More than 3 million Coloradans live in the Wildland-Urban Interface, positioning their homes at greater risk from the smoke and flames of wildfires. As more people live, work and play in these areas, preventing wildfires becomes increasingly important. Now, one Boulder resident is confronting the heat, but he’s not using the typical mitigation measures you might expect.
“We believe by using fungi and biological solutions, we can help facilitate carbon sequestration, we can facilitate creating healthy soils, and do so in a way which is ecologically sound and sustainable,” said Zach Hedstrom of Boulder Mushroom. His company studies the benefits of mushrooms from their medicinal qualities to their surprising potential to, yes, prevent wildfires.
Hedstrom points to saprophytic fungi, which he calls “nature’s recyclers” because of their ability to break down wood — a fuel for wildfires.
The process involves applying the fungal root or mycelium via a fine spray to the wood. The resulting enzymes from the mushrooms break apart the molecules in the wood and turn it into healthy soil.
Still, the mycelium takes many months to grow. Hedstrom says that timeline is insignificant when you consider what traditional fire mitigation involves.
Hedstrom said that after applying the mycelium to wood, in 16 to 20 months those wood chips are rich soil. Normal wood chips could take anywhere from 20 to 50 years to decompose otherwise.
Also, many foresters will cut down trees that pose a threat and haul the extra biomass away so that fires do not spread as quickly. But that comes with its own environmental issues — trucks add more emissions into the environment, and they usually have to haul chips to waste disposal sites that are hours away. And when the terrain is extreme, many trucks can’t get access to the area.
Meanwhile, slash piles can only be burned when the weather allows. Finding that safe window can take a long time — often years. The cost of doing this is high — sometimes more than$3,000 per acre — and the wood remains a fire hazard while it sits on the forest floor.
KUNC’s Emma VandenEinde took us into the forest to explain more about this potential solution. Listen above for the full conversation.
