Fire Mitigation/Suppression

Saw this article in a link on FB and found it interesting. Hearing how the West Fork Complex fires are feeding on beetle kill made me think of the vast areas in the Granby/Grand Lake/Frasier area that are totally beetle killed. If a fire gets going there there would be no stopping it. (bold is mine)

http://www.timescall.com/news/longmont- ... _23522520/

Colorado State Patrol Trooper Jesse Bartunek:
"This fire has been a long time coming with the beetle kill," Bartunek said. "Forests didn't used to grow to the point where you have these catastrophic fires. We would have a lot of little fires all the time.

"We've got to stop trying to preserve forests. I think we should work the forest. If we've got a 40,000-acre area burning because we have had a lot of beetle-killed trees over a decade, maybe should have done something during those years?"
…….

But some local leaders are pressing the case for more aggressive Forest Service efforts to allow selective thinning of forests. That's expensive when done manually, but it can help mimic the natural destructive cycles that are disrupted when more people and development move into the forests.

"We need to thin this dead stuff out," state Sen. Larry Crowder said, monitoring the situation near the Red Cross station in Del Norte.

"A timber industry can help keep the forest healthy," he said. Super-intense wildfires such as these may hurt agriculture, which traditionally has been the anchor of the San Luis Valley's economy, he said.

"Our key concern is our watershed," he said. "Burned forests can lead to a quicker snowmelt."

Maybe private forest owners need to clearcut the areas around their home since the Forest Service has been slow to eradicate beetle kill on public lands.

The govt and the enviro freaks are the ones causing issue for the timber industry.

Assessing your own risk - this is a link to a good map for info:

http://www.coloradowildfirerisk.com/map

The reality is that homeowners have a degree of personal responsibility regarding their own property regardless of what the Forest Service does, or does not, do. Having worked with the Colorado Forest Service on fire mitigation on our own property, we consider it to be a very worthwhile, satisfying project that not only helps with mitigating the fire danger, but also promotes forest health. When we bought our property, we called it the "haunted forest" simply because there was so much dead down and dead standing we couldn't really even walk through it. Over a period of years, we were able to clear out much of that debris and also to thin the living trees to give them more room to grow strong and healthy while also minimizing the risk from Mountain Pine Beetle infestation. The areas we've done so far have flourished. Grasses growing here that didn't previously now draw in deer and elk. Knowing we've done something to be good stewards of our land is also emotionally rewarding, plus we know (cuz we've had fire dept. personnel tell us so) our home is one they will defend because of the fire mitigation we've done around our home.

For more info, here's a FEMA site that can help in this process: http://www.ready.gov/wildfires

285Bound and the other Bound sites are working on a page with lists of links to help homeowners in these types of efforts (hope I didn't jump the gun on this one and spoil the surprise ).

Mitigation around a home is important, I agree. However, the amount of acreage burning all over the country is a problem far bigger than “around the home” mitigation. You cannot say that these fires are out of control because people didn’t mitigate properly. These fires are out of control because the USFS is not doing anything to solve the beetle problem. We can’t even cut dead trees in many camping areas that are Nat’l Forest land. They just insist that you are doing wrong by removing and burning standing dead. They should be happy someone is willing to do their job for them.

If the fire department truly said they would only try to save YOUR house something should be done about that. We, the taxpayers, fund these volunteer departments and that is a load of BS.

While it is good to clean out dead wood, when you have 80 acres to clear, that is daunting. Or the hundreds of thousands of acres in the National Forest system.

lostgurl303 wrote: Mitigation around a home is important, I agree. However, the amount of acreage burning all over the country is a problem far bigger than “around the home” mitigation. You cannot say that these fires are out of control because people didn’t mitigate properly. These fires are out of control because the USFS is not doing anything to solve the beetle problem. We can’t even cut dead trees in many camping areas that are Nat’l Forest land. They just insist that you are doing wrong by removing and burning standing dead. They should be happy someone is willing to do their job for them.

If the fire department truly said they would only try to save YOUR house something should be done about that. We, the taxpayers, fund these volunteer departments and that is a load of BS.

Hate to say this, but you totally took my post the wrong way. I never intended to "imply" the forest service was "off the hook" for anything. Why would anyone do that?

And I never said the fires were out of control because people didn't mitigate properly. My question to you is why did you choose to interpret it that way. My post was intended to try to help "nudge" homeowners in that direction and to give them a source of information on how they might be able to do that if they choose to do so, nothing more.

We know plenty of homeowners, some of whom live smack dab in the middle of where we live, who do nothing to mitigate fire danger around their homes much less do anything on their property at all. That only serves to increase the fire danger to us, in addition to them along with the danger to fire personnel when they respond to these types of incidents.

