Fire Mitigation Report, Sept. 2011
Posted Sept. 6, 2011— Following is a report given by Molly Shepherd at the NFLA Business Meeting on Sept. 4.
The DNRC recently notified the Fire Mitigation Committee that its grant proposal had been approved and that funding authority had been secured. The amount of the grant is approximately $99,600. As with previous grants, monies will be disbursed on a cost-share basis, with the grant providing 75% of the cost of treatment and the landowner providing 25%. Landowner contributions may be “in-kind.” The total value of the grant, including landowners’ share, is approximately $133,000.
The DNRC will send the committee a proposed agreement for consideration; the grant is not final until a signed agreement is in hand. Tentatively, Angela Mallon of the DNRC will attend the June 2012 NFLA meeting to explain the program. Also tentatively, the Flathead Economic Policy Center will administer the grant.
The committee has been in touch with the Executive Director of FireSafe Montana. The North Fork is a member of FireSafe; the organization waived payment of dues for the current year. FireSafe is willing and able to assist the Fire Mitigation Committee with its annual FireWise Day if asked to do so. The brochures that FireSafe provided earlier in the year are still available in Sondreson Hall.
Fire Mitigation Report, June 2011
Posted June 9, 2011— Following is a report given by Molly Shepherd at the NFLA June Business Meeting on June 4.
Firewise Day – Forest Insects and Disease
The North Fork’s Firewise Community status has been renewed, based on our activities in 2010. We have been designated a Firewise Community for the last five years.
We must hold an annual FireWise Day in order to maintain our status. Last fall, many NFLA members said they were interested in more education on forest insects and disease. The Fire Mitigation Committee followed up by scheduling a workshop and field trip on the subject. The event will take place on June 11, 2011 starting at 9:30 a.m. in Sondreson Hall. It will serve as the North Fork’s 2011 Firewise Day.
Ken Gibson, long-time Forest Service entomologist, will lead off the workshop with a presentation on insects that currently affect or may soon affect the North Fork. Gibson will be joined by pathologist Cynthia Kanner of the DNRC, who will address forest diseases. Then James Barnett from the Flathead Forest’s Fire Management Office will discuss the susceptibility of dead and dying trees to wildfire, currently a hot topic in fire science. The morning workshop will be followed by a brown bag lunch and field trip to a location that to be announced.
Grant Possibility
The North Fork applied for a Western States fuels mitigation grant in 2010, part of a consortium of communities. The application was rejected and the Fire Mitigation Committee decided to look into the possibility of a applying for a stand-alone grant for the North Fork.
This spring, committee members have discussed grant possibilities informally with the DNRC. The agency determines grant funding in Montana. Basically, any new grant would continue our successful cost-share fuels mitigation program. Committee members are cautiously optimistic about our chances, if any monies become available.
Firesafe Montana
Firesafe Montana is a non-profit organization that helps to educate Montana communities about wildfire. Its executive director attended the Fire Mitigation Committee meeting in April, 2011 to explain the program. He offered to waive the membership fee for one year to enable North Fork landowners to become familiar with Firesafe and what it can do for us. The NFLA Board of Directors accepted the offer.
Federal and State Projects
Larry Roberts of LTL Forestry purchased the Forest Service’s “Red Dwarf” project last February. The project will reduce fuels and improve ingress and egress along East Red Meadow Drive. The contractor will begin work in July and must complete it by August.
The Red Whale project has been split into several parts. The Forest Service will do some precommercial thinning under contracts and some with its own forces. The commercial portions of the project will be sold through two stewardship contracts. The first contract will be awarded this spring; work will begin in July. The second contract will be awarded the end of June.
Harvesting on the DNRC’s North Fork X 2 timber sale project was completed last winter. Anticipated actions this summer and fall include final blading, reclamation and grass seeding of roads; slashing some of the saplings and logging damage in the harvest units; and piling and burning of slash.
The DNRC is completing its environmental assessment of a project on the Coal Creek State Forest. It’s possible but unlikely that there will be some logging activity this fall. Road reconstruction work on the Coal Creek Road slump is scheduled to take place in early September, 2011.
Fire Mitigation Update, Spring 2011
Posted Apr. 11, 2011— The Fire Mitigation Committee met in early April to plan activities for the 2011 fire season. Although details aren’t yet available, the committee expects to sponsor a workshop and field trip on forest insects and disease in late June. The workshop, which would serve as the North Fork’s annual Firewise Day, also would consider the relationship between wildfire susceptibility and dead and dying trees. In addition, the committee hopes to offer practical training and assessment for landowners who want to address wildfire risks around their home. The training may be offered in conjunction with Firesafe Montana.
