Fire is as much a part of a redwood forest ecosystem as the giant trees themselves or the wildlife sheltered by them. With bark up to 1 ft thick and crowns that might start 150 ft or more above the ground, redwoods—especially ancient redwoods—are highly resistant to fire. It is unlikely that a fire would destroy a stand of old-growth redwoods. Walk through any of the coastal redwood parks, like Montgomery Woods, Hendy Woods, Muir Woods, or Rockefeller Forest, and you will see black-scarred bark and scooped out trunk bases that are testimony to earlier fires. To really appreciate the bulk of a redwood tree, stand inside one of these hollowed bases—a spacious fire cage—and reflect on the fact that a living tree still shoots up 200 feet or more above your head.

MRC timberland is not an old-growth redwood forest. There are small pockets of old-growth trees and single giants here and there across the landscape. On the whole, though, the redwoods are second and third growth, naturally regenerated or planted on land that 25, 50, or 100 years ago was heavily harvested, even clear-cut. Deep in the forest are huge old tree stumps. On the forest floor are fallen trees and branches. Dead trees stand beside live trees—not yet toppled by wind or decay. Amidst the redwoods are Douglas fir, tanoaks, madrones, and other trees and vegetation that are not resistant to fire. These are all "ladder fuels" that create a pathway or "ladder" for fire to move from the ground right on up to redwood treetops. Decades of fire suppression alter a forest. As a result, in young redwood forests—managed and regulated timberland—fire poses a threat not only to redwood "inventory" but to adjacent property owners and community residents. It was this danger in June 2008 that brought out not only professional and volunteer fire-fighters but foresters, logging contractors, wildlife biologists, and good neighbors—practically anyone who could bull-doze, shovel, squirt, or stomp the fires out.

Photo Credit

Doris Schoenhoff (MRC). Bishop Cyprien Mbuka of Boma, Congo standing behind the hollwed base of a living coastal redwood in Rockefeller Forest, Humboldt County, CA, 2008.