Wildland Fires Forest Service and Blm Need Better Information and a Systematic Approach for Assessing the Risks of Environmental Effects

By General Accounting Office

Book Id: WPLBN0000062510
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 0.1 MB
Reproduction Date: 2005

Title:	Wildland Fires Forest Service and Blm Need Better Information and a Systematic Approach for Assessing the Risks of Environmental Effects
Author:	General Accounting Office
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Government publications, Accountability in government, United States. General Accounting Office
Collections:	Government Library Collection, Government Accountability Integrity Reliability Office Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	United States General Accounting Office (Gao)


Citation APA MLA Chicago Accounting Office, B. G. (n.d.). Wildland Fires Forest Service and Blm Need Better Information and a Systematic Approach for Assessing the Risks of Environmental Effects. Retrieved from https://self.gutenberg.org/

Description
Government Accountability Integrity Reliability Office Collection

Excerpt
Excerpt: Wildland fires can have dramatic effects on environmental resources and ecosystems, including production of large amounts of smoke, loss of trees, and erosion of soil into streams and lakes. However, fires can also benefit resources by recycling soil nutrients, renewing vegetation growth, and adding gravel to streams, which improves spawning habitat for fish. The 20 wildland fires that we surveyed burned over 158,000 acres of federal land and had complex, wide-ranging, and sometimes contradictory, effects on both individual resources, such as trees and streams, and ecosystems. For example, the short-term effects of the Missionary Ridge fire in Colorado that burned almost 50,000 acres of trees and other vegetation included increased debris and sediment that affected water quality in some areas. However, in other areas, officials said even dramatic changes to streams would not be detrimental in the long term. The Forest Service and BLM...