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ALERT - December 4, 2006: Protect Our Woods joins allies to submit a response to the Draft Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the German Ridge Restoration Project in Hoosier National Forest17d. Prescribed Burning (Part 4 of 6)6. CLIMATE CHANGE COSTSIn, “Characterizing Wildfire Regimes in the United States,” by Bruce D. Malamud, James D. A. Millington, and George L. W. Perry, the authors state that, “Wildfires also have a significant impact on climate and ecosystems.”Many people have commented on this in both the DEIS and appeals of the German Ridge and the Hoosier Forest Plans. All have been ignored by the Forest Service, often being told that it is “outside the scope of the plan or project.” We are frustrated by the Forest Service’s lack of interest in global climate change. Many countries and states, including California, are starting to take the issue of greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere seriously. Where is any serious analysis of global climate change implications and impacts of the German Ridge project and the HNF Plan? Another point that was not considered is that the climate is changing so fast, that the historical context of evaluating the impacts of burning may not be suitable now. Missing is the information about how prescribed burns will affect the ability of mature tree, such as the pines, to store carbon. What is the net gain and net loss? There is some evidence that there will be increased heat in areas that have been cleared and burnt. What is the cumulative effects of all of this increased heat in all of the cleared and burned areas in southern Indiana? 7. EFFECTS OF BURNING ON CHEMICAL CYCLING OF ELEMENTSThe following is from the EPA website:“There is evidence that prescribed burning causes changes in the chemical cycling of elements by influencing biological and microclimate changes, volatilization, and mineralization processes.” We do not see these effects listed in the cumulative effects analysis. 8. EFFECTS OF BURNING ON WATER QUALITYAlso from the EPA website:“The intensity and severity of burning and the proportion of the watershed burned are the major factors affecting the influence of prescribed burning on streamflow and water quality . Fires that burn intensely on steep slopes close to streams and that remove most of the forest floor and litter down to the mineral soil are most likely to adversely affect water quality. The amount of erosion following a fire depends on the following: • Amount of ground cover remaining on the soil; • Steepness of slope; • Time, amount, and intensity of rainfall; • Intensity of fire; • Inherent erodibility of the soil; and • Rapidity of revegetation. Slash burning on steep slopes can contribute to surface soil movement by removing litter and vegetation, and baring 55 percent of the mineral soil”. The literature states that fire managers should avoid intense fires on soils that are uncohesive and highly erodible. Many of the soils in German Ridge project area have been labeled “severe erosion” by the Forest Service. Much of the area the Forest Service is planning to burn is on steep slopes, sometimes up to 50 degrees in slope. Yet we do not see the Forest Service acknowledging that German Ridge has uncohesive and highly erodible soils on steep slopes and how these specific soil will be affected by prescribed burns. We have no site specific information nor do we have any real monitoring data. From the EPA Study: “Some studies about the effects of slash burning in the Pacific Northwest, found that severe burning decreases soil porosity and infiltration capacity, thus increasing the potential for soil erosion. It has also been found that after the helicopter logging and broadcast burning of slash in the Idaho batholith, erosion increased approximately 10 times the natural rate for a short period of time as the result of to a high-intensity rain storm and then decreased substantially within the following year. Some researchers have examined the effects of (1) clearcutting and (2) clearcutting and slash burning on stream temperatures in southwestern British Columbia. Both treatments resulted in increased summer temperatures as well as daily temperature fluctuations. These effects lasted for 7 years in the case of the clearcut stream but longer in the case of the clearcut and slash-burned stream. Clearcutting increased winter temperatures, while slash burning decreased temperatures. The study concluded that clearcutting and slash burning had a greater impact on stream temperatures than did clearcutting alone. Stednick and others (1982) found increased concentrations of suspended sediments, phosphorus, and potassium in streamflows below the burned area after the slash burning of coastal hemlock-spruce forests of southeastern Alaska. Stream monitoring indicated an immediate flush of elements, followed by a slower release of these elements into surface water. No reduction in the nitrogen content or depth of the soil organic horizon was found, but there were significant reductions in the potassium and magnesium contents of the soil. Wildfire can change erosion rates on the burned area in two ways. First, fire eliminates vegetative soil cover. Second, chemical changes in the soil following fire may create an increased resistance to water infiltration in the upper soil layer, and this can increase surface runoff and sheet erosion. The magnitude of these effects depends on how hot a fire burns, slope, vegetation type, and soil resistance to erosion. Erosion following fire is greatest where a fire has burned most severely and the fire is followed by a strong storm, a year of moderately high rainfall, or a spring with a large volume of snowmelt.” This shows the many factors that the Forest Service has not and cannot anticipate. Click here for Part 17e. Prescribed Burning (Part 5 of 6)Protect Our Woods
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