What To Do with Burn Piles?
Lately I’ve seen burn piles of oak limbs, bay branches, manzanita and tangled grass and leaves in parks and open space everywhere. Big tipi-shaped mounds border the trails at Sonoma Valley Regional Park, Sonoma Developmental Center and Bartholomew Park. I find it very unsettling to see massive clearing and burning of underbrush, snags and live bushes and trees conducted under the premise of increasing wildfire safety for communities.
Not only is the clearing and piling up for burning a direct threat to animals and the ecosystems, but the practice is also questionable at best when it comes to reducing wildfire threats to people.
Most of the burn piles I’ve seen are heaped up in parks and open spaces that are somewhat distant from homes, schools and businesses. Recently I traveled to Hendy Redwoods State Park near Boonville where piles in the damp redwood forest extended in both directions for several miles along the entrance road. What are the chances of a wildfire ever starting here, I wondered.
When burn piles sit around for weeks or even months, wildlife and birds are attracted. In no time the piles become shelter for mice, voles, rabbits, snakes, lizards and insects. In the Sierra, even rare fishers and martens from the weasel family may take refuge or create dens inside. Then, if without warning, the piles are burned, these creatures must flee or perish. Instead, forest ecologists suggest creating these as habitat piles, aka “critter condos,” as needed, that are never burned but left in place for the benefit of wildlife and the forest…