season, uniformity
and severity of the burn. Mortality of adult songbirds is usually
considered minor, while mortality of nestlings and fledglings are more
drastic and abundant. To further add to the dangers for some already
threatened bird species, reproduction success rates may be reduced
the first postfire year due to food reductions in the area. Nest
destruction and mortality in young have been reported in several
ground-nesting species. A key factor in the long-term ability to
recover after a fire relies heavily on its ability to re-nest. Some birds,
such as wild turkeys will not re-nest if their nests are destroyed after
two to three weeks incubation, yet northern bobwhites may re-nest
two or three times in a given summer.
In controlled fire situtions the fires are set during off nesting seasons to
reduce risk, and even those at risk are in stratigic locations (ground
nestlings or canapy nestlings). In uncontrolled fires set by illegal alien
abandoned campfires and torches, there is no set season established
to minimize risk, and there is no stratigic locations, both the ground
nests and canapy nests are vulnerable and often affected.
Mammals
The ability of mammals to survive fire depends on five factors. Their
mobility and the fires uniformity, severity, size and duration. Most
small mammals find shelter underground or in sheltered places within
the burn itself, larger mammals must find a safe location in unburned
patches or outside of the burn. While small mammals will use
underground tunnels, pathways under moist forest litter, stump and
root holes, spaces under rocks, talus, and dead wood to hide from the
fire, not all survive. There have been numerous incidents of small dead
animals found after uncontrolled burns to their locations. One cause
of these deaths was inadequate ventilation inside burrows, another
was the heat factors due to uncontrolled burns affecting all elements of
their location. Small rodents such as brush rabbits, mice and
woodrats who construct surface-level nests were far more vulnerable
then those of deep-nesting species.
Direct fire-caused mortaility among large mammals have been
reported as well. Coyote, mule deer, white-tailed deer, black bears,
moose, bison, and elk all have been found affected by uncontrolled
and unexpected fires to their habitiats. Large mammal mortality
happens when fire fronts are wide and moving fast, actively crowning,
and thick ground smoke makes visibility impossible. The number one
killer of large animals is not the fire itself but smoke inhalation as the
result of. Post-fire animal mortality occurs based on the food supply.
Reptiles and Amphibians
Reptiles and Amphibians seem to fare far better during fires. Many
live in a semi-moist habitat that keeps them safe from fires. Others
have the ability to burrow themselves into sand again protecting them
from scorching blazes. Food supply available after burn often results
in most mortality of the species as flora and insects my be jeoparized
in the habitat location for some time to come. Yet another threat to
their survival comes from run-off and pollution caused to their water
habitats.
Invertebrates
Vulnerablity of insects and invertebrates depends upon their location.
Species found in surface litter or above ground plant tissue are highly
vulnerable, while flying and burrowing species find it easier to escape
injury.
Escape and Emigration
Some species flee the burning locations during time of the burn, yet
return shortly after it has passed, while others emigrate due to food
and cover they require being destroyed. The length of time before , if
ever, these species return depends on how drastically the fires altered
tehir habitat structure and food supplies.
While some birds do return to take advantage to teh altered habitat
and easy prey, others abandon the location of the burn as the habitat
no longer provides structure or foods require to survive or reproduce.
Raptors are known to return to the location during the fire to scavange
from the dead only to again leave the area shortly after the fire. Owls
are known to abandoned their burned habitats. Both Raptors and
Owls leave due to reduction of their prey in the burn areas. Bird
species declines in the first year or two after fires have been reported
in several studies. Often the population absent or declining of these
species in postfire years have been reported higher then the number
needed to sustain a suitable population in the burn area.
Large mammals such as deer and elk who depend heavily on
vegetation for forage, bedding, cover and thermal protection, abandon
burn areas. In some instances these are not temporary avoidances of
the burn locations. Some species have been reported to not return
again to the burn location soe 50 years after the fire happened.
Small mammal species also have been reported to leave burned
habitats. Some return within two growing seasons, others are much
longer in returning. Possible reason for this emigration might be due to
decreased protection from predators, decreased food supply and
more interaction among individuals fighting for the same food supplies
and limited shelters. Even years after the burn fire went through the
location, studies found that the number of small mammals in
non-burned plots were three times greater then those in burned areas.