We also know others who are serious about going onto FS land and harvesting the standing and down pine beetle kill trees. They've been blocked in doing so for far too long IMHO. On that, we can definitely agree.

As to your last statement about the fire department saying they would only try to save our house (emphasis mine), that's total BS. Never said that at all. If you do adequate fire mitigation around your own home and call the fire department after doing so, they'll be happy to send someone out to do an "analysis" and either give you a thumbs up or make some additional suggestions/recommendations on further mitigation efforts you might want to consider. None of this is required by, or of, anyone, but we got a better homeowners insurance rate because of what we did, too. We are very proud of what we've done, and will apologize to no one for that.

Bottom line on this is you can interpret what I'm offering by way of my own personal and professional experience and advice as anything you want. Reality is, it's being provided with the best of intentions for everyone who lives in, and could be affected by, a forest wildland fire. Beyond that, I'm not going to argue whether or not the USFS or the Colorado Forest Service are doing their jobs. That's something you'll need to take up with them.

FredHayek wrote: While it is good to clean out dead wood, when you have 80 acres to clear, that is daunting. Or the hundreds of thousands of acres in the National Forest system.

Couldn't agree with you more on this, Fred. We have 35 acres and are only 20 acres into it, so far - this over a period of 12 years living here (and, yes, we did it ourselves). Sometimes, it becomes necessary to look only at the area around your home for a defensible space, and leave the rest of the acreage to Mother Nature in the hope nothing bad actually happens, but to also accept the reality that something bad COULD happen.

A couple resources to consider in this effort:

The Coalition for the Upper South Platte (for slash chipping):

Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/uppersouthplatte?fref=ts
Website http://www.uppersouthplatte.org/

The costs associated with chipping slash using a contractor can be prohibitive if you have large amounts. CUSP has a humongous chipper they bring on site (you can view a video of it in operation on our property by visiting here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dead-Woo ... 7090585685 . Sorry this is only on Facebook at this time - if there's enough interest, I'll try to upload it to my woodworking blog for people to be able to see it). They provide some manpower, ask for volunteers to help, and also ask for donations to help cover their gas, diesel fuel, and maintenance costs. They're a great organization, and if you happen to be located in an area within their "jurisdiction" this resource might be available to you, too. We've had up to 11 volunteers along with three of their own personnel going on chipping at one time. What a rush! What a lotta work, too!

Colorado State Forest Service: Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Colorado-State-Forest-Service/157048732269?fref=ts , and website http://csfs.colostate.edu/ . When we worked with CSFS, they had a cost share program going that helped us a lot. I'm not sure if they still do, but it might be worth checking out.

Hope this helps.

ZHawke wrote: Hate to say this, but you totally took my post the wrong way. I never intended to "imply" the forest service was "off the hook" for anything. Why would anyone do that?

I don’t know why anyone would do that, but people do.

ZHawke wrote: And I never said the fires were out of control because people didn't mitigate properly. My question to you is why did you choose to interpret it that way. My post was intended to try to help “nudge” homeowners in that direction and to give them a source of information on how they might be able to do that if they choose to do so, nothing more.

I interpreted it that way because, well I just did. We can’t help the way we read into things, it just happens. Sometimes I do that, the one thing I dislike about the internet. I do think it was just a misunderstanding and I am sorry.

ZHawke wrote: We know plenty of homeowners, some of whom live smack dab in the middle of where we live, who do nothing to mitigate fire danger around their homes much less do anything on their property at all. That only serves to increase the fire danger to us, in addition to them along with the danger to fire personnel when they respond to these types of incidents.

We also know others who are serious about going onto FS land and harvesting the standing and down pine beetle kill trees. They've been blocked in doing so for far too long IMHO. On that, we can definitely agree.

Our neighborhood is so badly mitigated that we are trying to come up with an idea to help. Whether that be a neighborhood meeting about renting a chipper as a group or my husband just cutting the trees for them at a minimal charge to cover gas and the chipper. It is insane how much standing and laying dead there is. We have a homestead with farm animals and that last evacuation scare was enough for me.

Our property backs up to National Forest. There is a lot of dead in there. The forest services themselves may not have the manpower, but I am sure people in the area would volunteer their help. Whether that be dragging out the slash, driving the trucks, cutting trees, whatever. Unfortunately government agencies are near impossible to work with.

ZHawke wrote: As to your last statement about the fire department saying they would only try to save our house (emphasis mine), that's total BS. Never said that at all.

My apologies as I misread the line that said, “one of”, not “the one”.