Monthly Archives: August 2014

Forestry Friday … True Fir

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True fir refers to any species of fir that are in the genus of Abies. Species like red fir, Abies magnifica, and white fir, Abies concolor, are true fir. Douglas-fir,  Pseudotsuga menziesii, is not a true fir. The gallery pictures are of a high elevation, old growth true fir forest. This stand is over 6,000 feet elevation. Click the pictures to enlarge.

This true fir stand is on the Lassen National Forest.
Sugar pine, front left, is a pine commonly associated with the true fir forest.
Lookin’ up! Jeffery pine is also a component of this forest. The Jeffery pines are the two trees in the lower left. The other trees are red fir.
Big trees become big snags eventually. These snags are important to cavity dwelling wildlife.
The bumble bee is a common resident in these parts. This bee is gathering pollen from a whitethorn bush.
Red fir cones.
A dead tree becomes a log. The opening created by the loss of this tree is an opportunity for new seedlings to take root.
The high elevation true fir forests are among my favorite places to work during the heat of summer.

Forestry Friday … Lodgepole Pine – En Plein Air

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One advantage to having a truck for an office, is to take a few minutes in the woods during lunch to engage in a bit of en plein air sketching. En plein air is a french term meaning “in the open air.” It refers to painting or sketching in the outdoors.

logepole pine, cone, pine cone, pen and ink, drawing, sketch, plein air

En plein air pen and ink of a lodgepole pine cone.

Here is some of our local lodgepole pine.

In California, lodgepole pine is a tree of high elevation.
They prefer growing near wet areas and around meadows.
This Oregon Junco summers in a high elevation lodgepole pine forest.
Lodgepole pine grows around this meadow with Magee Peak in the background. The very tall trees are Ponderosa pine and white fir.
It often grows in pure dense stands.
These are the male cones of the pine.
In some parts of its range, lodgepole pine produces serotinus cones. These cones stay closed until a fire triggers them to open. The seeds are released to begin the next generation.
Lodgepole pine cones are small, less than two inches in diameter.
It is a favored tree for making log homes.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

Sunshower!

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sunshower

Rain in the bright sunshine.

Forestry Friday … Fire From The Sky!

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In this year of drought, our forests are a tinder box waiting for a spark. That spark came from the sky on the last day of July. It reached 108 F in the valley. A major lightning storm rolled across the North State and left numerous forest fires in its wake.

wildfire, Forest fire

Looking east toward Burney. On the right is smoke from the Day Fire and on the right is the Bald Mountain Fire.

Bald Mountain Fire

Bald Mountain.

A huge thundercloud forms about The Bald Mountain Fire.

A huge thundercloud forms above the Bald Mountain Fire. Burney Mountain on the right, has a fire lookout on its peak.

The cloud above the fire continued to grow all day.

The cloud above the fire continued to grow all day as the fire exploded in size. These clouds create erratic winds that cause the fire to spot.

The air tankers bombed the fire throughout the daylight hours.

The air tankers bombed the fires throughout the daylight hours. This S2 is on its way to the Coffee Fire.

To the west another group of fires was burning.

More fires were burning to the west. This column was from the Coffee Creek Fire.

Eiler Fire

A new fire called the Eiler Fire took off on the second day. It’s was close to the Bald Mountain Fire. The two fires were threatening the town of Burney. From the valley in Anderson, we could see at least six major smoke columns in all directions.

The beginning of the week brought us a rare and very wet cold front. The rain helped the firefighter get a handle on many of the fires.

The beginning of the week brought us a rare and very wet cold front. The rain helped the firefighters get a handle on many of the fires. The same storm created flash floods and mud slides in Southern California.

Wildfire Sunsets are a silver lining.

Wildfire sunsets are a silver lining.

Most of the east side fires are under control now, but several fires in the Klamath Mountains are still burning. We still have a long way to go to reach the end of fire season.