The concept of “managed retreat” originated in coastal areas that are dealing with sea level rise. Now, the term is increasingly used in discussions around #wildfire—but does that make sense? We asked two researchers to tell us more.
Public Policy Institute of California’s Post
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Actual urban jungle with ecological diversity >>> concrete jungle
Houston is situated in one of the most ecologically diverse settings of any major city in the United States. The city sits at the intersection of the Piney Woods, Texas Prairies, and Gulf Coastal Marshes ecoregions, among many others. The most remarkable natural features in the area are the numerous, slow-moving, tidally-influenced streams that have given the city the nickname of "The Bayou City". And yet we have thrown away this natural inheritance by dramatically altering the course and shape of these 22 bayous and their associated watersheds which make this region so unique. Bayous cut across and serve as crucial pathways between the marshes, forests, swamps and prairies that make this part of Texas a wildlife wonderland. These ecosystems harbor a diverse array of animals, including crawfish and shrimp, catfish and bass, frogs and toads, salamanders and newts, alligators and snakes, turtles and tortoises, herons and spoonbills - among untold others, not to mention all of the flora that thrive in these ecoregions. These bayous are God's gift to our part of the world, but we have not recognized them as such. Even our parks that lie alongside the bayous do not take full advantage of the natural bounty that could thrive there, as we lay down easily erodible grass, drop concrete pathways, and cultivate manicured trees in lieu of letting a proper ecology emerge. In light of the wonders of these waterways, and the failings of the previous flood mitigation paradigm, I would like to put forward a radical proposal to any and all who will hear my plea: Rewild our bayous! It is clear from the history of human attempts to engineer streams for human gain that it is ultimately a hopeless endeavor. Houston is a fairly young city, it was only founded in 1837, and its outrageous growth rate has made it the fourth most populous and eighth most geographically expansive city in the United States. If we think about Houston one hundred or three hundred years in the future, it is clear that sinking every more amounts of money into short term, environmentally-devastating "solutions" to our growth-inflicted flooding issues is unsustainable.
Rewilding Houston's Bayous
valerio.substack.com
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🌊 Water Resources Engineer | 🏘️ Solving Community Water Quality & Stormwater Challenges | 🌱 Sustainable Solutions Advocate | 🌍 Environmental Water Management | 📈 11K+ Network | 👀 2M+ Views
🛑🌊 𝐖𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐍𝐨 𝐁𝐢𝐚𝐬, 𝐍𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲: 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞 🏖️Residents on Chicago's South Side, facing frequent flooding due to Lake Michigan's rising waters, have gained attention from city and state officials. 🌤️Climate change, with increased lake levels and intense storms, has worsened the erosion of Lake Michigan's shores, impacting a historic apartment building's private beach. 💰Despite once being manageable, the erosion has turned into a crisis, leading residents to demand support for a $5 million plan to combat the water's encroachment. 💪State Representative Curtis Tarver II secured $5 million from Illinois in 2022 to address the erosion problem following residents' activism. 🤝The South Side Lakefront Erosion Task Force was formed in 2019 to address the inequitable treatment of shoreline restoration projects and mobilize for solutions. 📝Proposed solutions include installing breakwaters and revetments to prevent wave damage, but a comprehensive shoreline assessment will be conducted by 2025. 🔗 For more information 👉 https://lnkd.in/g5xCBvnC ----------------- 👇👇👇𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔, 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆: 🔍 Follow me & the #20MinRule 🔔 Click the bell icon on my profile 👍 Like 🔁 Repost --------------- #LakeMichigan #SouthSideChicago #ClimateChange #Erosion #Equity #CommunityAction #Resilience #EnvironmentalJustice #ChicagoFlooding #ShorelineProtection #Collaboration #ClimateCrisis #Activism #Infrastructure #ResponsiblePlanning #CommunityUnity #ChicagoHistory #LakefrontRestoration #SustainableSolutions #StateSupport #SouthSidePride #StrongerTogether #RisingWaters #ShorelineAssessment #GristArticle #LakefrontErosion #CityOfficials #StateOfficials
On Chicago's South Side, neighbors fight to keep Lake Michigan at bay
grist.org
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Addressing the #WildfireCrisis requires bold, decisive action and an updated vision. Learn how one western forest is implementing our new Prescribed Fire Resource Mobilization Strategy to use prescribed fire, increasing the pace and scale of restoration. https://lnkd.in/ghD6MCUi
Many Hands Tippin’ Torches | US Forest Service
fs.usda.gov
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We talk a lot about the important role that prescribed fire has on our landscapes, but good fire is just one tool in our vegetation management strategy. We often prepare for fire by creating shaded fuel breaks – reducing surface and ladder fuels in strategic locations to slow fire spread and create buffer zones. This winter, we worked with the talented teams at Spye General Engineering and Hanford to implement the Rodger’s Ridge Shaded Fuel Break at our Live Oaks Ranch Preserve. The one-mile-long, 16-acre stretch is a prominent ridgeline between Knight’s Valley and Calistoga, and is critical to slowing the movement of wildfire into the nearby city. We will now be able use the shaded fuel break as an anchor for prescribed fire and forest health thinning on an adjacent 22-acre hillside, which will reinforce the ridgeline work. We secured funding from the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Sonoma County Ag + Open Space District’s Vegetation Management Grant Program to implement this multi-benefit project, preparing it for prescribed burning in partnership with Northern Sonoma Fire District in fall 2024. Returning good fire to our landscapes is the most effective method to improve forest health and build resilience to future wildfires. Learn more about our Living with Fire program at https://ow.ly/hSVJ50RooyV #GoodFire #vegetationmanagement #PrescribedFire #SonomaLandTrust
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The Toitū Te Whenua 2020-30 Parks Network plan kickstarted our Parks Retirement and Restoration Programme, aptly named Recloaking Papatūānuku. At Greater Wellington, we have embarked on a massive undertaking to reduce grazing in our regional parks and rewild the land. Last winter alone, we planted over 350,000 native trees on the now-retired grazing land. Here is how we are tracking: Queen Elizabeth Park, Baring Head Ōrua-pouanui in East Harbour Regional Park, and Akatarawa Forest have made remarkable strides, almost entirely retiring all forms of grazing. Following closely behind are Kaitoke Regional Park and Battle Hill Farm Forest Park, where grazing reduction efforts are well underway. Additionally, grazing at Belmont Regional Park has been reduced by approximately 20%. In the Wairarapa, the majority of grazing emissions are a result of flood protection land management. To reduce emissions, we are exploring holistic nature-based land solutions to replace flood protection-related grazing. We will keep you updated on our progress over here on our LinkedIn page.
