We are pleased to see that some federal agencies, especially the National Park Service, are producing professional-quality films that interpret for the general public the science of wildland fire. We have written previously about successful video projects produced by Everglades National Park, and now Yosemite National Park has released their second film about the science of the 2013 Rim Fire that burned 254,685 acres in and near the Park. Their first one featured Fire Ecologist Gus Smith, and a second with the inspired title of “Rim Fire” was uploaded today on YouTube. It is embedded below and emphasizes the importance of reintroducing fire into the forest while treating your eyes to excellent photography.
Great video. One minor nit is that, measured over natural history before European settlement, and to an extent before Native American/First Peoples settlement, there’s quite a record of very large fires in that area. I believe the extent to which we want to sit back and allow very large fires to happen is a legitimate debate, but Yosemite would have been just fine if the Rim Fire had impacted it more squarely than it did. Tourism would have been affected, likely negatively, and certainly the area would have a changed face, but it wouldn’t be something the area hadn’t seen before.
Thank you for making this documentary!
Its really interesting and it has a lot of information