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For 10 years, Ken Carloni has stayed awake most nights until 2 a.m. studying historical fire patterns.
"I thought I was just going to find out how lightning worked," he said of when he launched the research project for his doctoral dissertation.
He ended up researching American Indians and their use of prescribed burning and connecting that to fire patterns today.
"I went in a direction I never thought I was going to go in," said Carloni, an Umpqua Community College biology instructor.
Carloni, 50, is a doctoral candidate in forestry at Oregon State University and will defend his dissertation this summer. He plans to continue teaching once his project is completed.
Wednesday night he presented his research findings to a handful of people in the Douglas County Library.
He set out to find answers to a few questions, including how the 2002 fires compare to historical fires and what evidence exists linking Umpqua-area Indians to fire in the 130,000-acre Little River Watershed near Glide.
Using complex computer models, graphing and a lot of research, and backed with education in botany, entomology and evolutionary ecology, Carloni was able to develop some answers that he thinks provide insight to how modern forests should be managed.
"I hoped to discover, what does the science say? What does history tell us? And how can that help us emulate those conditions?" he said.
Through the course of his research, he found historical fires burned frequently and low to the ground, creating natural age diversity by burning smaller trees while older trees withstood the fires. Those fires were between 5,000 and 7,500 acres, significantly smaller than the Apple Fire of 2002, which burned through 17,600 acres.
Next, he wanted to see if the American Indians deliberately caused those fires.
He showed drawings from 1841 near Canyonville of open prairies with small patches of trees.
Journals from explorers such as David Douglas tell how indigenous people burned the forest to create clearings in the late fall. Deer, a primary food source, were drawn to whatever green patches were left, making it easier to find food. Other early travelers discussed having "some difficulty" going through burning areas, implying historical fires were nothing like modern, impassible conflagrations, Carloni said.
A white oak from 1795 found along North Bank Road east of Wilbur, near Carloni's home, also supports his hypothesis. Looking at a cross-section of the trunk, young tree rings are blackened with a scar from fire every two or three years until 1818.
After that, a lack of scars shows the trunk built up enough strength to withstand another hundred years of fire, Carloni said.
When Europeans began to settle in the area, bringing diseases with them, Indians began moving into higher areas, and Carloni found support that prescribed burning patterns followed that migration.
Further data and mapping correlated open areas, presumably burned by fires, with significant archaeological sites and pathways between them.
Carloni presented graphs that showed fires intensified when logging, replanting with even-age trees and suppressing fire became standard practice.
He said he's frustrated land managers promote even-age "tree plantations," when historical fire data show that, prior to current land management practices, fire patterns were much less damaging.
"Any forester who thinks they're mimicking nature (when they promote even-age stands) ... they are just wrong and here are the data," he said.
Assuming returning the land to pre-European conditions is a priority, Carloni concluded the presentation with several management suggestions.
He recommends thinning smaller trees, placing large wood in streams and leaving snag patches for cavity nesters and wildlife. He said after a road is used to gain access to an area for thinning and managing, it should be torn up and replanted with hardwoods to create diversity and a fuel break. But none of this could happen overnight -- returning to those conditions includes using chain saws and producing timber.
He said there's still "lots of work to get forests to a condition to maintain the land with fire."
* You can reach reporter Diane Huber at 957-4218 or by e-mail at dhuber@newsreview.info.
"I thought I was just going to find out how lightning worked," he said of when he launched the research project for his doctoral dissertation.
He ended up researching American Indians and their use of prescribed burning and connecting that to fire patterns today.
"I went in a direction I never thought I was going to go in," said Carloni, an Umpqua Community College biology instructor.
Carloni, 50, is a doctoral candidate in forestry at Oregon State University and will defend his dissertation this summer. He plans to continue teaching once his project is completed.
Wednesday night he presented his research findings to a handful of people in the Douglas County Library.
He set out to find answers to a few questions, including how the 2002 fires compare to historical fires and what evidence exists linking Umpqua-area Indians to fire in the 130,000-acre Little River Watershed near Glide.
Using complex computer models, graphing and a lot of research, and backed with education in botany, entomology and evolutionary ecology, Carloni was able to develop some answers that he thinks provide insight to how modern forests should be managed.
"I hoped to discover, what does the science say? What does history tell us? And how can that help us emulate those conditions?" he said.
Through the course of his research, he found historical fires burned frequently and low to the ground, creating natural age diversity by burning smaller trees while older trees withstood the fires. Those fires were between 5,000 and 7,500 acres, significantly smaller than the Apple Fire of 2002, which burned through 17,600 acres.
Next, he wanted to see if the American Indians deliberately caused those fires.
He showed drawings from 1841 near Canyonville of open prairies with small patches of trees.
Journals from explorers such as David Douglas tell how indigenous people burned the forest to create clearings in the late fall. Deer, a primary food source, were drawn to whatever green patches were left, making it easier to find food. Other early travelers discussed having "some difficulty" going through burning areas, implying historical fires were nothing like modern, impassible conflagrations, Carloni said.
A white oak from 1795 found along North Bank Road east of Wilbur, near Carloni's home, also supports his hypothesis. Looking at a cross-section of the trunk, young tree rings are blackened with a scar from fire every two or three years until 1818.
After that, a lack of scars shows the trunk built up enough strength to withstand another hundred years of fire, Carloni said.
When Europeans began to settle in the area, bringing diseases with them, Indians began moving into higher areas, and Carloni found support that prescribed burning patterns followed that migration.
Further data and mapping correlated open areas, presumably burned by fires, with significant archaeological sites and pathways between them.
Carloni presented graphs that showed fires intensified when logging, replanting with even-age trees and suppressing fire became standard practice.
He said he's frustrated land managers promote even-age "tree plantations," when historical fire data show that, prior to current land management practices, fire patterns were much less damaging.
"Any forester who thinks they're mimicking nature (when they promote even-age stands) ... they are just wrong and here are the data," he said.
Assuming returning the land to pre-European conditions is a priority, Carloni concluded the presentation with several management suggestions.
He recommends thinning smaller trees, placing large wood in streams and leaving snag patches for cavity nesters and wildlife. He said after a road is used to gain access to an area for thinning and managing, it should be torn up and replanted with hardwoods to create diversity and a fuel break. But none of this could happen overnight -- returning to those conditions includes using chain saws and producing timber.
He said there's still "lots of work to get forests to a condition to maintain the land with fire."
* You can reach reporter Diane Huber at 957-4218 or by e-mail at dhuber@newsreview.info.
Hike set to show Carloni’s findings
See firsthand evidence of traditional land management using fire with Ken Carloni on April 25. He’ll lead a hike near Limpy Rock as a continuation of his presentation on prescribed burning patterns of American Indians.
Hikers can meet at 9 a.m. behind the Douglas County Courthouse or 9:30 a.m. at the North Umpqua Ranger Station in Glide. Bring water, lunch, rain gear and money to share gasoline expenses. The hike is rated moderate, as some off-trail hiking will be required. Information: Patrick Starnes, 672-7065. |
