Admin Table of Contents
Was 2020 a record year for wildfires?
Bottom line: The 2020 wildfire season was the worst one on record in terms of acres burned and the degradation in air quality. Droughts, heatwaves, and high winds were contributing factors.
How much of the Tongass has been logged?
The average log size on the Tongass is about 12 inches. Haven’t 70% of the biggest trees and best timber stands already been logged? About seven percent of the total productive old-growth (400,000 acres out of 5,400,000 acres) has been harvested over the last 100 years.
When did the wildfires end in 2020?
| 2020 California wildfires | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | February 15–December 31, 2020 |
| Buildings destroyed | 10,488 (CAL FIRE) 9,211 (NIFC Year-to-Date report) |
| Deaths | 33 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 37 |
What was the greatest fire in history?
Here are some of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history.
- Peshtigo Fire – 1871. Peshtigo Fire is the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history.
- Cloquet Fire – 1918. In October of 1918, 450 people died in Minnesota’s Cloquet Fire.
- The Great Fire- 1910.
- Griffith Park Fire- 1933.
- Yarnell Hill Fire – 2013.
- Cedar Fire- 2003.
How many fatalities were caused by the wildfires in 2020?
In 2020, the estimated 490,500 structure fires (35 percent of the reported fires) caused 2,730 civilian fire deaths (78 percent of total civilian fire deaths); 13,000 civilian injuries (86 percent); and $12.1 billion in direct property damage (55 percent).
Is there logging in the Tongass?
In 2020, the Trump administration opened the Tongass to extensive new logging, mining and road construction activities. It will permit old-growth logging only for cultural uses, such as totem poles and canoes, and for small sales that serve community needs.
Who owns the Tongass National Forest?
Sealaska Corporation
632,000 acres (2,560 km2) of those lands were hand-picked old growth areas of the Tongass National Forest and are still surrounded by public National Forest land. These lands are now privately held and under the management of Sealaska Corporation, one of the native regional corporations created under the ANCSA.
What caused the wildfires in California 2021?
He is among several experts who say a confluence of factors has driven the surge of large, destructive fires in California: unusual drought and heat exacerbated by climate change, overgrown forests caused by decades of fire suppression, and rapid population growth along the edges of forests.