While controlled fires, supervised by those in the forest industry are
beneficial and supportive to wildlife existance, it is the uncontrolled
fires which pose great risk to the American wildlife in the areas they
affect. It is these uncontrolled fires, brought on quite often by
abandoned illegal alien campfires and discarded still-lit torches, which
threaten the native lands of our American southwest and push on the
door of extinction for many mammals who struggle for survival on the
various reserves and preservations found there. With no adequate
recovery time to allow nature to replenish itself, one can only hope this
crisis gets controlled quickly before a valuable part of our ecology is lost forest, due to
unsecured and unprotected borders.
themselves, in cases of endangered or struggling species, where breeding is all
important for the species survival, this creates a very fine line between survival and
extinction. Animals form immediate responses to fires, these responses are
influenced by intensity, severity, rate of speed, uniformity and size of fires. These
responses include injury, mortality, immigration, or emigration. Species with limited
mobility, such as young animals, are far more vulnerable to injury and mortality then
mature animals and with endangered species and struggling species, their future
depends on their youngs survival.
Habitat changes caused by fire profoundly influence faunal populations and
communities more so then the fires themselves. Long-term faunal response to fire is
determined by habitat changes, which influence feeding, movement, reproduction and
available shelter. For animals, vegetation is needed to live and reproduce. Different
fires have different effects, some fires only mildly alter vegetation structures by
reducing litter and dead herbs and flora. Other fires, the kind resulting from
abandoned illegal campfires and discarded night torches, change nearly every aspect
of the vegetation's structure in the affected areas. Woody plants are stripped of
foliage and killed; litter and duff is consumed, exposing mineral soil; underground
structures, such as roots and rhizomes may be killed or in some cases rejuvinated.
Types of Fires:
Each type can be used in a controlled environment to successfully aid
the forest and its inhabitants. In cases of illegal alien set fires no control
exists and some or all of the various types often exist creating
destruction to natural habitats.
- Understory Fire: Understory fires are used to change the canopy of the
susceptible trees, and/or by killing or top-killing a cohort of tree
regeneration to aid in reduction of understory plant biomass. Such
understory fires in and of themselves are not dramatic, but repeated
understory fires, which result from illegal set fires burning the same
forests each year, create a forest structure much like a park setting
where some large, old trees exist, but few understory trees can be
found and vegetation is scarse.
- Stand-Replacement Fire: Stand-replacement fires are used to remove
to effectively regenerate itself.
- Grassland: In grasslands, where prefire structures of vegetation
root systems causing a starvation of light for any new growth.
Through Stand-Replacement fire techniques, this old growth is
removed allowing fresh new foliage to thrive in the first and second
postfire years, with full structure reestablishment obtained in 3 years
postfire. Illegal set fires do not allow such lands the time needed to
fully recover and reestablish, thus resulting in historic altering of the
land, the flora and the fauna which dwells there.
- Shrublands: In shrub-dominated locations, stand-replacement
canopy cover is severely reduced, initial regrowth increases cover of
grasses and forbs. Dead stems remain and serve as perch sites for
songbirds, raptors and even lizards. Reduced canopy increases
visibility to predators of small mammals, but also increases visibility of
predators to small mammals. Recovery of such shrub regenerated
locations can be anywhere from 2 years, to more then 50 years.
Illegal fires do not give recovery time to these locations and thus
repeatedly reduce the canopy and permanently alter the landscape
while pushing small mammals to new locations to attempt to exist.
- Forests and Woodlands: In tree dominated locations,
These fires consume not only the tree crown, but also destroy surface
vegetation as well. This destroys all cover and canopy for wildlife.
They alter key survivial resources for herbivores as well as predators
through transforming the habitat they once existed in. It takes 10 to
20 years to replace the forest floor biomass and an additional 30 to
50 years to replace the canopy. Uncontrolled Illegal set fires offer no
time for this replacement of habitat to restablish itself, and does not
weight the dangers of where or what direction it impacts thus creating
great threats to the flora and fauna existing in those affected locations,
possibly even extinction of some species already threatened.
Severe threats with illegal alien caused fires is that none of those
stand-replacement fires are in controlled settings. As such some or all
of them might apply at any given time to any fires set in our National
Parks and Forests. They offer no recovery time for the ecosystems to
restablish themselves in affected locations and as such they destroy
necessary vital habitats native species need for survivial.
Animal Responses:
The majority of animal species respond in a predictable manner to the
passage of fire. Their responses very widely among species however.
