Alberta’s aging forest is putting communities at ever greater risk of wildfires, an expert committee on containing such fires warned the provincial government in 2012.
In 1971, more than half of Alberta’s boreal forest was deemed to be young, with about a third classified as immature, five per cent considered mature and a small portion deemed “overmature.”
By 2011 however, that had changed to less than 10 per cent young, about a quarter immature, more than 40 per cent mature, and more than 20 per cent overmature.
“Before major wildfire-suppression programs, boreal forests historically burned on an average cycle ranging from 50 to 200 years as a result of lightning and human-caused wildfires,” the panel said in a report released in 2012.
“Wildfire suppression has significantly reduced the area burned in Alberta’s boreal forest. However, due to reduced wildfire activity, forests of Alberta are aging,...
Funny you would post that.... I basically pointed to the same reason while watching the Discovery piece tonight. So much for the ‘save a tree’ crowd.
Another example of “State owned and mismanaged” forest lands? Trainees from our BLM, park and forestry services?