Curiously, within the fire perimeter, a few areas of large trees survived the conflagration and the living trees stand in stark contrast with their surroundings. Activities that began some 13 years previous had made the difference. In 1979, about 150 acres near the Cleveland Corral Information Station had been prescribed burned with repeat burning in 1981. A 30 acre stand of trees was prescribed burned for a third time in the Spring prior to the Cleveland Fire. Amazingly, when the 100 foot tall flames burning in the crowns of the neighboring trees approached this stand, without the buildup of dead woody material on the ground, the flames dropped to the ground and left the larger trees alive.
Recognizing the desire to aid in forest ecosystem recovery and the desire to recover the value in the killed trees for wood products, the Forest Service assembled a team of employees to determine the best course of action for the future. By July of 1993 a decision was made to aggressively begin recovery efforts. Approximately 140 million board feet of dead trees (enough to build 14,000 new houses) were removed and the area was replanted with new conifer trees. 
The brush, which sprouted back after the fire and was already six to eight feet tall in many areas, competed with the newly planted seedlings and a program of brush control was begun to give the seedlings a chance at survival. While efforts to manage the brush are still continuing, most areas have trees that are between four and six feet tall and the trees are now able to outgrow the brush. In a few areas, the tallest trees are already 12 feet tall!
So what's next? In order to attempt to break the cycle of repeated stand destroying fires within the burn area, trees were planted on a wider and more variable spacing. It is planned that when the trees are 15 to 20 feet tall, understory prescribed burning will begin. This will be possible where the fuels on the ground are light so that flames can be controlled at less than two feet high. That is one reason why a conscious decision was made to salvage harvest so many dead trees across the burn area. If they were left to fall, they would have left too much wood on the ground and it would have been extremely difficult to use prescribed fire. The brush control that has occurred, besides helping the seedlings survive, also will facilitate this early use of prescribed fire.
Over time, thinning of the trees will need to occur and due to the variable spacing of the trees, the different soil conditions, and the different tree species planted, the "christmas tree farm" look will begin to fade. In this heavily fire dominated site (as most south-facing slopes are), the prudent combination of prescribed fire use and brush and tree management should provide future managers with many options and should help move the area towards providing a functioning forest again for future generations.
Report and photo courtesy of:
