While millions of trees have been destroyed by bark beetles and wildfires in California, especially during the drought, there are some surprising benefits. That’ll be the focus of the latest Science Speaker Series tonight at the Sierra College Nevada County Campus. Christy Sherr is a retired National and State park ranger. She says what’s left are called “snags”, which stand for “standing dead trees”. She says mixed intensity fires and native beetles create some of the most productive and critical habitats for birds and wildlife…

click to listen to Christy Sherr

Sherr says this habitat is comparable or even better than late-succession or old-growth forests. She says salvage logging is actually one of the most ecologically damaging things you can do to a forest and should be avoided, unless a tree is a safety hazard…

click to listen to Christy Sherr

Sherr says although about 415,000 acres of trees have perished in the Sierra Nevada over the last 7 years, it’s still less than 3% of the 14-million total acres. The free presentation is from 6:30 to 7:30 this evening in the Multipurpose Center Building on the campus.