If the opportunity arises, the committee will apply for another cost-share grant to assist landowners with fuels reduction on their properties. Funds from our two previous grants have been exhausted.
Fire Mitigation Update, Winter 2011
Sales of the Forest Service’s long-awaited Red Whale Project are underway
Posted Feb. 4, 2011—Hungry Horse/Glacier View Ranger Jimmy DeHerrera reports that the Red Dwarf portion of the project was awarded last fall. Larry Roberts of LTL Forestry purchased the small sale, which abuts Red Meadow Drive. Reducing fuels on Forest Service property in the area has long been a priority for neighboring landowners and for the Fire Mitigation Committee. LTL elected not to start work until July, 2011. Work must be completed by the end of September, 2011.
The principal portion of the Red Whale Project covers about 1040 acres and features both mechanical thinning and prescribed burning. The Forest Service accomplished some of the precommercial thinning last year with its own work forces. According to DeHerrera, the agency will do more precommercial thinning in the summer of 2011, both under contracts and with its forces.
The commercial timber portions of Red Whale will be sold through two stewardship contracts. DeHerrera anticipates that the first contract will be awarded around the end of April. The purchaser will begin work in July. The second contract will be awarded around the end of June.
Grant Not Awarded
Posted Oct. 5, 2010—The Northwest Regional Resource Conservation & Development Council (RC&D) recently filed a joint application for a Western States fuels mitigation grant on behalf of the North Fork and several other Northwest Montana communities. It was necessary to combine with other communities because the minimum grant amount was larger than any of the communities could use individually. The North Fork’s share of the grant would have been $100,000. We learned in September 2010 that the grant application had not been approved.
Another fuels mitigation grant opportunity may arise under the Stevens Act in the spring of 2011. Stevens Act grants may be for lesser amounts than Western State grants. If given the chance, the Fire Mitigation Committee will consider applying for a $100,000 stand-alone grant on behalf of the North Fork. Funds made available to North Fork landowners by two previous fuels mitigation grants have been exhausted.
Forest Insects and Disease
Posted Oct. 5, 2010—If you have noticed lodgepole pine needles turning rust brown and pockets of defoliation, a natural fungus may be responsible. The fungus has been active because of the unusually wet year. It infects older needles and turns them brown. The fungus does not cause long-term damage to trees unless it infects them several years in a row.
Spruce budworm also has been observed on the North Fork. The most common host trees for the budworm are Doug fir, true firs, spruce and western larch. The budworms also may feed on lodgepole and Ponderosa pines. The larvae prefer new growth and often web adjacent shoots together. After three or more years of sustained feeding, many trees may be largely defoliated and diameter and height growths may be sharply reduced.
Additional information about major forest and disease conditions in Montana may be found in a report entitled Montana - Forest Insect and Disease Conditions and Program Highlights - 2009.
The Fire Mitigation Committee hopes to sponsor a workshop and field trip on forest insects and disease in the spring or early summer of 2011.
Fire Workshop
Posted Oct. 5, 2010—The NFLA’s Fire Mitigation Committee sponsored a workshop and open house on July 7, 2010, immediately preceding the Summer Inter Local meeting. Attendees were treated to diverse presentations and demonstrations.
Michael Dardis, Fire Management Officer for the Forest Service’s Glacier View District, revisited the subject of allowing certain wildland fires to burn naturally. Risk management and safety are the principal parameters in determining whether to allow a wildfire to burn. The Forest Service will continue to do aggressive initial attack when structures are at risk. Dardis also introduced a recently-produced Forest Service video on the vast, destructive fires of 1910. He remarked that the fires had been a defining moment in the history of the Forest Service, particularly with regard to fire management.
Ed Burlingame, Fire Rescue Trainer for MSU’s Fire Services Training School, also spoke at the workshop. He presented nuts-and-bolts information about preventative measures and saving your home in the event of fire. Duke Hoiland and Elmer Benson demonstrated the use of water tanks mounted on trailers. Both men are members of the Trail Creek Irregulars.
Finally, Travis Paveglio outlined the FIRECLIM project and the North Fork’s role in it. FIRECLIM is a research and education project funded by the National Science Foundation. The project seeks to assess and manage risk in the Wildland-Urban Interface in light of future climate and land use changes. Fire Mitigation Committee members have been asked to participate in the project.
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Firewise Community Status
The North Fork’s Firewise Community status was renewed for 2010, in recognition of activities in 2009. The July 7, 2010 workshop and open house served as the community’s annual Firewise Day, thereby satisfying one of the criteria for maintaining our Firewise Community status. Among other benefits, the Federal Emergency Management Administration gives a Firewise community priority in consideration for pre-disaster mitigation planning and project grants.
