Forest Fires | Anthropocene
In 2020, there were a record seven “mega” wildfires in Oregon’s Western Cascades consuming 1.3 million acres of forest including tens of thousands of acres of old growth Douglas-fir.
Global warming is causing more frequent and devastating droughts, floods, storms and wildfires. According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), climate change creates warmer and drier conditions, leading to longer and more active wildfire seasons.
The devastation from these wildfires means people living today, ourselves and our children, may never see these areas grow into healthy and mature forests. We may never see a Northern Spotted Owl nesting in a Douglas-fir tree or Bull Trout migrating upstream to their place of birth.
The 2020 Beachie Creek fire burned 183,000 acres. It began in August just south of Jawbone Flats in the Willamette National Forest. Its cause is unknown. The fire spread rapidly, fanned by an historic windstorm that raged through the Willamette and Mt Hood National Forests.
A hillside at the site of the 2020 Riverside fire, south of Estacada, Oregon. The fire, started by lightning and exasperated by hot and dry weather and high winds of up to 60 miles per hour burned 132,000 acres including old growth Douglas-fir stands.
There have been, and always will be, forest fires, but, according to Oregon State University their severity has significantly increased. Research found that the percentage of high severity fires increased from 18% for the period 1994 – 2018 to 38% for the 2020 Labor Day fires.
An aerial photograph from a drone provides a different perspective of the scale of the destruction.
Many of the trees that burn will eventually fall down, either on their own or as a result of strong winds. Unfortunately, as these trees decay, they release significant amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere and for many years to come.
Decayed tree stumps which are still standing are called “snags”. Snags can provide homes for birds, reptiles, small animals and insects. Snags can remain standing for up to 100 years.
The post-fire clean-up effort is a long and expensive process. The Oregon Department of Emergency Management estimates it will be running fire recovery operations from by the 2020 fires “well into the 2050s”. It takes that long to reopen logging and recreation areas, repair roads, bridges and paths, rebuild camping areas and dispose of slash and other waste and generally make the area safe for visitors.
Some of the burned trees are salvaged, others are left to rot or burned in open fires.
This was a trail at the Fish Creek recreation area along the Clackamas River that was heavily damaged in the Riverside Fire of 2020. This beautiful and popular trail runs for approximately eight miles through an old growth forest, ending at the well-known Indian Henry Trailhead.
As of January 2025, almost five years after the fire, the trail and the Indian Henry campground remain closed.
Many streams and creeks spill into rivers providing water, nutrients and places for fish to spawn. After a fire however, the water can also carry ash, sand and silt which can clog the rivers and prevent fish from reaching their spawning grounds.
This is a full color photograph. Look closely and you’ll see a slight yellow green color running through the middle of the photo from top to bottom. What we’re seeing is a phenomenon called “scorching” which occurs when there are very intense flames only at ground level, but the heat from the flames rises causing the destruction of the branches and the tree above.
In a September 2020 report the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), stated, and I’ll quote from the report “Rising temperatures, declining snowpack and frequent droughts are all leading to a dramatic surge in wildfire frequency and severity across the western United States. Climate change is loading the dice, transforming what was once a natural, cyclical and seasonal visitor on the landscape into an omnipresent threat.”
Larry Thompson