Page 12 - North Complex News Today

Without intervention, a tangle of fast-growing shrubs — Ceanothus species and manzanita among them — crawl into the cleared space, forming a dense cover that young trees have trouble competing with. This accelerates another process driven by climate change: the expansion of shrub ecosystems as the cool climate favorable for forests gradually moves upslope. When high-severity fires kill big sections of forest, they also harm biodiversity and habitat for numerous species. Large, intensely bu...

Billions of dollars spent on fighting California wildfires, but little on prevention Bettina Boxall © (Noah Berger / Associated Press ) A Butte County home burns in the Bear fire, part of the lightning-sparked North Complex that left 15 dead. (Noah Berger / Associated Press ) When COVID-19 blew a hole in California’s spending plans last spring, one of the things state budget-cutters took an axe to was wildfire prevention. A $100-million pilot project to outfit older homes w...

Changes caused by worsening wildfires in California forests will last centuries [Los Angeles Times] The single-engine Cessna was buzzing 1,000 feet above a Northern California burn scar as UC Berkeley scientist Scott Stephens shifted excitedly in his seat and peered out the window for a better view. Down below, heavy machinery kicked up clouds of dust as commercial loggers attempted to salvage whatever timber they could, while a vast canopy of green, gold and brown rolled beneath the aircraft. ...

The single-engine Cessna was buzzing 1,000 feet above a Northern California burn scar as UC Berkeley scientist Scott Stephens shifted excitedly in his seat and peered out the window for a better view. Down below, heavy machinery kicked up clouds of dust as commercial loggers attempted to salvage whatever timber they could, while a vast canopy of green, gold and brown rolled beneath the aircraft. Occasionally, this brilliant autumn quilt would be marred by burn patches. “That’s fantastic, ju...

After more than three decades, Scott Fuller was fed up with living in California. The taxes are just too darn high, he said. The housing prices too. And so in June, the San Francisco Bay Area real estate broker, his wife and two kids packed their bags and moved to Arizona. “I never wanted to leave California,” said Fuller, 48, who has lived in the Golden State since 1983. “It’s the most beautiful state with the best climate. I think the tipping point was continued tax increases and eve...

After more than three decades, Scott Fuller was fed up with living in California. The taxes are just too darn high, he said. The housing prices too. And so in June, the San Francisco Bay Area real estate broker, his wife and two kids packed their bags and moved to Arizona. “I never wanted to leave California,” said Fuller, 48, who has lived in the Golden State since 1983. “It’s the most beautiful state with the best climate. I think the tipping point was continued tax increases and eve...

California population growth hits record lows, stifled by COVID-19 and continued exodus Hayley Smith, Hailey Branson-Potts © Provided by The LA Times Alexis Small kisses her newborn, Aubrielle Kitchen, during a Zoom family call Nov. 26 in Los Angeles. Birth rates in California are declining, with 14,000 fewer babies born in the year that ended July 31, 2020, than in the previous 12-month period. (Brandon Bell / Getty Images) After more than three decades, Scott Fuller was fed...

Dec 15, 2020 A portion of a back-burn—a fire intentionally set by the hotshots in the direction of the oncoming wildfire—on the North Complex. When the two fires meet, with nothing left around them to burn, they’ll extinguish each other. That’s the idea, anyway. Robert Langellier September 8, Afternoon Eight miles to the southwest, a plume of smoke stretched into the clean western sky, rising like bread. It looked like a cloud creating itself. A calm settled in among the Tru...