{"id":311,"date":"2020-12-10T20:55:04","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T20:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dereklee.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=311"},"modified":"2020-12-11T20:56:53","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T20:56:53","slug":"spotted-owls-benefit-from-wildfires-forest-fire-suppression-should-focus-on-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/311\/spotted-owls-benefit-from-wildfires-forest-fire-suppression-should-focus-on-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotted Owls Benefit from Wildfires, Forest Fire Suppression Should Focus on Homes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As record-breaking wildfires continue burning across U.S. western states, a group of pro-logging scientists and activists reignited the debate about Spotted Owls and wildfires by publishing an article critical of <a href=\"https:\/\/esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1002\/ecs2.2354\" rel=\"nofollow\">a 2018 synthesis<\/a> of all scientific evidence on the topic. Federal and state authorities are pushing plans to increase logging in National Forests, ostensibly to protect Spotted Owls from wildfire. Derek Lee, Associate Research Professor at Pennsylvania State University and author of the synthesis said, \u201cSpotted Owls are usually not affected by wildfire, and there are significant benefits to reproduction from high-severity fire. I believe money intended for logging National Forests would be better spent hardening homes and other human structures to protect lives and property against wildfire.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/114\/18\/4582\" rel=\"nofollow\">There are limited resources available to protect homes and communities from wildfire<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fs.fed.us\/rm\/pubs_other\/rmrs_2000_cohen_j002.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">logging backcountry forested lands such as in owl habitats has no impact on community safety<\/a>, so Lee argues that forest fire mitigation resources should be focused on <a href=\"https:\/\/ucanr.edu\/sites\/fire\/Prepare\/Building\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">home fire resistance<\/a> and protection. The only proven way to protect homes and lives from wildfires is to create fire-safe communities, improve warning systems, and provide evacuation assistance, measures contained in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/116th-congress\/senate-bill\/2882\/text\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wildfire Defense Act<\/a> introduced by Sen. Harris (D-Calif.).<\/p>\n<p>Gavin Jones, U.S. Forest Service Researcher and lead author of the comment affirmed Lee\u2019s observation saying, &#8220;Severe fire has not resulted in range-wide Spotted Owl population declines, and fire has not been an overriding driver of recently observed long-term Spotted Owl population declines.&#8221; However, the Jones-led group of pro-logging scientists and activists also suggested several analytical changes to the 2018 synthesis, and speculated such changes might affect the results and conclusions. Published alongside the comment article was <a href=\"https:\/\/esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/ecs2.3310\" rel=\"nofollow\">a reply by Lee<\/a> that reanalyzed all the data according to the Jones group\u2019s suggestions and found none of the group\u2019s assertions were accurate.<\/p>\n<p>According to Lee, forest fire provides significant benefits to owl populations. Lee\u2019s analysis indicated significant positive effects in recruitment, reproduction, and foraging habitat selection in burned forest, with reproduction increasing as the amount of high-severity fire increased. Lee explained, \u201cThe absence of big negative effects of fire on Spotted Owls was not surprising because this species has been living with forest fire for thousands of years. The positive effects of forest fires on Spotted Owls indicate wildfires, including so-called mega-fires, are within the natural range of variability for these forests. The fact that Spotted Owls have adapted to these types of fires over evolutionary time shows that they have seen this before and learned to take advantage of it. The Jones group is cherry-picking evidence to support damaging logging in the name of fire-risk reduction rather than following the evidence and advocating for more fire to enhance Spotted Owl habitat.&#8221; Additionally, burned forests with large patches of high-severity fire are useful habitat that provide significant benefits to many other native species.<\/p>\n<p>Lee\u2019s findings run contrary to current perceptions and forest management projects for the Spotted Owl, which counterfactually insist fire is a threat and that unproven logging treatments are needed. The USDA Forest Service budget is largely devoted to administering and facilitating logging projects, so there are financial incentives for this agency to promote logging on public lands. Lee added, \u201cThinning and logging intended to reduce fire severity in Spotted Owl habitat will harm the owl and diverts resources that should be used to save human lives and property. Chainsaws felling trees in our forests\u2019 backcountry will not save human lives, only hardening human structures against ignition will save people. In addition to Spotted Owls, there are many other native plants and animals that thrive in forests burned by high-severity fire. Wildfires create valuable natural habitats that should be protected from damaging management activities like post-fire logging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spotted Owls occur in western U.S. forests and are one of the best-studied birds in the world. The species is strongly associated with mature and old-growth conifer and mixed-conifer\u2013hardwood forests with thick overhead canopy and many large live and dead trees and fallen logs. Its association with older forests has made the Spotted Owl an important species for public lands management aimed at preserving the last remaining fragments of our old-growth forests. Research on Spotted Owls in fire-affected landscapes did not begin until the early 2000s. Much of what scientists previously understood about habitat associations of Spotted Owls was from studies in forests that had generally not experienced recent fire, and where \u2018non-suitable\u2019 vegetation was a result of logging.