A Call to Action: Addressing the Consequences of Colorado's Wildfires
By Manushi Sharma, August 5, 2024
The forests of the Rocky Mountains are not just a regional treasure; they are a vital component of the American ecosystem and economy.
Rocky Mountain National Park (Source: Manushi Sharma)
Last week I visited the Rocky Mountain National Park. The gorgeous vistas and lush landscapes were captivating. Nature has always had a humbling effect on me, and this visit was no exception. Surrounded by majestic beauty and the grandness of tall peaks, wildflowers, wildlife, creeks and waterfalls, I was reminded of how small we are in the grand scheme of things. Enroute to the Big Meadow Hike, I walked through a patch of forest ravaged by the latest forest fire. The contrast between the charred trees and the green undergrowth was a powerful reminder of the enduring power and resilience of nature, but most importantly, the urgency in climate action.
Sadly, rising temperatures and increasingly frequent forest fires (in a self-reinforcing manner) make forests more susceptible to ignition and spread that results in increasingly persistent and intense wildfires in this region. The Rocky Mountain forests are fire-adapted ecosystems, the forests are resilient to seasonal blazes. Small fires, like the area has historically experienced, are natural, healthy, and beneficial to the overall ecosystem. They remove any potential fuel like dry leaves, old and dense vegetation, diseases and dangerous pests, but are not hot enough to damage trees. They are nature’s way of ensuring checks and balances, that reinforces ecosystem health or ecosystem regeneration. Some species of trees, such as the Jack pine and Giant Sequoia, rely on fire as a seed dispersal mechanism. Smaller fires allow for richer fodder and thereby encourage greater biodiversity. They thin the forest canopy, allowing sunlight to reach the floor. The nutrient-rich ash left behind from smaller, seasonal fires creates perfect conditions for new seedlings to grow.
Hike towards Big Meadow, Rocky Mountain National Park (Source: Manushi Sharma)
Fire medicine has been an integral indigenous peoples’ way of life. The right dose, small and controlled fires were used to maintain ecosystem productivity. But with colonization, nature was commoditized. Indigenous populations were forcibly removed from their lands, and their fire stewardship practices were systematically suppressed. This shift had profound ecological consequences that are still acutely felt.
Today, we are witnessing extreme fires. Since the early 2000s, extreme wildfires have become larger and more frequent in the United States.
Jones et al., 2022 point out this vicious feedback loop: fossil fuel burning, greenhouse effect and land-use change are compounding the global rise in temperatures and erratic precipitation. This intensifies fire weather, resulting in severe wildfires which in turn contribute to further rise in local temperature and worsening of air quality.
“landscapes are primed to burn more frequently”
As per this Mongabay article, “2020 fire season doubled the total area burned in the central Rocky Mountains since 1984. Some 1,011,330 acres (409,270 hectares) burned in the Rocky Mountains in 2020—an area about three-and-a-half times as big as Los Angeles, California.”
Ripple Effects Across America
So why are the larger and hotter forest fires now seen in the Rockies everybody's problem,
Wildfires are costing us money. Managing these intensified wildfires is an expensive affair–between 2014 and 2018, the federal government spent an average of 2.4 billion taxpayer dollars fighting wildfires every year.
Wildfires are impacting our water supply. The Rockies feed the Colorado River Basin which sustains over 40 million downstream dwellers across seven states. Wildfires significantly impact water quality and availability, affecting agriculture, industry and urban water supply.
Wildfires impact our air quality. Industrial agriculture, which is a huge contributor to land-use change,and small farmers are also hugely impacted by this water availability. Water scarcity is reducing yields, increasing irrigation costs and potentially leading to higher food prices, impacting consumers nationwide. Smoke from large wildfires affect urban air quality in states far from the source of fire.
Wildfires are contributing to rising temperatures across the entire country. Forests in the Rocky Mountains serve as important carbon sinks, absorbing and storing significant amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The wildfires release stored carbon back into the atmosphere. This results in a damaging feedback loop: more carbon in the atmosphere intensifies the greenhouse effect, resulting in higher global temperatures. These warmer conditions, in turn, create an environment more conducive to wildfires. This feedback loop results in surging temperatures for the entire country.
Thus, the forests of the Rocky Mountains are not just a regional treasure; they are a vital component of the American ecosystem and economy.
Rocky Mountain National Park (Source: Manushi Sharma)
Call to Action
While our challenges are significant, there is also hope. There is a growing recognition of climate change and the importance of ecosystem health. The Inflation Reduction Act has pumped significant funds into ecosystem preservation and greenhouse gas reduction activities. From local initiatives to national policies, there’s increasing momentum to address climate change and wildfires.
In our personal capacity, each of us has a role to play. Every action counts!
Vote–and learn about who will be on your ballot beforehand. Some helpful resources are available.
Advocate and educate others on why we need pro-climate policies.
Support your local conservation organization.
Spend more time bonding with nature.
With my visit to the Rockies, I felt a renewed sense of responsibility. As Chief Seattle, a Squamish Indian from the American northwest said in 1854, when Issac Williams was negotiating the sale of land which was to become the city of Seattle.
“How can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? …. Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth. This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
Change The Chamber is a nonpartisan coalition of over 100 student groups, including undergraduates, graduate students and recent graduates.