Conservation Northwest

Managing for fire PEoPlE AND WIlDFIrE George Wooten Conservation associate, george@conservationnw.org For those of us caught between fires, the 2014 fire season gave credence to climate predictions of more fires and flooding. e new normal is not so much about the science of climate change, but its acceptance and what we do to react. First we need to understand what burned and why. e Carlton Complex Fire burned across 260,000 acres in just a few days. Indirectly it killed two peo- ple—directly it consumed 300 homes, and fire-related flooding shortly aer destroyed another ten structures. Prior to settlement, in the lower montane east of the Cascades, fires were frequent and extensive. Yet far fewer people lived there. And fewer large, old, ecologically-invaluable trees died. A 100-year-old ponderosa pine might have survived ten fires, while fast-grow- ing brush and smaller trees burned out every few seasons. Fire scientists tell us that the Carl- ton Complex Fire area would normally burn about every 35 years and that aer decades of fire suppression, the area was ripe for a mixed severity fire with patches of high severity fire. But an abundance of dense young trees alone can't explain the Carlton fire's dramatic behavior. For instance, only a quarter of the burned area was forested—the rest was shrub-steppe, dominated by dry grasses that typically carry fire great distances very rapidly. Even in the forested areas— densely stocked with young trees due to past fire suppression and logging practic- es—the fire moved with mindboggling speed, suggesting that weather, not fuel, was a controlling factor in the Carlton fire's aggressive spread. Once exception was a 20,000 acre "do- nut hole" visible within the fire perimeter of the Carlton fire that did not burn. e unburned forest in the donut hole had experienced fires in the past and had been treated with prescribed fire and fuel reduction measures. e big picture question is how do we manage wildfires appropriate to their expected size and frequency? We need a paradigm shi to managing for wildfire instead of against it. And we need to ap- proach management with an unbiased awareness of the role other natural distur- bances play, such as insects, fungi, debris flows, and windstorms. Fuels treatments aren't a panacea. ey don't prevent fires from spreading ; at best, they can reduce fire severity in the People and wildfire: Improve habitat and protect your property treated area. To be effective, prescribed fire may need to be combined with me- chanical thinning—and that thinning must be selective to prevent ecological harm. e fuel treatments that helped pro- tect a donut hole in the Carton Com- plex mattered because they were land- scape-scale in size. ese treatments may not be easy or cheap, but compared to doing nothing, or beginning the fight once the fire is lit, it's still a bargain. Pre- scribed fire treatments combined with fuel reduction thinning costs about one quarter of what a wildfire like the Carl- ton Complex costs on a per acre basis. And big old trees and wildife dens are conserved as well. As we say in the pre- scribed fire statewide policy group, "mild fire or wild fire, the choice is yours." *Editor's Note: George lives in Twisp, WA. Firefighters battle the Carlton Complex blaze in north-central Washington. Photo: InciWeb Defensible space, or a buffer, is essential for protecting buildings from wildfire. Photo: Cal Fire Landowners in fire-prone areas can take steps to better protect their houses, cabins, or property while cre- ating healthier forest conditions at the same time. The Washington De- partment of Natural Resources even offers a Forest Stewardship Program providing cost sharing to help private landowners prevent wildfire damage through selective thinning and dry fu- els management. Creating buffers of defensible space around houses or buildings is the number one thing fire experts recom- mend to protect your home in wild- fire county. A 30-foot or more buffer around buildings contains no dead or dry leaves, brush, woodpiles, or other flammable fuels. Tree branches are trimmed so they are more than six feet off the ground and at least six feet away from buildings and shrubs. In many dry areas, a secondary buffer of 100 feet is recommended. For more information on wildfire pre- paredness, contact your local fire dis- trict or groups such as the Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition or the Okanogan Conservation District. –Chase Gunnell Keeping the Northwest wild Winter 2015 5 Wildfires and people

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