Many vertebrate flee or seek refuge, yet some vertebrate and insects
are attracted to the burning areas. Mothers will habitually respond by
attempting to rescue young from burrows often at loss of their own
lives. Some will approach flames and smoke seeking to forage from
the fleeing food chain mammels, and yet others enter recent burns to
eat the charcoal and ash left behind.
Injury and Mortality -
Ambient temperatures of 145 degrees are lethal to small mammals,
large mammals and birds. This known most fires have potential to
injure and kill fauna. Large and intense uncontrolled fires are highly
dangerous to animals caught in their paths. Animals with limited above
ground mobility are most vulnerable to fire caused injury and mortality.
Tortoise are a prime example of this as they are slow moving and
unable to flee from approaching smoke and flames that consume them.
Even large mammals are occasionally killed directly by fire. In 1988
in Greater Yellowstone 1 percent of the elk population was directly
killed by fires sweeping through the region.
It is not often the fires themselves that do the most deadly damage
however, Fire effects on habitat influenced species are much more
dramatically influenced then direct fire mortality. Species with limited
range, mobility or specialized reproductive habits are especially
vulnerable. The now extinct Health Hen is a prime example of how
fire can adversely affect a species already in threat.
During nesting seasons mortality rates are highest. Small mammals
and birds suffer great loss in their breeding colonies during such times
as aboveground nests of mice and ground, shrub and tree nesting
birds are destroyed and young burned alive, unable to escape.
Birds
Fire-caused bird mortality depends highly on the season, uniformity
and severity of the burn. Mortality of adult songbirds is usually
considered minor, while mortality of nestlings and fledglings are more
drastic and abundant. To further add to the dangers for some already
threatened bird species, reproduction success rates may be reduced
the first postfire year due to food reductions in the area. Nest
destruction and mortality in young have been reported in several
ground-nesting species. A key factor in the long-term ability to
recover after a fire relies heavily on its ability to re-nest. Some birds,
such as wild turkeys will not re-nest if their nests are destroyed after
two to three weeks incubation, yet northern bobwhites may re-nest
two or three times in a given summer.
In controlled fire situtions the fires are set during off nesting seasons to
reduce risk, and even those at risk are in stratigic locations (ground
nestlings or canapy nestlings). In uncontrolled fires set by illegal alien
abandoned campfires and torches, there is no set season established
to minimize risk, and there is no stratigic locations, both the ground
nests and canapy nests are vulnerable and often affected.
Mammals
The ability of mammals to survive fire depends on five factors. Their
mobility and the fires uniformity, severity, size and duration. Most
small mammals find shelter underground or in sheltered places within
the burn itself, larger mammals must find a safe location in unburned
patches or outside of the burn. While small mammals will use
underground tunnels, pathways under moist forest litter, stump and
root holes, spaces under rocks, talus, and dead wood to hide from the
fire, not all survive. There have been numerous incidents of small dead
animals found after uncontrolled burns to their locations. One cause
of these deaths was inadequate ventilation inside burrows, another
was the heat factors due to uncontrolled burns affecting all elements of
their location. Small rodents such as brush rabbits, mice and
woodrats who construct surface-level nests were far more vulnerable
then those of deep-nesting species.
Direct fire-caused mortaility among large mammals have been
reported as well. Coyote, mule deer, white-tailed deer, black bears,
moose, bison, and elk all have been found affected by uncontrolled
and unexpected fires to their habitiats. Large mammal mortality
happens when fire fronts are wide and moving fast, actively crowning,
and thick ground smoke makes visibility impossible. The number one
killer of large animals is not the fire itself but smoke inhalation as the
result of. Post-fire animal mortality occurs based on the food supply.
Reptiles and Amphibians
Reptiles and Amphibians seem to fare far better during fires. Many
live in a semi-moist habitat that keeps them safe from fires. Others
have the ability to burrow themselves into sand again protecting them
from scorching blazes. Food supply available after burn often results
in most mortality of the species as flora and insects my be jeoparized
in the habitat location for some time to come. Yet another threat to
their survival comes from run-off and pollution caused to their water
habitats.
Invertebrates
Vulnerablity of insects and invertebrates depends upon their location.
Species found in surface litter or above ground plant tissue are highly
vulnerable, while flying and burrowing species find it easier to escape
injury.
Escape and Emigration
Some species flee the burning locations during time of the burn, yet
return shortly after it has passed, while others emigrate due to food
and cover they require being destroyed. The length of time before , if
ever, these species return depends on how drastically the fires altered
tehir habitat structure and food supplies.
