The Vision Fire and Bishop Pines

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Oct-Dec 2005

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by Shirley R. Fischer — published October 01, 2007

I was very excited to receive the July-September issue, with its articles on eucalyptus trees and the Point Reyes Vision fire. However, the Vision fire articles left me with some unanswered questions. On trips to Limantour Beach, my husband and I have been watching the growth of Bishop pines since the fire. Your article says that the dense stands will slowly thin out as the stronger trees survive and the weaker die off. I question whether this will actually happen in a stand so thickly intertwined as the one that has grown up on Mount Vision in the last 10 years.

I am surprised you did not discuss the role prolonged fire suppression may have played in the intensity of the fire. It is my understanding that large fuel buildup, caused by many years of fire suppression, causes a fire to burn much hotter than when periodic fires are allowed to burn. Could fire suppression be related to the high density of seedling pines that has occurred after the Vision fire? If so, would it be reasonable to thin some trees? I hope you can provide us with some information on these issues. Thank you for creating one of the best nature magazines I have ever read. I learn something from every issue.

Shirley R. Fischer, San Rafael

Author Geoffrey Coffey responds:

One of the major “lessons learned” from the Vision fire was that land managers should have thinned the dense stands of young trees while they were still saplings; now that the trees have grown so big, the costs would be insurmountable. I would not say that the dense regrowth was caused by the long years of fire suppression, since dense regrowth after fire is the standard behavior for a Bishop pine forest, but I would say that the fire's explosive character and swift spread were a direct result of that suppression.