Rob Addington - A Deep Dive into Western Wildfires and Forest Health
Mountain & Prairie with Ed Roberson
The Impact of Fire Suppression and Beetle Kill on Western Wildfires
This chapter explores the relationship between fire suppression, beetle kill, and the size of wildfires in Western forests. It discusses how suppressing smaller fires has led to larger, more devastating fires and examines the misconception that beetle kill increases the likelihood of wildfires.
Rob Addington is the Director of the Forest and Fire Program with The Nature Conservancy in Colorado. He and his team are focused on increasing the pace and scale of forest restoration in Colorado to reduce hazardous fuels and promote landscape resilience to natural disturbances such as wildfire as well as climate change.
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You don’t have to live in the West to know that the region has been battling ongoing drought, historically large and intense wildfires, and various forms of insect-induced forest devastation. Over the past few years here in Colorado, we’ve experienced some of the most destructive wildfires in recorded history, and the pine beetle infestation continues to be a source of serious and increasing concern. And Colorado is obviously not alone– there are similar stories of struggling forests throughout all of the Western states.
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While the current conditions may be dire, you’ll be happy to know that Rob and his team at The Nature Conservancy are working extremely hard to find collaborative, creative, and effective solutions to the challenges facing our forests here in the West. By partnering with government agencies, Tribal nations, private landowners, various non-profits, and more, TNC has been leading and implementing some of the most innovative forest health work in the country– work that is creating more resilient, healthy landscapes across hundreds of thousands of acres.
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For all the listeners who have been asking for a wildfire and forest health-focused episode, this one is for you. I met up with Rob at the TNC office in Boulder, and he was kind enough to educate me on both the big picture and finer details of all things forest health. You can check out the notes for a full list of everything we discussed, but a few of the topics include: The infamous 2020 wildfire season and the outlook for 2023, the history of land management and how that has affected wildfires, pine beetles, wildfire’s effects on water quality, how beavers can play a role in fire mitigation, some specific success stories, business solutions for forest health, the all-important focus on partnerships, post-fire land management strategies, good books, and much more. Be sure to visit the episode webpage for links to everything, including TNC’s exciting new Western Division Forest and Fire Initiative.
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A huge thanks to Rob for taking the time to answer all my questions and another huge thanks to TNC for leading all of this important work. I hope you enjoy!
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- Rob Addington
- Colorado Wildfires, Climate Change and Water | TNC
- What Colorado Trailblazers Teach Us About Wildfire Recovery
- Colorado Forests and Beer: OktoberForest
- Full episode notes and links: https://mountainandprairie.com/rob-addington/
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This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Colorado chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Guided by science and grounded by decades of collaborative partnerships, The Nature Conservancy has a long-standing legacy of achieving lasting results to create a world where nature and people thrive.
On the fourth Tuesday of every month throughout 2023, Mountain & Prairie will be delving into conversations with a wide range of The Nature Conservancy’s leaders, partners, collaborators, and stakeholders, highlighting the myriad of conservation challenges, opportunities, and solutions here in the American West.
To learn more about The Nature Conservancy’s impactful work in Colorado and around the world, visit www.nature.org/colorado
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TOPICS DISCUSSED:
- 3:30 – Discussing the fire season of 2020
- 9:45 – The outlook for the fire season of 2023
- 12:00 – Discussing the variability in Colorado’s recent fire seasons
- 14:45 – The causes for Colorado’s changing fire seasons
- 17:30 – Exploring, specifically, the role of historic land management and how it impacts fire behavior
- 20:30 – Discussing pine beetles
- 26:00 – How the forest regime progresses in beetle-killed stands without fire, and how changing fire behavior is impacting the forest regime
- 32:00 – How fires impact water
- 39:15 – Discussing potential solution strategies for Colorado’s fire situation
- 42:00 – Discussing the importance of managing partnerships in this work
- 44:45 – A specific, fire-related project that Rob is happy about
- 47:15 – Exploring the potential of a for-profit business that is incentivized to thin out fire-prone forests
- 50:30 – Beavers’ role in wildfire prevention
- 54:30 – Rob’s favorite period of history to read about
- 56:30 – Management strategies for an area that has been wiped clean by fire
- 1:00:30 – Rob’s book recommendations
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