Suppressing all fires (the 'Smokey the Bear' approach) in fire-adapted ecosystems like Western ponderosa pine and Southern California chaparral causes dangerous fuel accumulation: ponderosa pine forests became thickets of small stems and deadwood since the 1870s, producing fires so intense they destroy seed trees and soil fertility.

causalpending

Speaker

Daniel Botkin

Evidence Quote

so intense they can destroy the seed bearing trees and also can destroy the soil so you lose fertility and reproductive capacity so Wally says we have to get those fires back into these forests

Source

Daniel Botkin on Nature, the Environment and Global Warming 11/26/2007EconTalk
Created: 6/16/2026, 2:13:19 PM

My Notes

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