By Kayla Ngai
Although California is mostly known for its wildfires, the amount of drought, paired with extremely warm temperatures, throughout the state last year resulted in the perishing of a staggering 36 million trees within 2.6 million acres of land.
The U.S. Forest Service counted that 9.5 million trees died in 2021 which means a spike of 282 percent within a year (the highest since 2016). The effects of 2022’s climate are said to have “spread across a wider range.” Their report accounts that drought conditions weaken the trees, and thus, make them susceptible to increased insect infestations and disease throughout the populations.
These statistics and tree fatalities are not new, but the amount continues to grow. There needs to be more awareness concerning how drought affects trees and how it continues to harm Californian citizens.
For one, the surplus of dead trees and dry brush leads to additional fire hazards. According to CA.GOV, there were a total of 7667 fire incidents across 363939 acres of land. This led to not only the burning of great amounts of land but also resulted in nine civilian casualties. Essentially, as dead wood accumulates, it leaves behind dry kindling that aggravates and feeds fires. The dead trees, then, increase the chance and severity of fires in the future.
There has been a 250 percent increase in the destruction of Western U.S. homes due to wildfires over the past eleven years. This has widened the gap in the housing market. According to the Washington Post, “The results[effects of the Tubbs fire] have undermined California’s push to build more affordable housing, a goal set by Gov. Gavin Newsom and the rest of a state Democratic leadership, whose political ethic has made a priority of narrowing the gap between rich and poor, an imbalance particularly pronounced in the nation’s most populous state.”
However, this goal has been poorly met. People cannot afford to rebuild their homes and the government is failing at providing sustainable housing. These results will remain stagnant as long as the fire and droughts continue. The escalation of wildfires is directly related to the mortality of trees.
Trees are not equipped to survive long durations of drought. California has been having droughts on and off, but our recent significant one lasted five years from 2012-2016. Still, 92 percent of our state is in a drought. Of this prolonged scarcity of water, trees are fighting against themselves to receive nourishment.
Our California landscape is famous for its redwood trees. According to Redding, redwood trees are easily drought-stressed and need regular irrigation. They are susceptible to drought—much like other tree species. The Forest Service mentions that “Red Fir, White Fir, and Douglas Fir trees are seeing the highest mortality rates, and the Central Sierra Nevada range and areas further north.” The overall message is that we need to protect the trees to protect ourselves.
Ryan Tompkins, a forester and natural resources advisor at the University of California Cooperative Extension, offers an alternative view. He argues that the forests are too dense and that “we’ve normalized these very dense forests.” Due to inhibiting wildfires, we have allowed denser forests to develop and it creates an inhospitable environment for the trees (along with accelerating wildfires).
Thus, the solution to tree fatality now involves allowing certain trees to die and catering to the landscape for a better quality of survival. We need the forests to be a little more sporadic. That way, the trees are not fighting for resources and are not as close together to spread wildfires.
This goes without saying, but we depend on trees for our survival. Yet, with the information provided, it can be difficult to assume the most helpful option. State officials talk about spending 1.2 billion dollars on the California Blueprint to “improve forest health and decrease wildfire risk,” but there needs to be a quicker solution. They need to clear dead trees and debris, along with mapping out some forestry to be cut down. California’s firefighters are already utilizing controlled burns as one method of clearing the landscape.
Citizens need to continue being mindful of the drought and conserve water. There should be more awareness of how the drought and tree decline lead to additional wildfires. As Smokey the Bear says, “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires.” We have to work together and acknowledge that these droughts are weakening the trees, and in turn, endangering us.
