Mad Machinist
Silver Member
Because of my education, I have been contacted both on list here and off list to explain some things. So here is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
When it comes to the whole Endangered Species thing one thing to keep in mind is more often than not, these species have become endangered not by the actions of the individual, but by the actions of many of the fish and game management in the area in question.
As was being talked about in another thread over the delta smelt, one of the primary drivers of their decline was the introduction of both the striped bass and the introduction of both the northern largemouth bass and the Florida-strain largemouth bass, which are apex predators in their natural environment.
I know it is claimed reduction of water is the primary driver of their decline, but there is no way that this is possible due to California's past drought history. Nice little article concerning that here California drought: Past dry periods have lasted more than 200 years, scientists say - San Jose Mercury News So if the lack of water has caused this, then by all rights, the delta smelt should already be extinct due to past droughts that were much worse.
Here's some light reading on what happens when non-native fish are introduced into other waters.
https://www1.maine.gov/ifw/fishing/pdfs/IllegalFishIntroductions11-28-20101.pdf
Largemouth bass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In other words, the fight to save the delta smelt is over. It was over the day that the striped bass and largemouth bass were introduced. Like I said, we could flush the entire Great Lakes down the Sacramento and San Jaoquin and it won't make a damn bit of difference until the striped bass and largemouth are COMPLETELY removed. This is simple predator/prey relationship 101.
Anybody want to guess what would happen if someone tried to destroy the sport fishing industry for striper and largemouth in California? Lots and lots of money there.
Now onto the whole overstocked forest thing.
To make this simple, I am going to use some simple numbers. If an acre of ground has 150-200 trees per acre that use 100,000 gallons of precipitation per year and the "normal" precipitation is 1,000,000 gallons per year, we have more than enough water to maintain the aquifer recharge and runoff for the local streams. Now bank storage also comes into play here, but I'll get into that in little bit.
As I was saying, if the tree density is changed, the amount of water left for the rest changes also. So if we have 1500-2000 trees per acre now and the precipitation is the same, we are left with nothing for aquifer recharge and for runoff for the local streams thus affecting the local flora and fauna.
When precipitation is reduced with that stocking density, an extreme fire threat is created due to ladder fuels (the smaller trees that are not fire resistant). adder fuels allow the fire to climb up into the tree canopies and "crown out". When a fire "crowns out" it takes on a life of it own including creating it's own weather patterns that feed into the fire causing what is called a "hard burn".
All soil types have an oil in that during a "hard burn" cause the surface of the soil to vitrify (turn to glass). Water runs straight off of this as it cannot soak in and gains velocity. When that velocity hits and area that is not vitrified, it start s an erosive process that washes a rather heavy sediment load into the local streams thus affecting the local flora and fauna.
Increased sediment loading also leads to substrate armoring of the stream bottoms wherever the stream slows down enough to let the sediment settle out. Substrate armoring is the settling of suspended sediment into the cracks and crevices of the stream bottom. If stream flow is reduced long enough, the sediment becomes "armored" so aquatic species cannot use it to reproduce or create homes.
So when logging was destroyed in many areas, a ticking time bomb was started.
Now bank storage is the water that soaks into the banks and surrounding areas from the local streams. Some of this also trickles down into the aquifers. Bank storage is also able to maintain stream flows in times of reduced precipitation, but only for a limited time. Once the water in the bank storage is gone, it takes quite a bit of time to recharge it. The ticking time bomb again.
Where we are now is that ticking time bomb has finally went off. And many groups are doing whatever they can to deflect the blame wherever they can, such as suction dredging, as this will destroy many of them.
More later. I'm getting carpal tunnel from typing here.
When it comes to the whole Endangered Species thing one thing to keep in mind is more often than not, these species have become endangered not by the actions of the individual, but by the actions of many of the fish and game management in the area in question.
As was being talked about in another thread over the delta smelt, one of the primary drivers of their decline was the introduction of both the striped bass and the introduction of both the northern largemouth bass and the Florida-strain largemouth bass, which are apex predators in their natural environment.
I know it is claimed reduction of water is the primary driver of their decline, but there is no way that this is possible due to California's past drought history. Nice little article concerning that here California drought: Past dry periods have lasted more than 200 years, scientists say - San Jose Mercury News So if the lack of water has caused this, then by all rights, the delta smelt should already be extinct due to past droughts that were much worse.
Here's some light reading on what happens when non-native fish are introduced into other waters.
https://www1.maine.gov/ifw/fishing/pdfs/IllegalFishIntroductions11-28-20101.pdf
Largemouth bass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In other words, the fight to save the delta smelt is over. It was over the day that the striped bass and largemouth bass were introduced. Like I said, we could flush the entire Great Lakes down the Sacramento and San Jaoquin and it won't make a damn bit of difference until the striped bass and largemouth are COMPLETELY removed. This is simple predator/prey relationship 101.
Anybody want to guess what would happen if someone tried to destroy the sport fishing industry for striper and largemouth in California? Lots and lots of money there.
Now onto the whole overstocked forest thing.
To make this simple, I am going to use some simple numbers. If an acre of ground has 150-200 trees per acre that use 100,000 gallons of precipitation per year and the "normal" precipitation is 1,000,000 gallons per year, we have more than enough water to maintain the aquifer recharge and runoff for the local streams. Now bank storage also comes into play here, but I'll get into that in little bit.
As I was saying, if the tree density is changed, the amount of water left for the rest changes also. So if we have 1500-2000 trees per acre now and the precipitation is the same, we are left with nothing for aquifer recharge and for runoff for the local streams thus affecting the local flora and fauna.
When precipitation is reduced with that stocking density, an extreme fire threat is created due to ladder fuels (the smaller trees that are not fire resistant). adder fuels allow the fire to climb up into the tree canopies and "crown out". When a fire "crowns out" it takes on a life of it own including creating it's own weather patterns that feed into the fire causing what is called a "hard burn".
All soil types have an oil in that during a "hard burn" cause the surface of the soil to vitrify (turn to glass). Water runs straight off of this as it cannot soak in and gains velocity. When that velocity hits and area that is not vitrified, it start s an erosive process that washes a rather heavy sediment load into the local streams thus affecting the local flora and fauna.
Increased sediment loading also leads to substrate armoring of the stream bottoms wherever the stream slows down enough to let the sediment settle out. Substrate armoring is the settling of suspended sediment into the cracks and crevices of the stream bottom. If stream flow is reduced long enough, the sediment becomes "armored" so aquatic species cannot use it to reproduce or create homes.
So when logging was destroyed in many areas, a ticking time bomb was started.
Now bank storage is the water that soaks into the banks and surrounding areas from the local streams. Some of this also trickles down into the aquifers. Bank storage is also able to maintain stream flows in times of reduced precipitation, but only for a limited time. Once the water in the bank storage is gone, it takes quite a bit of time to recharge it. The ticking time bomb again.
Where we are now is that ticking time bomb has finally went off. And many groups are doing whatever they can to deflect the blame wherever they can, such as suction dredging, as this will destroy many of them.
More later. I'm getting carpal tunnel from typing here.
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