California is one of the states suffering the most from forest fires. It's recorded that some of the biggest forest fires California has faced in the worst drought. The Forest Service had a goal of 20% forest restoration, they have not yet met that goal. Inadequate funding is causing the goal of forest restoration to not be achieved. The result of forests not being thinned and restored is unpredictable, expensive, and destructive megafires popping up more easily. In the next century, the drought and climate change is predicted to increase the severity of the megafires. Scientist think we can reduce the speed and size of the fires by increasing forest restoration. The Nature Conservancy's forest ecologist Ed Smith thinks he can further test strategies, to show the importance of forest restoration. Smith thinks that eliminating thick underbrush and smaller trees, the fires would be less likely to reach the canopy of the trees and explode into uncontrollable blazes. Smith also wants to test if eliminating the underbrush and smaller trees, more snow and rain will reach the ground which would allow more water to soak into the ground and resulting in more water running into streams, where it could increase flows by 6%. This would not solve the drought but it could it could lead to better habitats for fish, more hydro power from downstream dams, and more water for people.
I find this issue important because the forest fires currently are uncontrollably large. The amount of acres that the fires are taking in a large amount. If better forest restoration would benefit the drought we need to take what ever actions are possible to help. The drought effects the majority of people in California.
https://www.conserveca.org/our-stories/all/2-blog/216-how-to-reduce-megafires-and-increase-california-water-supply
I find this issue important because the forest fires currently are uncontrollably large. The amount of acres that the fires are taking in a large amount. If better forest restoration would benefit the drought we need to take what ever actions are possible to help. The drought effects the majority of people in California.
https://www.conserveca.org/our-stories/all/2-blog/216-how-to-reduce-megafires-and-increase-california-water-supply