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What
is Small Wood?
Small diameter
trees, sometimes called "dog hair thickets", are products of
decades of fire suppression and other management practices that have left
our forests clogged with densely packed and stagnant trees. These forests
can no longer provide the necessary habitat to support native trees and
plants. Because they are so tightly packed, many of them become diseased
and unhealthy.
A hundred years ago, the trees in our local forests were widely spaced
and disease and fire resistant. Fire was responsible for suppressing insects
and disease and would eliminate many weaker saplings while helping larger
trees developed thick fire resistant bark. So, when the fires came, the
underbrush was cleared away without damaging the larger trees.
The forest as it exists today is so densely packed that fires rage through
our communities causing catastrophic damage to ecosystems including soil
and animal habitat, and endanger lives and private property.An important
component of resolving this problem is removing some of the smaller trees,
and reintroduced prescribed burns and play a natural regenerative role.
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