<\/p>\n<p>Western forest fires typically burn as mixed-severity fires with each fire resulting in a mosaic of different vegetation burn severities, including substantial patches of high-severity fire. Anywhere from 5% to 70% of the fire area typically burns as high-severity fire that kills most or all of the dominant vegetation in a stand and creates extremely biodiverse \u2018snag forests,\u2019 where standing dead trees, fallen logs, shrubs, tree seedlings, and herbaceous plants contribute to forest structure. Post-fire vegetation processes then proceed according to the pre-fire vegetation, local wildfire processes, seeds from outside the disturbance, and the conditions at the site.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide1.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-312\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide1-194x300.png?resize=510%2C789&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"510\" height=\"789\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide1.png?resize=194%2C300&amp;ssl=1 194w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide1.png?resize=663%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 663w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide1.png?resize=768%2C1187&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide1.png?resize=994%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 994w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide1.png?w=1056&amp;ssl=1 1056w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide2.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-313\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide2-194x300.png?resize=505%2C781&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"505\" height=\"781\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide2.png?resize=194%2C300&amp;ssl=1 194w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide2.png?resize=663%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 663w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide2.png?resize=768%2C1187&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide2.png?resize=994%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 994w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Slide2.png?w=1056&amp;ssl=1 1056w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 505px) 100vw, 505px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cited Literature:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/ecs2.3310\">Lee DE (2020) Spotted Owls and forest fire: Reply. Ecosphere. DOI: 10.1002\/ecs2.3310<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jones GM, RJ Guti\u00e9rrez, WM Block, PC Carlson, EJ Comfort, SA Cushman, RJ Davis, SA Eyes, AB Franklin, JL Ganey, S Hedwall, JJ Keane, R Kelsey, DB Lesmeister, MP North, SL Roberts, JT Rockweit, JS Sanderlin, SC Sawyer, B Solvesky, DJ Tempel, HY Wan, AL Westerling, GC White, and MZ Peery (2020) Spotted Owls and forest fire: Comment. Ecosphere.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1002\/ecs2.2354\">Lee DE (2018) Spotted Owls and forest fire: A systematic review and meta\u2010analysis of the evidence. Ecosphere 9(7):e02354.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As record-breaking wildfires continue burning across U.S. western states, a group of pro-logging scientists and activists reignited the debate about Spotted Owls and wildfires by publishing an article critical of a 2018 synthesis of all scientific evidence on the topic. Federal and state authorities are pushing plans to increase logging in National Forests, ostensibly to &#8230; <a title=\"Spotted Owls Benefit from Wildfires, Forest Fire Suppression Should Focus on Homes\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/311\/spotted-owls-benefit-from-wildfires-forest-fire-suppression-should-focus-on-homes\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Spotted Owls Benefit from Wildfires, Forest Fire Suppression Should Focus on Homes\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":284,"featured_media":57,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22,2,30,10,26,11,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animal","category-ecology","category-forest-fire","category-forest-management","category-spotted-owl","category-wildfire-prevention","category-wildlife-conservation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Spotted Owls Benefit from Wildfires, Forest Fire Suppression Should Focus on Homes - Derek Lee<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/311\/spotted-owls-benefit-from-wildfires-forest-fire-suppression-should-focus-on-homes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spotted Owls Benefit from Wildfires, Forest Fire Suppression Should Focus on Homes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As record-breaking wildfires continue burning across U.S. western states, a group of pro-logging scientists and activists reignited the debate about Spotted Owls and wildfires by publishing an article critical of a 2018 synthesis of all scientific evidence on the topic. 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Current research investigates Masai Giraffe and other large mammal populations within a fragmented landscape in Tanzania. This work examines how births, deaths, and movements of ungulates are impacted by increasingly fragmented wildlife habitat, and what conservation actions are most effective. He spent 10 years researching the impacts of climate and ocean conditions on survival, reproduction, and population growth rates of marine predators such as northern elephant seals, Common Murres, and Cassin's Auklets at the South Farallon Islands, California. His work was included in a conservation and management plan for seabirds in the California Current. He also studied migration of Black Brant in Humboldt Bay as well as fire ecology of small mammals in California's oak woodlands and California Spotted Owls in the Sierra Nevada.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.wildnatureinstitute.