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The Wildlife Urban Interface (WUI) represents the area where wild, undeveloped land meets human-built environments, encompassing warehouses, factories, commercial establishments like shops and entertainment venues, as well as housing developments. Within this transitional space, recent construction directly adjoins untouched wilderness which is abundant in vegetation, serving as a potential fuel source. Presented here are strategies and best practices for mitigating wildfires, aimed at assisting businesses in addressing the growing worldwide threat of wildfires and their encroachment into the WUI. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eeK_U8jT #firesafety #fireprotection #Telgian #TelgianFireSafety #wildfire
Wildfire Mitigation Strategies for Businesses | Telgian
https://www.telgian.com
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Picture it, you are dewatering a drained peatland with pumps to grow onions, there's a torrential downpour, your pump burns up, and you get your excavator/ditch cleaner stuck. It's been hit or miss for a few years now, and you've had it! A well-timed Ducks Unlimited mailer asking to buy your property arrives in the mail. Hey, why not! Too wet to farm was their conclusion. It's important that productive farms remain productive. Sometimes decomissioning unproductive areas may be better options for the owner and for wildlife. Post flood is often a good time for these discussions. #stuckdigger #restoration #wetlands #teamdu
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Another tool in the toolbox of habitat restoration!
A new technique could help save the Mississippi River's floodplain forests: raising the forest floor
jsonline.com
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Did you know that the number of houses in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), where forests and communities meet, is on the rise? Wildfire risks are highest in the WUI, and experience the most wildfire destruction. With greater development occurring in the WUI, more housing and other infrastructure is at risk, spurring on greater negative impacts of catastrophic wildfire. By focusing on landscape restoration, we are not only protecting our landscapes, but our homes and communities. 💚🌲 #WUI #SustainableFuture #wildfire
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Fire suppression will always be a part of managing wildfire risk, even as we move towards achieving more resilience across the landscape while also adapting to the changing climate and wildfire environment. Often, wildfires burn in remote, rugged landscapes can be physically and emotionally challenging, to say the least. Add to that the increasing intensity of fire behavior, along with rapidly changing conditions, and it becomes an environment that a select few are uniquely equipped to manage. Today we honor those few – the wildland fire workforce. National Wildland Firefighter Day recognizes the hard work and devotion of the wildland firefighters and support personnel who are the backbone of the wildland fire community. The wildland fire workforce, made up of federal, state, local, Tribal, military, rural, contract, and support personnel, work diligently to protect lives, property, infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources. This year, CWI is especially grateful to the wildland fire community currently tackling the Basin Fire in the Sierra Nevada, bordering the site of our planned Teakettle Prescribed Burn. The Teakettle Prescribed Burn, spanning 3,300 acres within the Teakettle Experimental Forest on the Sierra National Forest, stands as a pivotal effort in landscape-scale prescribed fire management and implementation and is located in very precious old-growth. It is a step toward substantially reducing the risk that catastrophic fire, such as the Basin Fire and previous Rough and Creek Fires, can pose to our ecosystems and landscapes. We are hopeful the Basin Fire won’t impact the Teakettle Experimental Forest - so that we can reintroduce fire into the area under more controlled conditions - and deeply appreciate the hard work by all of the fireline personnel to try to get a handle on the fire. Funding for the Teakettle Prescribed Burn was provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Forest Health Program as part of the California Climate Investments Program. Please visit our website for more information about this project: https://lnkd.in/gxUvHHUf #climateandwildfire #nationalwildlandfirefighterday #wildlandfirefighter #wildlandfire #basinfire #fireriskmitigation #firesafety #firemanagement #firebehavior #wildfireresponse #sierranevada #teakettle #prescribedburn #CALFIRE_ForestHealth #CAClimateInvestments
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