The Overstocked Century
Before 1900, the dry forests of the inland Northwest burned every five to forty-five years, leaving a patchy mosaic of single trees, clumps, and openings. The 1910 Big Burn, the 10 a.m. policy, a timber economy built on large trees, and grazing that stripped fine fuels turned a century of missed fire into crowded stands. The episode ends at a Colville, Washington sawmill's 1989 peak and states the thesis the series tests.
Who's who
- Albert R. Stage+2 more episodesForest Service silviculturist who authored the Prognosis Model for stand development
- Robert A. Monserud+1 more episodeForest Service researcher on inland Douglas-fir growth and site index
- James Agee+1 more episodeFire ecologist whose Blue Mountains study found fire exclusion erased structure
- Andrew Larson+1 more episodeForest ecologist who co-wrote the 2012 review naming the openings-and-clumps pattern
- Derek Churchill+1 more episodeForest ecologist who co-wrote the 2012 review naming the openings-and-clumps pattern
- R. Keala Hagmann+1 more episodeLead author of a 2021 consensus paper on forest change
- William Baker+1 more episodeScientist who argues historical forests were denser and burned more severely
- Chad HansonScientist who argues standard reconstructions overstate openness
Where it happens
- Colville National Forest, Washington+8 more episodes1.1 million acres in the state's northeast corner
- Colville, Washington+3 more episodesHome of Vaagen Brothers Lumber's flagship mill
- Moscow, Idaho+6 more episodesSite of the Forest Service Forestry Sciences Laboratory
- Inland Northwest, United StatesDry forests that once burned at frequent intervals
Timeline
- 1910Big Burn consumes roughly three million acres in the Northern Rockies
- 1935The 10 a.m. policy aims to control every reported fire by next morning
- 1973Albert Stage publishes the Prognosis Model
- 1989Vaagen Brothers peaks at 495 employees and 128 million board feet purchased from the Colville
- 2019Study finds far less forest burned than expected in the Pacific Northwest, 1984-2015
- 2025Treatment acres fall about 35 percent and prescribed fire roughly 50 percent
Still debated
Scientists dispute what these forests looked like historically: a 2021 consensus paper finds widespread change in structure and fire regime, while Baker, Hanson, and others argue they were denser and burned more severely. Fire-return figures also vary, and the open forests of old accounts may reflect an unusually fiery period.
