One of the most significant causes of deforestation in the Adirondack region were the catastrophic forest fires. These forest fires would have contributed to slash-and-burn agriculture. Farmers, across centuries, have believed that ashes from burnt trees increase soil nutrients, which would increase their yield. This belief was the building foundation of an agricultural practice known as Slash-and-Burn.

Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method where farmers cut and burn down woodlands to create space for cultivating new crops. Although now considered a primitive style of agriculture, this technique still prevails in subsistence farming to grow a range of crops over a long period. However, with a rapidly growing population in combination with declining forest coverages, practicing Slash-and-Burn has many repercussions because setting out fires in a forest is highly unsustainable.

There are some obvious negative impacts of Slash-and-Burn agriculture, such as loss of habitat for wildlife causing loss of biodiversity, and high carbon dioxide emissions from burning trees, causing an increase in greenhouse gases. More importantly, controlling the magnitude and intensity of a forest fire is highly challenging. It can cause accidental fires in neighboring areas, destroying entire forests and displacing the habitat of many creatures. A barren land could face many other adversities under extreme weather conditions. During seasons of heavy rainfall, the trees would no longer canopy the soil or hold the ground firmly with its roots, which could cause soil erosion and landslides.

Contrary to our intuition, wildlife has already adapted to forest fires because of their frequent occurrence. Animals can run, amphibians can hide in their burrows, while birds can fly to escape the heat. Although slash-and-burn has many negative implications on the environment, a planned burn could benefit the forest ecosystem under the right circumstances. Once the fire removes canopy, shrubs, grasses like prairies can thrive from receiving adequate sunlight and nutrients from the ashes. Some animals, such as deers, require these areas for living.
Similarly, woodpeckers, sparrows, rattlesnakes, and other animals also benefit from the early phase after burning the woodlands. Besides providing the nutrients to the soil, fires would also get rid of invasive species such as ticks, which will give the wildlife a more suitable environment to grow.

Similar to planned forest fires, slash-and-burn is one of the most controversial techniques of agriculture. Many conservationists are against slash-and-burn because no adapted species could deal with the scale and frequency of today’s forest fires. Besides that, forest fires would only contribute to the ever-growing temperature of our planet.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), Slash-and-Burn agriculture may struggle to thrive in the Adirondack region, as heavy snow and rain will wash away ashes and soil nutrients, rendering the bare land unfit for agricultural production.

Citations:

Stief, Colin. “Slash and Burn Agriculture Explained.” ThoughtCo. ThoughtCo, August 12, 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/slash-and-burn-agriculture-p2-1435798 .

Terrie, Philip G. “6-The Havoc of the Years.” Essay. In Contested Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the Adirondacks, 2nd ed., 106–16. Adirondack Museum, 2008.

“What Do Wild Animals Do in Wildfires?” National Geographic, September 8, 2020. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/150914-animals-wildlife-wildfires-nation-california-science.

blogger, NCWRC. “Prescribed Burns Benefit Wildlife.” N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, March 9, 2015. https://www.ncwildlife.org/News/Blog/prescribed-burns-benefit-wildlife.