Tag Archives: fire

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Burn Zone, Near Foresta

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Burn Zone, Near Foresta

Burn Zone, Near Foresta. Yosemite National Park, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees, stumps, and boulders in a recently burned area near Foresta, Yosemite National Park, California.

The story behind this photograph is a sad one, and one that provokes a certain amount of anger. The small village of Foresta is just on the western boundary of Yosemite National Park, above El Portal and below the road into Yosemite Valley from the highway 120 northern park entrance. A number of years ago – seems like perhaps 15 or so, though I haven’t looked it up – a tremendous fire started near Foresta and burned quickly and very destructively through a mature forest that had gone too long without burning. Because of the build-up of litter on the forest floor, the fire burned unusually hot and not only consumed small trees and low-lying plants but also destroyed a complete mature forest between Foresta and Tioga Pass Road where it finally was stopped.

This was one of the fires that probably made clear the terrible risks forests were facing due to many years of fire suppression – these forests evolved in a world of periodic fires and smaller fires to clear out the undergrowth the inevitable big fire has so much fuel to feed upon that the damage to the forest is ultimately much worse. For this reason, Yosemite (along with other parks) has adopted a wise policy of letting natural fires burn out on their own. Personnel are dispatched to keep an eye on the fire and to ensure that it doesn’t get out of control or threaten people or structures, but otherwise the fires are allowed to burn naturally. The price of some additional late summer smoke is, I think, a small price to pay for a more healthy forest.

After that original fire, what had previously been a forest along this section of the road instead became an open area. At first many small plants and wildflowers took advantage of the sunlight and grew like crazy. Eventually larger trees began to grow and in the past few years it was almost possible to imagine that a forest like the original one might eventually return.

One day in August this past summer I was camped in the Ten Lake Basin to do photography. On the second to last day I decided to leave my base camp and instead plan a dry camp on top of a ridge above the Basin from which I had seen a tremendous panorama of the Sierra crest on my way in. I packed up, carrying extra water, and climbed the steep trail to the pass. But as I climbed I smelled smoke, and as I came to the summit I saw a plume of forest fire smoke to the west… in the direction of Foresta. I gave up on the photography and hiked on out. I eventually found out that NPS personnel had been conducting a “management fire” near Foresta (on a very hot and dry summer day!) when it got out of control. This “little fire” burned right out of the Foresta area and into the surrounding hills and valleys, eventually consuming thousands of acres… including a good portion of the area of the previous fire that had slowly been starting to recover.

The tragedies of this fire are several. First, it is troubling that those in charge of actions designed to lessen fire damage to the forest miscalculated so badly that they ended up destroying substantial areas of the forest they were to protect. Even worse, the recovery of this area has now been set back by years, and perhaps decades.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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News

Climate Change Behind Die-off of Aspens?

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An article in SF Gate discussed a decline in the number of aspen trees: “Climate Change Cited in Die-off of Aspens”

According to the report, there are a number of factors affecting the trees: fire prevention policies that stop the natural burn cycle, insect infestations, and climate change. The reports speaks mostly about trees outside of California, but those one wonders if these factors affect the trees here as well.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Burned Forest Near Mariposa Grove

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Burned Forest Near Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park

Burned Forest Near Mariposa Grove. Yosemite National Park. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Burned forest near the Mariposa redwood grove in Yosemite National Park, California.

During my recent visit to the Mariposa Grove of Sequoias in southern Yosemite National Park I hiked up the main trail through the grove. While the forest and occasional redwood tree to my left were certainly interesting, my attention was drawn to the burned area to the right. The trail in places followed the very edge of fairly recent wildfire, and in some spots crossed it.

I am fascinated with forest fire areas and how we perceive them. As a kid I remember learning from Smokey the Bear that forest fires are a tragic thing. But later I became less certain, and I came to view the wild fires as a natural and periodic element of a healthy forest. Aside from the human tragedies can accompany wildfires, I began to change my perspective on the aesthetic value of these burned areas, and I learned to see a certain stark beauty in them. A recently burned forest like this one is not necessarily an ugly thing if you look at it this way. The open light, verticals of black and gray, the intense brown of singed leaves and needles, the contrast with the reddish-brown of the forest floor, and the appearance of scattered new growth all create a special landscape. And a few years later as the cycle starts again and wildflowers and bushes grow wildly there can be a riot of color below the skeletons of the old trees.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Five Sequoias, Mariposa Grove

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Five Sequoias, Mariposa Grove

Five Sequoias, Mariposa Grove. Yosemite National Park, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The massive trunks of five giant sequoia trees in soft afternoon light, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park.

Believe it or not, as much of the Sierra as I’ve visited, it has been (many) decades since I last visited the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias near Wawona in the southern area of Yosemite National Park. How many decades may shock you – if I recall correctly, it was when I was a child and my family visited. I’m pretty certain that we actually drove through the old “tunnel tree” before it fell. Since then I have visited other Sierra redwood groves but not nearly often enough. I was reminded of this last summer on a return drive from a southern Sierra pack trip took me though Sequoia National Park. I had forgotten the impact of traveling through a “normal” forest of large Sierra trees and coming upon the stupendous and massive red brown towers of these magnificent trees.

With this in the back of my mind – and the weather being more conducive to shooting in the forest than to shooting grand open landscapes – I decided to detour to Mariposa at the end of my weekend shoot in and around Yosemite. First, I found out – the somewhat hard way – that things have changed since my childhood visit. I naively drove to the road leading to the grove only to be met by the nice people in the international orange vests who informed me that there was no parking and that I’d have to drive back to Wawona, park my car, and take the free shuttle. Ah, well, probably for the best. So I joined the throngs on the shuttle system and returned to the grove. By this point my time was somewhat limited since the final return shuttle was scheduled to leave barely and hour and a half later, so I hoisted my camera pack and put my tripod on my shoulder and started up the well used trail, ultimately getting a bit past the “Grizzly Tree” before turning back. Despite the tremendous number of tourists joining me on this trail – many from places all around the globe – I was able to find some photographs in the afternoon light softened by partly cloudy skies.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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