national forests

The importance of Alaska’s National Forests

December 22, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The world’s forests play a crucial role in taking carbon out of the atmosphere and mitigating the effects of climate change. An analysis of U.S. national forests shows that two southern Alaskan forests are key to meeting climate and biodiversity goals.

The Tongass Forest in Alaska is America’s largest national forest, encompassing 16.7 million acres. Alaska’s Chugach Forest is the country’s second largest at just under 7 million acres. These two forests are not only the largest national forests, they are also the most intact.

A study by researchers at the Oregon State University College of Forestry looked at 152 national forests and compared them in terms of carbon density and accumulation, total biomass carbon stocks, habitat for eagles, bears, and wolves, and landscape integrity – which is the extent of modification by human activity. According to the study, almost 31% of all high-landscape-integrity area found in national forests is in the Tongass and Chugach forests. The Tongass alone represents over 25%.

These forests are cool and wet. Their carbon stocks are only minimally affected by wildfire, unlike many other forests in the lower 48 states. Given the size and stability of the two forests, protecting them is a high priority for making it possible to meet global goals relating to climate and diversity of species.

Ecosystems remove about 30% of all the carbon dioxide humans put into the atmosphere and intact forests with high carbon density do most of that work. Protecting Alaska’s forests is crucial.

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Southern Alaska’s national forests key to meeting climate, conservation goals, OSU study shows

Photo, posted August 4, 2014, courtesy of Jeff Canon via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Wildfires And Giant Sequoias

October 28, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Two massive California wildfires that erupted during a lightning storm on September 9 have continued to threaten groves of giant sequoia trees in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains. As of the beginning of October, flames from the KNP Complex fire had burned in or passed through 11 sequoia groves, including the famed Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park.

Hundreds of firefighters battled to protect some of the most renowned trees, including the 275-foot-tall General Sherman tree, widely considered to be the largest tree on earth by overall volume. That tree and many near it are over 2,000 years old.

Firefighters wrapped the base of the General Sherman and several other trees with fire-resistant blankets to protect them from the intense heat of approaching fires. Sequoias are actually well-adapted to fires because of their thick bark that protects them from heat. But intense fires like the KNP Complex and Windy fires are more than the trees can handle.

As of the beginning of October, both fires continue to blaze, but thanks to the efforts of firefighters, most of the giant sequoias have survived. One massive tree in the Giant Forest recently toppled over after burning for several days, but most are still standing and haven’t suffered serious damage.

As of early October, the two fires had blackened over 140,000 acres across national parks, national forests, the Tule River Indian Reservation, and local communities. These two are among multiple wildfires burning in California this past summer. The largest – the Dixie fire – has burned nearly a million acres as of early October. In total, over 2.5 million acres have already burned in California this year.

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KNP Complex fire triggers flurry of new evacuations, as flames threaten more giant sequoia trees

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Hundreds of California firefighters battle to protect ancient sequoia groves from raging wildfires – with world’s largest tree General Sherman wrapped in aluminum foil blanket

Photo, posted November 5, 2017, courtesy of Ken Lund via Flickr.

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Bees Threatening Bees | Earth Wise

October 16, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Domesticated honeybees are an essential part of our agricultural system, being responsible for one in every three bites of food Americans consume and contributing $15 billion a year to the value of the nation’s crop production. Millions of bee colonies are trucked across the country every year to pollinate cranberries, melons, broccoli, blueberries, and cherries, and also to produce honey.

After the growing seasons, honeybees are trucked to various locations to rest and rebuild their population and to replenish bees lost to disease and pesticides. Some of these locations are in national forests. Thousands of hives belonging to 112 apiaries are currently permitted in national forests by the Department of Agriculture. This presents a problem because these hives are being permitted on public lands with virtually no environmental review and with little consideration of the impact these colonies can have on local wild bee populations.

The 4,000 wild bee species in the U.S. consume up to 95% of local available pollen. Nearly 40 federally listed threatened or endangered species of bees, butterflies, and flower flies depend on national forest land for their survival. And now the pollinators in these places, which were once refuges for these species and others, increasingly face competition from millions of domesticated honeybees.

Honeybees are super-foraging machines and are literally taking the pollen out of the mouths of other bees and pollinators. Honeybees themselves have been facing numerous problems from habitat loss, pesticides, and other stress factors. So, what is happening is essentially a pollinator habitat crunch that carries long-term implications for the U.S. food supply. We need to find some answers and the sooner the better.

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Will Putting Honey Bees on Public Lands Threaten Native Bees?

Photo, posted August 9, 2015, courtesy of Tak H. via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.