The Problematic Issues Pf Forest Management And Health In Arizona

Introduction

Scientists are beginning to find evidence that being in nature has a profound impact on both humans brains and behavior, including an increase in attention capacity, creativity, and the ability to connect with other people. The forests of Arizona are vital to the people and wildlife that inhabit them for the aforementioned reasons, as well as being a basis for a healthy ecosystem, and they are being destroyed. The source of this destruction is the bark beetle, stripping the trees of their necessary nutrients, which leads to forest drought and in turn uncontainable wildfires. These wildfires have a vast effect on Arizona's economy through the costs of these disasters, Arizona's society through the air quality and effect on human life, and the environment through the ruining of the vegetation.

Stakeholders

The Bark Beetle organism is one of the root problems affecting Arizona’s forests. The beetle feeds primarily on the inner bark of the trees, which has the same effect as physically peeling the bark off of the tree. Damage caused by their feeding acts as an internal tourniquet for the tree, cutting off the flow of nutrients from the leaves to the other parts of the tree. The beetle’s also introduce a blue stain fungus into the trees which grows into the wood, preventing water from being transported upward to the leaves. After the trees are affected by the fungi, there is nothing that can be done to save the tree. Because these trees are being drained of their vital nutrients, there is an increase in forest fires.

The other major issue causing these problems is poor forest management by the State, due to the lack of thinning out forests. Not clearing the dead and damaged trees ultimately leads to a higher risk of fires, and it costs the state approximately 40 million dollars to clear the fires, and in turn resulting in around 80 million dollars in property damage. The beetles and poor forest maintenance puts chronic stress on plants and ecosystem processes. The local concentration of this issue is in and around the Coconino National Forest, Northern Arizona, and other areas of Taiga forest. In 2018, 98 percent of forest fires were human-caused. Campers or human forest dwellers who improperly extinguish campfires, set off fireworks, spontaneously combust, or smoke in forests are catalysts for wildfires. These acts which lead to accidental forest fires endanger both local inhabitants and Firefighters who risk their lives protecting and extinguishing fires. The US Forest Service is an organization whose goals are to cover the technical and financial assistance to prevent, suppress and control outbreaks threatening the forest’s resources, and help to maintain, enhance, and restore healthy forest conditions.

The Department of Forestry and Fire Management are building healthy and sustainable communities by promoting urban forestry awareness, and by fostering local action. These services aim to protect and tend to the Arizona forests, and improve the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests for future generations

Three Pillars of Sustainability

Economic

Forest fires are a major economic issue in Arizona. The economic impact of wildfires in the valley can cost millions of dollars to repress and contain. It cost 40 million dollars to suppress the biggest forest fire in Arizona, the Wallow fire in 2011. This fire burned 538,000 acres, and as a result of the fire, there was $80 million spent in property damage. This cost is immensely unaffordable for most inhabitants. The small hamlet of Summerhaven, located on Mount Lemmon near Tucson, was nearly demolished by the Aspen Fire, which began on June 17, 2003. Two-thirds of the homes and cabins in the area were completely burned, and more than 84,000 acres were scorched, and property loss was estimated at $80 million. These costs would be easily avoided with the avoidance of accidental fires through further practices.

Social

These forest fires affect both the vitality and integrity of human life. The wildfires affect human vitality because the wildfires induce a terrible air quality. Particulate matter is a component of smoke from wildfires and consists of fine particles such as soot and ash that can reach deep into the lungs and may contain irritating and toxic compounds. A study done by Climate Central in the Central Valley, the Sacramento Valley and the San Joaquin Valley from 2000-2016 examined the contribution of wildfires to levels of PM2.5. The organization compared the number of days PM2.5 exceeded federal standards at at least one station in each air basin for the entire year, with the number of days the pollutant exceeded federal standards during the summer wildfire season from June to September. These areas cover 20,000 square miles, and are home to nearly 6.7 million people. Typical symptoms of exposure to smoke include burning eyes, runny nose, scratchy throat, headaches, dizziness and nausea, and people living in the area are urged to stay inside and avoid the outdoors at all costs.

Another factor to recognize is the forest fires endanger inhabitants and firefighters lives. The Yarnell Hill Fire in central Arizona in 2013 is infamous for the 19 firefighters who died combating it. The 19 men were members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew with the Prescott Fire Department, and after deploying fire shelters in the affected areas, thunderstorm outflows reached the southern perimeter of the fire, and the winds increased substantially. The fire turned south and overran the Granite Mountain, trapping the men. This was terrible loss that could have been prevented my better enforcement of fire safety.

Human Integrity is also greatly affected because the fires destroy state parks and homes. The Horseshoe Two Fire began atop the Chiricahua Mountains in May 2011, and scorched nearly 223,000 acres. It burned nine homes in a world renowned designated bird watching area in eastern Arizona, and at its most active, there were 1,400 personnel assigned to battle the fire. This destruction of nature is costly in the integrity of both humans and the species that inhabit them, and again the firefighters who must go out to suppress these fires.

Environmental

All of the ecosystem services are impacted by forest fires. The bark beetles strip the trees of their nutrients and water, killing large patches of vegetation at a time. This equates to a loss of less than 2-3% of forests, although tree losses may be as high at 90% on some localized sites, which is the largest bark beetle epidemic ever recorded in Arizona. Once a tree has been attacked by bark beetles and infected with the blue-stain fungus, there is nothing that can be done to save the tree. Trees, wildlife, and natural vegetation are destroyed by fires, a total of 420,000 acres was burned last year in Arizona. In June of 2017, wildfires had burned about 130,000 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Agencies Southwest Coordination Center. In 2018, there have been 824 wildfires so far according to the coordination center. Those fires destroyed 74,786 acres of land and trees.

An immense issue for the forests is the severe soil erosion that exists after a wildfire, because as a fire burns it destroys plant material and the litter layer. Shrubs, grasses, trees, and the litter layer break up the intensity of severe rainstorms, and then plant roots stabilize the soil. The stems and the leaves then slow the water to give it time to percolate into the soil profile. Wildfires destroy this soil protection. An example is in 2011 after the Las Conchas fire in New Mexico. Watersheds are areas of land with surrounding trees that protect ditches where rain falls, and its goal is to transport this water into a stream. In the fire, the soil and rock eroded from burned watersheds more than 1,000 times faster than from the unburned watersheds nearby.

In a study done in Turkey in 2011, the difference in time to runoff values between the burned and unburned cases was found to be vastly significant. While the runoff percentage was 7.66% for the burned plots, it was determined as 0.51% for the unburned plots, which means that the runoff values of the burned plots were found to be respectively 15 and 16 times higher than the unburned plots. These infestations, and fires which cause erosion affect both the supporting and cultural aspects of the ecosystem because both the vitality and beauty of the trees are being lost in this process.