The NFLA also may join Firesafe Montana, a statewide organization that serves as a clearinghouse for technical information and educational materials. Its purpose is to reduce loss of life and property from wildfire. |
Flathead Community Wildfire Protection Plan
Posted December 2009—The NFLA's Fire Mitigation Committee completed a substantial revision of its North Fork Wildfire Mitigation and Planning Report. The original report was prepared in 2004, in conjunction with Flathead County's preparation of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). The North Fork report was appended to the county plan, the only geographic area in the county thus represented."
Flathead County began preparation of a revised CWPP in 2009. The Fire Mitigation Committee recognized that many changes had taken place on the North Fork since 2004 so undertook to revise and update its Wildfire Mitigation and Planning Report. The revised report will be appended to the new Flathead CWPP, which is not yet complete. The text of the report but not the accompanying photo and maps may be accessed here.
Following is an excerpt from this report...
"The Flathead Community Wildfire Protection Plan established county-wide priorities for funding fuels mitigation projects. In areas where large fires occur, the criteria for determining priorities appropriately included life safety issues associated with population density; the presence of fuel hazards; fire history; threats to infrastructure; and environmental considerations.
The North Fork has a relatively low population density and limited infrastructure. Nonetheless, a compelling case can be made for assigning a high priority to North Fork fuels mitigation efforts. Despite relatively quiet fire seasons on the North Fork since 2003, the current fire cycle has not ended. Given the North Fork’s fire history, it is reasonable to project that at least some of the areas that have not burned since 1988 will burn before the cycle ends. High fuel loads in many unburned sites increase the probability of severe fires.
The need for proactive fuels mitigation to help protect firefighter and public safety is commensurate with the probability of large fires in the future. So is the need for proactive mitigation to help protect structures. The North Fork’s relative remoteness and limited escape routes make it dangerous, difficult and expensive to wait until fires are burning to attempt to abate known hazards. Public policy is better served by encouraging responsible mitigation measures, particularly in light of the human and financial costs of suppressing the Wedge Canyon fire.
Finally, the North Fork community has recognized its vulnerability and has taken action to reduce the risks that wildfire poses to safety, structures, ingress and egress. The community’s willingness to address wildfire risk is an appropriate consideration in determining priorities for funding future risk mitigation projects."
Molly Shepherd, Chair
‘Fire-use’ policy explained
Posted June 15, 2008—According to a story by Jim Mann in the June 11 Daily Inter Lake, the Flathead National Forest is considering extending its “fire-use” policy (see U.S. Forest Service definition) outside wilderness areas.
On June 12, a representative from the forest explained the program to North Forkers at a meeting in Sondreson Hall.
Mann reports, “The approach was put to work in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in the 1980s as a means of restoring a natural process to a landscape that has evolved with fire for centuries. ... Fire use was expanded last year to specific ‘suitable areas’ along Hungry Horse Reservoir. Now forest officials are considering specific areas north of Columbia Falls, the west face of the Swan Range south of Bigfork and in the Mission Mountain Wilderness.
Protecting your place
from wildfire
Even if you’re a seasonal North Fork resident, it pays for you to take some time out of your vacation to protect your property from wildfires.
North Fork Fire Chief Lynn P. Ogle (e-mail) has the following tips:
- The best way to dispose of slash and debris that is a fire hazard is by safe burning. From May 1 through June 30, before the woods dry out, a burn permit is required. To obtain a permit, call the Interagency Burning Permit Center at (406) 752-7376 or (800) 545-7376. You may also apply for a permit on line. You will need a legal description of your property, which can be ascertained using an official Flathead National Forest map. The center’s Web site also lists open and closed burning periods for the year, and fire-safety tips.
- Always use care when burning. You may not burn garbage, man-made wood products, plastic, wire or anything like furniture, etc.
- Even with a burn permit, you must call the Air Quality Hotline at (406) 751-8144 to determine whether burning is allowed that day.
- Avoid smoky fires that will violate your neighbors’ privacy and enjoyment of the North Fork.
- If you have a fire ring, make sure it’s clean and safe. Be sure the pit is away from overhanging limbs and other flammables, and keep water and firefighting tools close at hand.
- If your fire gets out of control, send someone for help and call the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office at (406) 758-5610.
- There are several North Forkers who have firefighting equipment and training. They are Duke Hoiland (Trail Creek Road); Lynn Ogle and Larry Wilson (just south of Trail Creek Road east of the North Fork Road); Jerry Wernick (driveway across from Red Meadow Creek Road); Frank Vitale (Red Meadow Creek Road); John Frederick and Oliver Meister (North Fork Hostel in Polebridge).
- It is not a crime to ask for help in putting out an out-of-control fire. However, you are responsible for damage done to adjacent property by a fire you started.
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North Fork Landowners’ Association
