Resource Roundup

From the June 2002 issue of Resource Roundup...

In 2000, 123,000 wildfires destroyed 8.4 million acres of range and forest. Federal agencies spent over $1.3 billion to fight these fires. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) spent the majority of those funds: a little over $1 billion. The expenses of local and state firefighting costs are uncalculated, as are the costs to those who had to evacuate, lose time at work, seek medical attention for smoke inhalation or stress, or who lost their homes.

Regeneration costs are also expensive. Planting trees on 2900 acres burned on the Bitterroot National Forest is expected to cost taxpayers over $2 million -- to replant less than half of one-thousandth of the acres burned in 2000.

So far this year, wildfires have burned more land than at the same time in 2000. The fire season in much of the West, especially Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, started about 4-6 weeks ahead of schedule. Conditions are so bad that fires in these states have burned some trees and shrubs to white ash -- an indication of how dry, after several years of drought, these forests and grasslands are.

In March, a grass and timber fire in southern New Mexico burned 28 homes. In April, a lightning-caused fire in the Gila National Forest (New Mexico) burned 37,000 acres. In May, a wildfire in the foothills west of Denver forced 2,500 people to evacuate, and one near Prescott, Arizona burned 5 homes and forced the evacuation of 1,500 people. The fire was stopped three miles from the city.

A 4,000-acre fire on the Pike National Forest destroyed one home and caused 75 families to evacuate. Beleaguered Otero County, New Mexico, targeted by the 2000 fires, lost two more houses to a fire that roared through the Lincoln National Forest and threatened the town of Mayhill. On May 29, a wildfire near Tucson, Arizona was still not under control, had burned 20,000 acres, and was within a half-mile of 175 homes. Costs to combat just one blaze, the 2,000-acre fire near Bailey, Colorado, were estimated at $2.6 million.

What’s happening? Why are so many fires burning? Why are so many homes being destroyed by wildfire? These questions have several answers.

Fire is a tool that has been used since man first learned how to strike flint to rock or to save a coal in wet moss. Those who believe that our country was ‘untouched’ before Columbus arrived don’t realize that Native Americans set wildfires for a variety of reasons: to drive game, clear land for farming, rejuvenate berry patches, enhance game habitat, improve travel, exterminate insects, and more. Many of these fires, of course, became uncontrollable and burned vast areas. At that time, there was plenty of land for people and animals, and massive fires caused little problem.

Many of our forests, in fact, adapted over centuries to the fire regime caused by nature and later by people. These fires cleared out the dead wood and stimulated new growth -- nature’s regeneration, often cycling every 25 years or so. These were not always ‘stand destroying’ fires. Many crept slowly through the underbrush, others burned moderately hot, and still others jumped from tree top to tree top, exploding trees and killing everything in their paths. Fires often burned in a ‘mosaic’ pattern that created a mixture of forest conditions.

Compared to historic wildfire levels, the amount burning today is minor. Until the 1930s, for instance, about 40-50 million acres of what is now the U.S. every year. Many of these fires were started by trains or by people clearing land for farming. The West was less populated at that time, but rural towns were alarmed at the threats to their safety. Firefighting had become a mission of the USFS after the massive wildfires in Idaho and Montana in 1910, but in 1930 there were still no smokejumpers or slurry bombers, and once a wildfire started, it had fairly free rein.

More recently, wildfires burned only about 5 million acres per year. To accomplish this 90% reduction, the USFS, BLM, and other agencies began to manage land in ways that have had both good and bad results. Top priority was given to extinguishing fires, and with the help of Smokey the Bear and advancements in firefighting methods, this had dramatic results. High priority was also given to logging, which removed excess fuel (the same material you put in your fireplace for heat and light!) from our forests and incrased the health of remaining trees.

As the science of silviculture advanced, logging was used to mimic the effects of wildfire. Foresters learned that some stands, such as lodgepole pine which needs bright sunlight to regenerate, should be clearcut, and that shade-tolerant ponderosa pine can be select-cut and still regenerate well.

For the last decade, however, logging has been greatly reduced, allowing many forests to become too thick. In such conditions, trees become stunted and unhealthy. Especially in the arid West, competition for water is so fierce that many trees fall prey to insects or disease, or simply die from a lack of water and nutrients. An outbreak of bark beetles in the Black Hills has now killed hundreds of thousands of trees. The Los Angeles Times reports that bark beetles in California’s San Jacinto mountains have killed more than 80% of trees in ponderosa and sugar pine stands. Near Steamboat Springs, Colorado, beetles reproducing exponentially in a miles-long blowdown from a freak windstorm are expected to kill every spruce tree in the area. And still people oppose removing infected trees to save remaining trees.

