Are “human-caused fires” tragedies for the SGM?
) The assault on the chaparral and forest by fire-suppression crews is pretty major. Fire retardants and tons of water are dropped from the air. Fire retardants are basically fertilizer, which encourages the growth of non-native species. Tons of water dropped in one location can erode the landscape much more powerfully than El Nino storms. Dozens to hundreds of firefighters create firebreaks, which can then be a source of erosion. However, the current view is that such fire-suppression efforts are needed due to the increased fire frequency resulting from human-caused fires (Keeley et al 1999). The side-effects of fighting fires are better than allowing large areas to burn frequently. Removing grizzly bears entirely, and seriously suppressing the population of mountain lions and brown bears for most of the last century has also undoubtedly changed the ecology. The construction of large numbers of debris dams has changed the flow of the rivers and undoubtedly changed the population of cr