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/author\\\/dereklee\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Spotted Owls Benefit from Wildfires, Forest Fire Suppression Should Focus on Homes - Derek Lee","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/311\/spotted-owls-benefit-from-wildfires-forest-fire-suppression-should-focus-on-homes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Spotted Owls Benefit from Wildfires, Forest Fire Suppression Should Focus on Homes","og_description":"As record-breaking wildfires continue burning across U.S. western states, a group of pro-logging scientists and activists reignited the debate about Spotted Owls and wildfires by publishing an article critical of a 2018 synthesis of all scientific evidence on the topic. Federal and state authorities are pushing plans to increase logging in National Forests, ostensibly to ... 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Current research investigates Masai Giraffe and other large mammal populations within a fragmented landscape in Tanzania. This work examines how births, deaths, and movements of ungulates are impacted by increasingly fragmented wildlife habitat, and what conservation actions are most effective. He spent 10 years researching the impacts of climate and ocean conditions on survival, reproduction, and population growth rates of marine predators such as northern elephant seals, Common Murres, and Cassin's Auklets at the South Farallon Islands, California. His work was included in a conservation and management plan for seabirds in the California Current. He also studied migration of Black Brant in Humboldt Bay as well as fire ecology of small mammals in California's oak woodlands and California Spotted Owls in the Sierra Nevada.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.wildnatureinstitute.org"],"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/author\/dereklee\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgtNOJ-51","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":149,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/149\/comprehensive-meta-analysis-reveals-spotted-owls-are-not-significantly-affected-by-forest-fires\/","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":0},"title":"Comprehensive meta-analysis reveals Spotted Owls are not significantly affected by forest fires","author":"Derek Lee","date":"July 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A complete meta-analysis of every published study that examined Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) responses to wildfire was recently published. Contrary to current perceptions and recovery activities, mixed-severity forest fire does not appear to be a serious threat to owl populations. On the contrary, wildfire was found to create more benefits\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;animal&quot;","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/56\/the-science-of-forest-fire-and-spotted-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":1},"title":"The Science of Forest Fire and Spotted Owls","author":"Derek Lee","date":"May 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Fifteen years of research about severely burned Snag Forests in the western U.S.A. and their important value as wildlife habitat and ecological services has produced a healthy body of scientific literature. These papers, and others, have opened the eyes of many to the now-obvious fact that burned forests create wildlife\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;animal&quot;","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":105,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":2},"title":"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls","author":"Derek Lee","date":"January 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Wildlife ecologists studying the rare spotted owl in the forests of California have discovered that large, intense wildfires are not responsible for abandonment of breeding territories. Instead, the researchers found that post-fire logging operations, which are common on both private and National Forest lands, most likely caused declines in territory\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ecology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ecology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":128,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/128\/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-wildland-forest-fires-but-were-afraid-to-ask\/","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":3},"title":"Everything you wanted to know about wildland forest fires but were afraid to ask","author":"Derek Lee","date":"April 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A team of fire ecologists released a report this week titled \"Everything You Wanted To Know About Wildland Fires\" summarizing the state of knowledge about forest fires on public lands. This report comes just days after the US Congress passed the Wildfire Suppression Funding and Forest Management Activities Act as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ecology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ecology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Regrowth after a high-severity forest fire. The past three decades of science that has found fires, including large high-severity fires, are an ecologically essential part of forest ecosystems and create highly biodiverse wildlife habitat.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/70\/new-documentary-gives-smokey-bear-a-new-positive-message-about-forest-fire\/","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":4},"title":"New Documentary Gives Smokey Bear A New, Positive Message About Forest Fire","author":"Derek Lee","date":"June 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A new video documentary released this week describes the important positive ecological effects of high-severity forest fires. High-severity forest fires, also called stand-replacing or crown fires, create rare and important wildlife habitat, and many species of plants and animals reach their highest abundances only in these blackened \u2018snag forests\u2019. 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