With regards to the recent catastrophic wildfires burning in LA, please consider what I have to say. I am a survivor of a wildfire that burned here in Big Sur several years ago which, despite my fire-fighting skills, took my home. As a PhD scientist my understanding of the ecology of the California forests and their decline runs deep, which has proven useful in consulting with landowners on how to prevent the decline of their trees and reduce the fire hazard on their properties. I served for many years as a volunteer and paid firefighter and, with respect to climate change, I worked as a staff scientist for 14 years at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Currently I serve as the Staff Ecologist with the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County.
Climate change is so often invoked as the “cause” of these wildfire disasters, that it is hard for most folks to parse the more nuanced explanations of what is really going on. In my opinion, the wildfire problem in California and elsewhere has been hijacked by climate activists, who wish to divert the attention of wildfires to climate change, despite knowing that climate is only part of the problem. This emphasis on climate change leaves people with few real-world solutions to the wildfire problem. Buy a Tesla perhaps?
But the LA fires were preventable, without changing the climate. How do I know? Because of the real world work I do which has not only saved homes, it has also saved entire forests – and I didn’t change the climate!
To put it simply, in my opinion, if climate change was not happening, or even if we were able to stop or reverse climate change right now, these wildfires would still happen. Present day climate change may be exacerbating the frequency of these events, but the wildfires would still happen. Suppose we were to develop better firefighting technologies and skills, the wildfires would still happen. Let’s rebuild with more fireproof homes, well then maybe not so many homes would be lost, but the wildfires would still happen!
The catastrophic wildfires in California and elsewhere are NOT the result of an altered climatology, they are the result of an altered ecology. For thousands of years the forests, chaparral, and prairies of California were managed by the Native Peoples, mainly with fire. Now that the Native People have been largely removed, the lands are no longer being tended. This has resulted in rapid shifts in the succession of ecosystems. Prairie ecosystems are being invaded by chaparral and oak savannas are quickly becoming overcrowded oak forests.
Thankfully, the Native Peoples have solutions, which they are willing to share. Maybe it’s time to listen and learn!
Respectfully,
Lee Klinger, Big Sur, CA
Author – “Forged by Fire: The Cultural Tending of Trees and Forests in Big Sur and Beyond” https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3ZVMB3P
Sudden Oak Life by Lee Klinger 
Yes. The land and vegetation and soils need to be tended. I wonder how long it will take for that idea to take hold. Or if it ever will. I just saw an nps (I think) article stating that chaparral does not respond well to Rx fire because if burned, the invasives move in. And old growth chaparral stands have benefits. I am not familiar with chaparral dynamics; what do you think pre-colonization landscapes were like?
Thanks for your comment. I think precolonial landscapes were largely designed and maintained by the Native Peoples for the multiple resources required to live and flourish – food, shelter, tools, fabrics, regalia, etc. In Big Sur, precolonial landscapes, I believe, had a much greater cover of coastal prairies, old-growth oak savannas, old-growth oak forests, old-growth redwood/oak savannas, and old-growth redwood forests than occurs presently. Areas of chaparral were likely much reduced from today. My book (pinned post) describes all this in detail. Regards, Lee
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