By Jim Steele
Looking outside my window I see the lake and surrounding countryside. There is a remnant patch of Doug fir forest on the south side of Mount Konocti. This so-called “Black Forest” is left from colder, wetter climes when the Clear Lake area was a fir/pine/redwood forest transitioning from the last ice age. Across the landscape are patches of blue oak savanna, live oak and brush fields all forming niches of competing natural communities.
Drier south facing slopes are sometimes dominated by thick brush fields with the moisture dependent trees mostly on the north facing hillsides. But oaks that can compete for moisture with deep running roots do well against manzanita brush and thrive to provide the main mast crop fueling hundreds of Lake County wildlife species. I can see the increasing intrusion of grey pine in oak woodlands around me as the soil and hill slope is modified by the oaks to the pine”s liking. The abundant ecotone transitions create edge effects supporting even more wildlife species that can take advantage of each biome.
This gradual change from one dominate group of vegetative species to the next is a natural successional process that takes a hundred or even hundreds of years. One group of species modifies the environment and another takes advantage in a long successional procession. It”s all very subtle and goes much unnoticed except when a fire cuts into the stand and helps to enhance the mosaic. Wildfires however can set things back when they are hot and even cook the nutrients out of the soil that were hundreds of years in the making.
For this reason wildfires are fought when they start and all the species benefit in the short term. But when fire is excluded entirely, vegetation tightens up and can become so dense that under certain conditions very hot uncontrollable fires can be inevitable. Look around. Small controlled burns or vegetation reduction should not be rare.
Humans have been influential on the environment, just as successional and fire processes are on each patch of vegetation. This is not right or wrong but certainly could be done with regard to the long view. For instance, the incremental loss of sediment-filtering-wetland patches has become significant on the long-term nutrient loading of the lake. Likewise, the slow loss of shoreline emergent tules by land fill has removed wave dampening and stirred nutrient laden turbidity. Ah, those summertime wakeboard boats and other fun lovers.
About a third of Lake County drains toward Clear Lake so what happens away from the lake will affect it as well. The fun-loving off road vehicles eroding the hundreds of acres of Cow and Elk Mountains have their effect when the rains come as do bad roads and poor land management elsewhere. It”s not everywhere, just in patches with some bigger than others.
Individuals and agency decisions with a view to long term outcomes could create gradual changes that better mirror natural processes. Maybe you believe we should work toward the park like, species rich, sustainable utopia of your dreams. Or not; but in any case we will always do better ecologically if we follow a policy of continuous improvement with a long view. Regardless of where you live in the County, the economy driven by the lake”s ecology will affect you.
The next time you see a patch of blue-green algae drifting across the lake or worry about an invasion of dreissenid mussels, you might ask your particular favorite elected leader how we”re doing with that long view. It at least brings up a different type of discussion.
Up next: A tale of two lakes
Jim Steele is a retired Cal Fish and Game scientist, registered professional forester, part-time consultant and full-time Lake County resident-volunteer.
