(birds chirping) (slow soft music)
(water babbling)
- [Narrator] It's spring
in the Northern Sierra Nevada Mountains,
and all across the Tahoe National Forest
wildland firefighters are getting ready.
(chattering on radio)
(chainsaw buzzing)
Fire season is coming.
(intense dramatic music)
This summer and fall, wildland firefighters will be
on high alert.
When smoke is reported,
Tahoe National Forest firefighters respond.
(intense dramatic music)
Even small flames can grow into a large,
destructive wildfire.
Fighting fire in wildlands is far different
than in an urban setting.
(slow dramatic music)
Tahoe National Forest engines and hand crews
are some of the first to arrive at a wildfire incident.
(slow dramatic music)
The engines carry water, and hose lays are deployed
through rugged terrain.
(slow dramatic music)
Hose lays enable firefighters to engage in direct attack,
dousing the flames.
(slow dramatic music)
Hand crews also encircle the wildfire
with fire line.
Fire line is constructed with chainsaws,
hand tools, and sweat.
Vegetation and fuels are removed to bare mineral soil.
By removing all burnable material,
fire line can stop a wildfire's progression.
(slow dramatic music)
The work will be tough and the hours will be long.
Extensive preparation is needed
and this spring is no exception.
Tools are meticulously maintained and organized.
(slow dramatic music)
Engines are examined
and tested.
Firefighting teams drill and practice
in the presence of live fire,
mimicking conditions they will soon face.
Wildland firefighting requires top physical conditioning.
Firefighters engage in cardio and strength training.
On the Tahoe National Forest,
the question is not if a wildfire will occur but when.
And when it does, we will be ready.
(slow dramatic music)
(moves into slow soft music)
The risk of massive destructive wildfire
is greater than ever.
Our forests have changed.
Hundreds of years ago low to medium intensity fires
routinely burned the mixed conifer forests
of the Sierra Nevada.
(fire crackling) (slow soft music)
Like nature's cleanup crew,
these natural fires removed small, shade-tolerant trees,
brush, and forest litter.
Tall, mature conifers evolved to survive low
to medium intensity fires with resistant bark
and their crowns high above the flames.
Natural wildfire created a healthy forest
that looked something like this,
large areas of mature trees with little understory,
smaller clumps of dense vegetation, and scattered openings.
Animals found places to hide, nest, and forage.
As modern society settled near
and within Sierra Nevada forests,
trees were harvested to build homes and infrastructure.
New reservoirs stored water for drinking,
hydrological power, and downstream agriculture.
Wildfire posed a risk to these resources,
so they were put out.
(slow dramatic music)
Fire has now been excluded from Sierra Nevada forests
for over a century.
(slow dramatic music)
Without nature's cleanup crew,
previously harvested forests regrow crowded
without fire to thin them.
Forest litter builds.
Shade-tolerant species multiply.
(intense dramatic music)
These are not healthy forest conditions.
(intense dramatic music)
Today's crowded forests are more susceptible
to drought and disease.
During a drought, limited water
cannot support excess vegetation.
Insects like bark beetles feast on drought-weakened trees.
(intense dramatic music)
Dead or dying trees burn far more easily
than those in a healthy forest.
(fire crackling) (slow dramatic music)
The buildup of this extra flammable material
combined with rising annual temperatures
creates wildfires in today's forests
that burn hotter and faster than ever before.
Ladder fuels carry flames into crowns
that kill entire stands.
Even seeds in the soil are destroyed.
It takes decades for these burned forests to recover.
(intense dramatic music)
Wildland firefighters
aren't the only Tahoe National Forest employees
trying to stop large, catastrophic wildfires.
Fuels officers, foresters, biologists, and field crews
are reducing the risk of future wildfires
by restoring forest health today.
(slow dramatic music)
Utilizing the latest technology and ecological research,
forest health projects are planned and analyzed.
(slow dramatic music)
Specific trees are selected for thinning.
Sensitive resources are surveyed and protected.
Contractors use equipment or hand crews
to remove the selected trees.
(slow dramatic music)
Under specific conditions,
fire is reintroduced to the forest.
Prescribed and managed fire, like mechanical treatments,
removes overcrowded trees and ladder fuels,
creates openings, and increases habitat
for sensitive species.
Forest health projects are large, complicated,
and costly.
Partner organizations support the Tahoe National Forest
and provide critical input and funding.
These partnerships have increased our pace
and scale of restoration.
At the end of each project results are inspected,
methods are refined, and the process starts again.
(slow dramatic music)
The goal however, remains the same,
a healthy, less crowded forest,
resilient to drought, disease, and wildfire,
a forest where wildlife thrives,
communities flourish, and crucial watersheds are protected.
It's been a busy spring
and there's more work to be done this year and the next,
but we're ready for the task.
(slow dramatic music)
All of us on the Tahoe National Forest,
moms, dads, your neighbors, and friends,
we are all working together to stop wildfires
and increase forest health,
because there's so much at risk.
(slow dramatic music)
- Your source for clean water.
- Your outdoor recreation.
- Your escape from the urban world.
- Your protected and sensitive species.
- Your favorite place to hunt and fish.
- Your livelihood.
- Your children's resources.
- Your public lands.
(slow soft music)
Your Tahoe National Forest.