A Moment of EnLitenment » forestry http://www.enliteart.com/blog A Young Biologist’s Thoughts on Biology, Photography and Research Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:12:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Bats and Burns http://www.enliteart.com/blog/2009/11/13/bats-and-burns/ http://www.enliteart.com/blog/2009/11/13/bats-and-burns/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:09:02 +0000 Andrew http://www.enliteart.com/blog/?p=586 My buddy Alex and I both work with bats. Alex is studying the effect of controlled burns (a.k.a. prescribed fire) on bat activity. When properly implemented, controlled burns are beneficial to both the wildlife and the forest.  Actually, fire is necessary for some ecosystems to persist.

Yesterday was the day for the fall controlled burns so I thought I would post a few pictures.

Fb009

For this burn, the goal was to ignite the fire around the edge in a systematic fashion and let it burn toward the center. Here the guy in the background is spreading the fire around the perimeter using a drip torch.

Fb029

If you are looking for “media grade” 100 ft flames than you will be disappointed.  This is a controlled burn in the east not a national disaster in California.

Fb043

After the fire goes through there is the long process of “mopping up.”

Fb077

Water is used where need but generally a little goes a long way.

Fb025

Fb041

The fire leaves a nice clean forest ready for the new sprouts in the spring.

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