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WTF?
As any cool cat on the interweb knows, this stands for:
Why The Fire? (go with me here)
A thread addressing the topic of - WTF?
Photo: Rubicon Forest Protection Group
As any cool cat on the interweb knows, this stands for:
Why The Fire? (go with me here)
A thread addressing the topic of - WTF?
Photo: Rubicon Forest Protection Group
The fire here being post logging burns.
These are NOT the same as fuel reduction burns.
They happen in the aftermath of VicForests logging the forest.
Here's what one looks like, this year near Warburton. Look closely. https://twitter.com/ChrisPauciflora/status/1243518988123955206?s=09
These are NOT the same as fuel reduction burns.
They happen in the aftermath of VicForests logging the forest.
Here's what one looks like, this year near Warburton. Look closely. https://twitter.com/ChrisPauciflora/status/1243518988123955206?s=09
It reminds me of some movie ...
And also this movie ...
The smoke plume is immense. This is a different coupe burn at Big Pat's Creek, 6km from Warburton this year. (Photo with permission).
The aftermath of a logging burn can be depressing to see.
Photo: Rubicon Forest Protection Group
Photo: Rubicon Forest Protection Group
Why do it? In part it is to remove the woody and leafy debris from the logging operation (called 'slash' in the blokey parlance of the logging industry).
Photograph: us
Photograph: us
The ash residue is also considered beneficial for regrowth, since it provides ready nutrients for young regrowth. Or, in the corporate speak of VicForests CEO, 'to support the regeneration of Mountain Ash' (to replace the giant trees they've just cut down for photocopier paper)
Whilst making sense to industrial loggers, these fires have terrible effects on what is left of the forest: destroying soil biota below ground and any plant and insect life remaining above it.
This is what Agriculture Victoria state on the issue of soils and fire.
This is what Agriculture Victoria state on the issue of soils and fire.
Fire being what it is, and the people in charge of these burns being who they are, these post logging burns don't always go to plan.
Fires sometimes escape the coupe and burn adjacent forest. Oops!
Still from Four Corners Doc. 'Extinction Nation' 24/6/2019 (worth a watch!)
Fires sometimes escape the coupe and burn adjacent forest. Oops!
Still from Four Corners Doc. 'Extinction Nation' 24/6/2019 (worth a watch!)
In the past, the trees left behind in a coupe for seed or habitat have died in these burns. Darn!
Photo: Rubicon Forest Protection Group
Photo: Rubicon Forest Protection Group
Sometimes residue is left unburnt, creating an actual fire hazard into the future. Oh well!
Photograph: us
Photograph: us
These fires can also smoulder for months. Visiting one of these recently burnt coupes is a sobering experience, like being in Mordor.
Yes, I have seen a lot of movies.
Yes, I have seen a lot of movies.
Perhaps the biggest issue with these fires is the pollution they cause.
Logging fires burn hot and release a lot of particulates into the air - an awful lot more relative to fuel reduction burns.
This from The Conversation May 17, 2018.
Logging fires burn hot and release a lot of particulates into the air - an awful lot more relative to fuel reduction burns.
This from The Conversation May 17, 2018.
Obviously this is bad for anyone, but especially people with asthma.
In the midst of a respiratory virus pandemic, it is just crazy. Air pollution appears to increase susceptibility to Covid-19.
It truly does raise the question: WTF?
In the midst of a respiratory virus pandemic, it is just crazy. Air pollution appears to increase susceptibility to Covid-19.
It truly does raise the question: WTF?
It was only after a public outcry during the burning season this year that the EPA decided to monitor air pollution levels in the Yarra Valley, which was being heavily affected by burn offs (both logging and fuel reduction).
The dismal fact that a medical professional, who was vocal in expressing concern about these logging burns, received death threats afterwards (reported to the police) segues into the final section of this thread, about the mentality of some people in the logging industry.
As described in this well researched article of last year (google it - well worth a read) the logging industry isn't just intolerant of opposition to the point of criminal behavior, it has cult like features, seen partly in its worship of fire.
At one level, the cult is comical.
Read the article to find out what the
International Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo is.
But at another level, the cult is a menace to public health.
Read the article to find out what the
International Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo is.
But at another level, the cult is a menace to public health.
Here's an example:
'Some staff deploy incendaries from helicopters onto highland logging coupes and photograph their exploding plumes from afar, comparing the size of the smoke columns on Facebook'.
"Look, you can see my column all the way from Melbourne" said one such post.
'Some staff deploy incendaries from helicopters onto highland logging coupes and photograph their exploding plumes from afar, comparing the size of the smoke columns on Facebook'.
"Look, you can see my column all the way from Melbourne" said one such post.
The fire cult even finds a home in some parts of academia.
There is a notable divide between the bearded woodsmen of forestry faculties and the clean shaven metrosexuals of ecology departments (I exaggerate for effect).
Which one do you think supports these logging burns?
There is a notable divide between the bearded woodsmen of forestry faculties and the clean shaven metrosexuals of ecology departments (I exaggerate for effect).
Which one do you think supports these logging burns?
So, in answer to the question WTF?
The fires are the aftermath of an industrial operation - a casebook study of an extractivist company making money by destroying a natural resource, with the locals left to carry the can in terms of wrecked landscapes, pollution and illness.
The fires are the aftermath of an industrial operation - a casebook study of an extractivist company making money by destroying a natural resource, with the locals left to carry the can in terms of wrecked landscapes, pollution and illness.
