A video filmed in California’s Caldor Fire burn scar reignited debate over how burned forests should recover.<\/p>\n
In the Instagram Reel, Jessie Dickson<\/a> (@sacramentofoodforest) argued<\/a> that spraying glyphosate to clear competing plants for replanting had left a Sierra slope dominated by invasive mustard instead.<\/p>\n The concern was not just about plants; it was about wildfire danger, biodiversity, and drinking water flowing downhill to communities that rely on snowmelt.<\/p>\n In the Sierra Nevada, Dickson showed a burn area covered in the invasive mustard plant after herbicide spraying.<\/p>\n He explained that the Forest Service had applied glyphosate on public land after the Caldor Fire so planted lumber trees would face less competition from surrounding vegetation.<\/p>\n According to Dickson, the area had previously experienced a “super bloom” with 50-plus native plants, including endangered mariposa lilies. But after the spraying, he wrote, “a biodiversity hotspot is now miles of invasive mustard.”<\/p>\n “It’s a perfect example of why we don’t need to be using it,” Dickson said in the video.<\/p>\n He argued that managers were “planting trees exactly where they burned” rather than allowing a more diverse recovery.<\/p>\n Commenters echoed that frustration, with one saying the spraying targeted native plants such as Arctostaphylos and Ceanothus, which compete with lumber trees, rather than invasive weeds.<\/p>\n Post-fire landscapes in the Sierra are tied to community safety, wildlife habitat, and the snowmelt-fed water supplies that Californians depend on.<\/p>\n Dickson warned that the tumble mustard would dry out, be picked up by wind, and ignite easily. It “burns like gasoline,” he said.<\/p>\n A management decision to purportedly support reforestation could instead increase fuel loads near homes and communities already dealing with dangerous wildfire seasons.<\/p>\n Dickson also raised concerns about chemical exposure via runoff, arguing that spraying in high-elevation forests threatens clean drinking water downstream, as snow melts into reservoirs.<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n