8 Winter/Spring 2016 conservationnw.org
Prescribed fire and wildfire
In the wake of the last two wildfire seasons, it's easy to villainize fire. Last
summer, fires blazed through over a million acres of federal, state, private and tribal
lands in Washington state, displacing thousands of people. ese days, many of us
living in fire-prone landscapes know that it is not a question of if, but when, another
fire will be sparked nearby. However, there are tools to create more fire-resilient
forests and better safeguard human communities. One of the most important is the
application of prescribed or managed fire, and we're working with lawmakers, agen
-
cies and communities to see this tool utilized more frequently.
Wildfires are naturally occurring events that have shaped and strengthened our
ecosystems for thousands of years. Aggressive fire suppression by natural resource
management agencies that began in the early 20th century and lasted until the 1970s
effectively halted that natural process. Without a natural fire cycle, forest vegetation
has become increasingly dense to the point where fires can spread more easily over
greater areas, and large, naturally fire-resistant trees like mature ponderosa pines are
increasingly at risk from uncharacteristically severe fires.
In both shrub-steppe grasslands and timbered forest lands, prescribed burning
alone or in conjunction with careful thinning can restore natural forest conditions
and help shape the behavior of future wildfires. is prescribed burning is typically
done in the fall or spring when wetter conditions make fires easier to control. By
thinning small trees and burning out underbrush, prescribed fire can help slow the
growth of larger summer fires and provide firefighters with areas to establish clear
firelines when needed.
rough our Forest Field Program, Conservation Northwest has worked for over
a decade with public agencies and conservation allies to restore forests to their his
-
Working for resilient forests
and safer communities
PRESCRIBED FIRE AND WILDFIRE
Alaina Kowitz Communications and Outreach
Associate, alaina@conservationnw.org
toric fire regime through selective thin-
ning and prescribed burning. In Okano-
gan County, indications show that our
restoration projects helped slow the
advance of the 2014 and 2015 fires. For
example, the North Star Fire slowed its
northern advance last August when it
reached restoration areas that had pre
-
viously been burned. Similar examples
can be seen where the Okanogan Com-
plex Fire ran into areas of the Sinlahekin
Wildlife Area treated with prescribed
fire by the Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
What makes this kind of management
tricky are the discrepancies between
resource management agencies. e U.S.
Forest Service has a long history of using
prescribed burning, but the Washington
Department of Natural Resources has
halted prescribed burning on their lands.
Additionally, under current regulations
agencies are required to maintain air
View of the Methow Valley during the 2015 Twisp River Fire. Photo: Jasmine Minbashian
