Research, Science & environment

Blodgett researcher seeks ways to lower wildfire risk on tree farms

By Public Affairs

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California’s own forestry regulations may be part of what helps fuel wildfires, according to a recent report on Capitol Public Radio.

Researchers know that pine trees planted like rows of corn make wildfires worse, according to reporter Amy Quinton. They’re studying ways to prevent plantations from being incinerated when the inevitable fire occurs — from doing nothing to logging everything.

Among them is Rob York, a researcher with UC Berkeley’s Blodgett Forest Research Station, who took Quinton on a walk through an experimental forest near Georgetown, just east of Auburn in El Dorado County in the Sierra. She also toured the charred hillside where Sierra Pacific lost 23,000 acres of timber in last year’s King Fire.

Listen to — and read — her report on the CPR website. The research could help reduce the devastation of at least some of California’s summer scourge, wildfire.