Forests Under Threat in the West

Western forests have experienced a myriad of weather conditions that have led to a significant amount of deforestation in recent years.  There has been an ongoing drought dating back more than a decade across much of the Western United States that has coincided with an uptick in wildfires and extreme heat waves.  In addition, heavy rain events have caused flash flooding and that threatened a lot of forest land.

Dating back to the late 1990s, a significant portion of the Western United States experienced worsening drought conditions.  That includes below normal snowfall during the winter months.  Snowfall has particular importance in the Rocky Mountains since the spring and summer snowmelt replenishes reservoirs.  The U.S. Drought Monitor Index continues to show severe to extreme conditions throughout the Southwest and California.

These circumstances have compelled residents to conserve water.  The climate is such out West that wildfires are an elevated risk because of dry underbrush and gusty winds.  Wildfires often begin innocently, by carelessly tossed cigarettes, campfires not properly extinguished and dry lightning strikes.  The U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior are responsible for fighting wildfires across the country.  They concluded recently that they “may need to spend $1.8 billion fighting fires this year, while the agencies have only $1.4 billion available for firefighting.” 

Mountain pine beetles have also caused a considerable amount of damage to trees as far South as New Mexico and all the way North to Montana.   The pine beetles attack trees by laying their eggs and burrowing into the bark.  Once they hatch, the larvae grow and cause even more tree damage.  Recent winters have not been as cold in the Rocky Mountains as in decades past allowing pine beetles to survive and reproduce more quickly.

Due to the increasing amount of deforestation caused by drought, wildfires and pine beetles, flash flooding is an increased risk.  Exposed hillsides are less able to absorb water in a heavy rain than wooded areas are.  Although the summer monsoon season has helped ease drought conditions in the desert Southwest, it will take a more permanent shift in the overall weather pattern to end the chronic drought.  Like the Mid-Atlantic forests I recently wrote about, the forests in the Western United States contain an enormous amount of biodiversity and provide a natural way for the air to the cleanse itself.  That is why preventing deforestation is so important.