[Terrapreta] wildfire

[lou gold]

Hi Tom,

I'm from the US pacific northwest (Sounthern Oregon specifically) where
there is LOTS of evidence that the indigenous populations did use fire as a
regular management tool. They burned at the beginning of the rainy season
which provided a moisture level promoting slow moving ground fires rather
than crown fires and raging infernos. There is a rich literature on this.
There is also longer term historical evidence that these eco-systems were
natural fire ecologies.

However, I definitely agree concerning the present situation where drought
and a variety of stresses have brought these forests into a catastrophic
phase where whole landscapes may be moving from forest to savanna. In this
new context, "controlled burning" is an oxymoron, for sure.

The purpose of my previous comment was to counter a possble interpretation
of the photo of the San Diego fire as even remotely promoting Terra Preta.

hugs,

lou

On Nov 10, 2007 1:39 PM,iles <tmiles at trmiles.com> wrote:

>  In all my experience of burning fields or slash in temperate or tropical
> environments on various continents I've never seen  "slow cool burning as a
> landscape management tool" in fields or forests. That means you can control
> the fire by managing the fuel load, fuel moisture and wind. And you need
> luck. If you're lucky you can pick conditions that hopefully will be
> predictable. In wet conditions there will be a high number of fire failures
> before you get a successful one so your efficiency at "landscape management"
> will be low. The local agronomic impact is predictable: two or three years
> of fertilization from concentrated nutrients in the ash and then the need
> for long fallow. The agronomic effects of open burning in slash and burn or
> modern agriculture are well documented and also discussed in the terra preta
> literature.
>
>
>
> We've changed the world. There are no more "long-standing fire ecologies".
> We need to find ways to use tools like terra preta to change and adapt.
>
>
>
> Tom Miles
>
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> *From:* terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org [mailto:
> terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org] *On Behalf Of *lou gold
> *Sent:* Friday, November 09, 2007 10:12 PM
> *To:* Michael Bailes
> *Cc:* Terrapreta
> *Subject:* Re: [Terrapreta] wildfire
>
>
>
> Yep, it seems that indigenous peoples around the world used slow cool
> burning as a landscape management tool, but not the kind of inferno shown in
> the photo. It's not that large hot burns never happened but the incidence of
> them was far apart. Many long-standing fire ecologies are now being
> threatened as hot burning become more frequent.
>
>
>
>  On Nov 10, 2007 3:05 AM, Michael Bailes <michaelangelica at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Yes probably true
> The Australian Aborigines always used fire to manage the land here for
> over 40,000 years.
>  Many believe they used 'cold' burning and protected productive areas of
> rainforest fruit.
> Now bushfire control people do try to burn the bush in winter to reduce
> the fire hazard.
> ma
>
> On 10/11/2007, *David Yarrow* <dyarrow at nycap.rr.com> wrote:
>
> dry wood versus green & wet.  burning trees and brush in a drought will
> yield more ash.  a rainforest of lush green growth will burn lower and
> slower and yield more charcoal.  also depends on speed of the fire's
> movement.
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
>
> *From:* Michael Bailes <michaelangelica at gmail.com>
>
> *To:* David Yarrow <dyarrow at nycap.rr.com>
>
> *Sent:* Friday, November 09, 2007 2:26 AM
>
> *Subject:* Re: [Terrapreta] wildfire
>
>
>
> Unfortuntely David Wildfires mainly makes more ash than charcoal.
> Certainly that has been the recent Australian experience.
> MA
>
>
>
>
> --
> Michael the Archangel
>
> "You can fix all the world's problems in a garden. . . .
> Most people don't know that"
> FROM
> http://www.blog.thesietch.org/wp-content/permaculture.swf
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> --
> http://lougold.blogspot.com/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/visionshare/sets/
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-- 
http://lougold.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/visionshare/sets/
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