In Canada, pine beetles have been spreading further and further North in recent years. Warm winters help beetles spread, but keeping old forests untouched by fire many decades past what is typical in the area has also played a big part. Forest fires control pine beetles.
In this area, forests do not live for thousands of years. Fire is a natural part of the life cycle, but we've kept unprecedented amounts of forest "safe" from fire in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Pine beetles are forcing their way into very touristy areas, and pretty soon people will have to accept having their view spoiled, either by pine beetles or by fire.
Nature is often ugly. We need to perform more controlled burns, both to restrict the spread of pine beetles and reduce the risk of mega-fires. People need to accept forest fires as a natural part of forest ecology rather than seeing them solely as natural disasters. By clinging to our pretty, green views of what we think forests should be, we are actually harming our forests.
In this area, forests do not live for thousands of years. Fire is a natural part of the life cycle, but we've kept unprecedented amounts of forest "safe" from fire in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Pine beetles are forcing their way into very touristy areas, and pretty soon people will have to accept having their view spoiled, either by pine beetles or by fire.
Nature is often ugly. We need to perform more controlled burns, both to restrict the spread of pine beetles and reduce the risk of mega-fires. People need to accept forest fires as a natural part of forest ecology rather than seeing them solely as natural disasters. By clinging to our pretty, green views of what we think forests should be, we are actually harming our forests.