I envision a world where people recognize the growing danger of wildfires. We frequently hear about wildfires on the news (see Australia, California, and Brazil), but don't hear much about solutions.
Through opportunism and creativity, we can identify ways to prevent the problem from getting worse. Let's focus on addressing the cause of wildfires...by directly treating the symptoms.
My proposed intervention is selling forest byproducts for revenue. Dead or infected vegetation, such as Mountain Pine Beetle-infected Lodgepole Pine (see below), that fuels fires would be removed and sold as paper or other recyclable products. Governments often spend more money stopping wildfires than preventing them in the first place. The sale of such vegetation would provide the additional funding needed to increase fire prevention measures.
@CoSphere
Interesting point Philip! I agree that depleting fuel reserves is of paramount importance before disastrous wildfires can occur, but I wonder what that would look like? Should loggers focus on cutting down dead trees rather than still living ones?
Hi Philip, your idea of selling forest byproduct is very interesting and I haven't thought of it before.
Love the idea of somehow targeting mountain pine beetle-infested trees! This certainly embodies the creativity you envision future interventions to have.
Hi Philip, who do you believe should facilitate this trade? do you believe this should be a private or nationalized industry on the provincial or federal level? this is such an interesting avenue for equitable land transformations that could be a good source of governmental revenue for the people.
I love your approach! I totally agree that the solution to this overwhelming issue will likely be found by leaning into it and finding ways to work with it rather than against it!
Hi Philip! I love that you brought up solving these problems with opportunism and creativity (this is something I've been preaching in a lot of my posts). If we were to shift the funding towards finding solid and widespread wildfire prevention strategies, we wouldn't have to spend so much money rebuilding communities and putting out fires. I think your solution needs some more research, it sounds cool, but I wonder if it could work!
I agree the government is not using its funds in a logical manner. They spend millions and millions of dollars trying to stop forest fires, and these forest fires cannot be diminished with the snap of a finger, so the forest fire not only causes the government to lose money but also cause huge amounts of irreparable damage. The government should be spending on methods that prevent these fires from happening, rather than stopping them when they start.
Better infected trees than healthy trees, but regulation should be carefully reviewed to ensure there is no abuse!
Hey Philip, great picture to supplement this post! Unfortunately, much of the mountain pine beetle-killed stands have already been logged here in BC. But also beware of the sale of byproducts like this, to make sure that it doesn't start up an industry that becomes dependent on them, which then further fuels logging (not of byproducts). That's EXACTLY what seems to have happened with the Drax power controversy, and due to the sale of MPB-killed trees! See https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63089348 And especially this CBC podcast, https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/how-virgin-b-c-forests-fuel-a-green-u-k-power-station-1.6608592 . It's not a bad idea, but it needs safeguards!
Hello Phillip, great post! I really appreciate your method of intervention, is something I have personally never thought about before and I am quite intrigued by it. If you have found any scholarly articles or examples of implementation of this method please share, as I could not really find anything.
That's quite a shocking jump in budget allocation to suppressing fires. I love the ideas you have outlined!
hi Philip, I totally agree with you that focusing on prevention is not only cost-effective but benefits the overall ecosystems. There will not be elevated particulate matter in the air that causes irreversible harm to human health. We also protect diverse living things in forests which is crucial for maintaining a balanced ecosystem.
This is a great idea! It would create an incentive for people to clean up the forests of potential fuel for wildfires, while also creating a more eco-friendly production system!
You should check out initiatives in the UK to replace coal with biopellets in power plants: ostensibly, removing slash, chipping, shipping, and burning it in power plants is net-neutral electricity generation, given the wood was going to be burnt anyways. The problem now is that they might be burning primary growth forest instead 🤑
Great ideas! I really like the creative approach you took and selling forest byproducts can also help with spreading awareness about this problem.