Smokey Was Right, You Know

I've worked on both sides of fires in the forest.   Eastern Kentucky has a bad history of wildfires during dry spells, both spring and fall, and I have seen a lot of ruined timber.  I also saw plenty of advance oak regeneration while I worked there.

The landscape and road networks of Illinois reigned in wildfires, and most oak woods in Illinois aren't burned often enough for trees and other plants to reproduce adequately, so there are lots of folks out there who are anxious to push the use of fire in timber.  These stumps are a good reminder of the damage that wildfires can cause to trees.  The top one is hollow due to rot from major damage, and the second stump illustrates ring shake, which is caused by the tree separating new wood from the old after an injury.  Fire is an important component of forest management, no doubt, but landowners need to protect their crop trees before they light up, or they stand to lose much of the value in the trees they have produced.