While some birds do return to take advantage to teh altered habitat
and easy prey, others abandon the location of the burn as the habitat
no longer provides structure or foods require to survive or reproduce.
Raptors are known to return to the location during the fire to scavange
from the dead only to again leave the area shortly after the fire. Owls
are known to abandoned their burned habitats. Both Raptors and
Owls leave due to reduction of their prey in the burn areas. Bird
species declines in the first year or two after fires have been reported
in several studies. Often the population absent or declining of these
species in postfire years have been reported higher then the number
needed to sustain a suitable population in the burn area.
Large mammals such as deer and elk who depend heavily on
vegetation for forage, bedding, cover and thermal protection, abandon
burn areas. In some instances these are not temporary avoidances of
the burn locations. Some species have been reported to not return
again to the burn location soe 50 years after the fire happened.
Small mammal species also have been reported to leave burned
habitats. Some return within two growing seasons, others are much
longer in returning. Possible reason for this emigration might be due to
decreased protection from predators, decreased food supply and
more interaction among individuals fighting for the same food supplies
and limited shelters. Even years after the burn fire went through the
location, studies found that the number of small mammals in
non-burned plots were three times greater then those in burned areas.
While controlled fires, supervised by those in the forest industry are
beneficial and supportive to wildlife existance, it is the uncontrolled
fires which pose great risk to the American wildlife in the areas they
affect. It is these uncontrolled fires, brought on quite often by
abandoned illegal alien campfires and discarded still-lit torches, which
threaten the native lands of our American southwest and push on the
door of extinction for many mammals who struggle for survival on the
various reserves and preservations found there. With no adequate
recovery time to allow nature to replenish itself, one can only hope this
crisis gets controlled quickly before a valuable part of our ecology is lost forest, due to
unsecured and unprotected borders.
| Cleveland National Forest Fire Report Forest fires due to illegal campfires and acres burned. 1996 - 43 fires/750 acres 1997 - 39 fires/260 acres 1998 - 26 fires/3 acres 1999 - 29 fires/30 acres 2000 - 22 fires/279 acres 2001 - 22 fires/4 acres 2002 - 21 fires/2 acres 2003 - 18 fires/2 acres 2004 - 9 fires/6 acres |
| Border Area Forest Fire Report Forest fires due to illegal campfires and acres burned. 1994 - 24 fires/5440 acres 1995 - 64 fires/13080 acres 1996 - 354 fires/22849 acres 1997 - 263 fires/67 acres 1998 - 110 fires/1104 acres 1999 - 107 fires/5836 acres 2000 - 12 fires/346 acres 2001 - 96 fires/175 acres 2002 - 16 fires/1679 acres 2003 - 16 fires/46,138 acres 2004 - 17 fires/1232 acres 2005 - 59 fires/ 5,218 acres |
| Totals spent on fighting forest fires. (Compiled from reports from Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and USDA Forest Service) 1994 - $845,262,000 1995 -$340,050,000 1996 - $679,167,600 1997 - $256,000,000 1998 - $328,526,000 1999- $523,468,000 2000-$ 1,362,367,000 2001 - $917,800,000 2002 - $1,661,314,000 |
Create 30 Foot Safety Zone.
Create a second zone 100 feet from home.
feet from any structure.
Remove debris under sun decks and porches. Enclose wooden stilts with non-combustible material such as concrete, brick, rock, stucco or metal. Use non combustible patio furniture and covers. Enclose eaves and overhangs. Cover house vents with wire mesh. Use fire resistant siding such as stucco, metal, brick, cement shingles, concrete and rock. Treat wood with UL approved fire resistant chemicals. |
| PROTECT YOUR HOME |
Before the Fire Approaches
What to do during wildfire. Survival in Vehicle.
Trapped in Home
Stranded Outside
|
| PROTECT YOURSELF |
Steve Borchard - Statement USINFO.STATE.GOV - Report USDA Forest Service Testimony Dianne Jacob -Testimony Desert Invasion - U.S. |
| RESEARCH RESOURCES |
| Wildfire Math Problems Worksheet. Wildfire Coloring Book Smokey The Bear National Inquirer; Wildfire (kids) Wildfire Quiz Books to aid you and your child. - Young Children-
-Young Adult-
|
| Little Red Schoolhouse |
| This Was Their Home. |