The resulting dead trees dry out fast, becoming tinder waiting for a spark. Even among green trees, close spacing enables fire to spread rapidly.

Only the relatively recent ability to drill deep wells and construct economical irrigation and water transport systems has made it possible for people to exist in much of the West.

In addition, the century-old policy of fire suppression has contributed to current problems. Fires historically removed much of the flammable material from forests every 10 to 50 years. Since those fires have been extinguished as quickly as possible, in some places this material has built up for over 100 years. Dry pine needles, the first step in a ‘fuel ladder’ that leads to bushes, then small trees, then larger trees, may be a foot or more thick on the forest floor. Once a fire starts in such areas, it is almost impossible to stop.

That five-million-acres-per-year burned has been increasing. Often, it’s not a matter of whether an area will burn, but when. The West has been in a drought for several years. Such weather is not unusual in this near-desert terrain. Only the relatively recent ability to drill deep wells and construct economical irrigation and water transport systems has made it possible for people to exist in much of the West.

Since the USFS has embarked on a program of prescribed burning to replace the benefits of natural ground-creeping fires, its success has been mixed. People complain of the smoke, but the worst problem has been the inability of personnel to control the fires they set. Escaped blazes comprise a small portion of prescribed fires. Those that do escape, however, give the agency a very black eye, especially when private lands and structures are burned.

And the prescribed fires, as well as the wildfires, can endanger homes. The West has experienced a boom in population. With advancements in transportation and communication, especially advances allowing people to work from home via computers, widespread Internet access, fax machines, and overnight package delivery, more and more people are making their homes in the woods. Home construction in forested areas is at an all-time high, and about 12 million people now live in or near western forests. According to the Colorado Office of Emergency Management, almost one-fifth of the state’s population, about 750,000 people, live in areas at risk from catastrophic fires.

Some of the people moving into these areas are ‘city folk’ able to escape to a quieter life. They have not witnessed the terribly awesome power of a forest fire. They have not seen a fire capable of jumping from one ridgetop to another, or heard the train roar of fire-driven winds, or watched a tree explode from heat. They don’t realize the value of logging. In fact, too often they are the first people to join with radical environmentalists and oppose the very logging which could one day save their homes.

Only the relatively recent ability to drill deep wells and construct economical irrigation and water transport systems has made it possible for people to exist in much of the West. In some cases, people are building in areas so steep that using logging and prescribed fire are too difficult or expensive, in areas distant from even volunteer fire departments, and with access roads so small and winding that emergency vehicles have limited access. Such homes are in extreme jeopardy. As more homes are consumed by home fires (which can start wildfires) or wildfires, insurance companies are re-evaluating their desires to offer coverage for homes in forested areas.

What is the answer? The best solution is to return science-based management to our vast federal lands. Treat thick stands, starting with those near residences, with logging to remove marketable timber and thinning to remove pre-commercial trees. After mechanical operations have removed as much fuel as possible, follow with prescribed fire to remove ground fuels and stimulate new growth where possible.

Why aren’t we doing that now, as we did in increasing amounts from 1930 into the 1980s? Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman recently told Congress that litigation and paperwork are making it harder to manage National Forests and are raising the risk of catastrophic wildifires. Agency mangers spend about half their time meeting burdensome regulations created by acts of Congress and bureaucratic agencies, trying to write ‘bulletproof’ analyses that will withstand the numerous appeals filed by people who have no comprehension of forest needs and cycles, and dealing with onerous restrictions enacted by judges who may never have even walked in a forest. USDA Under Secretary Mark Rey told the Congressional panel that the time demands referred to by Secretary Veneman don’t include the time spent on approximately 5,000 legal actions currently filed against the agency involving timber sales, water rights, and other issues. Too many USFS planned actions are challenged; too many challenges have resulted in ‘analysis paralysis’.

It’s time -- past time -- to restore common sense to forest management policies. It’s time to admit that ‘no management’ is not working, that forests are not static entities that will remain the same if man just leaves them alone. According to Bailey-area resident Greg Ottinger, who watched the fire approach his home, “...I think it’s time to get out the chain saw and cut some trees.” (Associated Press, May 4, 2002). We agree.

(For wildfire information and photos, visit www.nitc.gov)