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Preparing for fire By Sean Wolfe Ashland Daily Tidings While the plumes of smoke seen in the hillsides surrounding Ashland this spring may remind citizens of last year's smoke-filled summer, they are not signs of things to come - if all goes well. Rather, they are signs of fuel loads - mostly hand cut and hand-stacked - vanishing in the breeze in advance of fire season. A Phoenix city firefighter helps extinguish a blaze on the edge of the Ashland Watershed above Lithia Park in 1999. Tidings file photo Treating landscapes is a thorny matter, according to Chris Chambers, wildfire fuels reduction coordinator for Ashland Fire & Rescue. City efforts have been aimed at creating defensible space around homes, and taking out areas that are particularly choked with brush. Throughout the winter and spring months, some 65 acres were cleared, principally along the city's north and western flanks. About 42 acres of brush, fallen trees, and other fuels have been burned, while the rest was chipped and mulched. Despite the small acreage numbers, Chambers said because crews focused on the perimeters of homes, the effect would be greater than the numbers suggest. "The bulk of our effort has been on the north part of town. We've targeted the ridge top at Wright's Creek drainage, because the drainage goes all the way down to North Main. If a fire started there, it could threaten dozens of homes on the ridge, and hundreds of homes further up in the Upper Wimer area," Chambers said. He said the city's western flank above Granite Street was also getting attention from crews armed with chippers and chainsaws. Follow-up restoration activity is also planned. Chambers said the city has applied for a tree planting grant from Jackson County to put in additional ponderosa pines in treated areas. Firs are not in the planting program because they are vulnerable to insects and drought, and highly flammable besides. In general, the approach has been to target specific areas where landowners could be aggregated into a single group such that treatments would affect an entire section of landscape, rather than be broken up into a mosaic of treated and untreated areas. "We try to go after a whole area at one time, and get everyone involved," Chambers said. But a mosaic approach is unavoidable outside of city limits. By way of example, north of the city, the Wildcat Canyon Stewardship Association has been very active since 2002 treating vegetation-choked areas with a mechanical device known as the Slashbuster, as well as deploying hand crews. The association, which involves 40 households, managed to secure National Fire Plan grants through the Oregon Department of Forestry to fund the work. The results include roughly 600 acres of treated areas, with plans for maintenance and restoration work in coming months. David Wolske, a member of the association, as well as a mechanical inspector working at Ashland Municipal Airport, said the idea was to leave canopies as intact as possible, while targeting fuels on the ground like manzanita, buck brush, small madrones and mountain mahogany. By leaving canopies of oak and large madrones, small trees like ponderosa pine, some firs, cedars, and others can have a chance to grow, without being scorched by the hot summers. "Our focus has been hazardous fuels reduction according to ODF prescriptions. But clearing is one thing. Maintenance is another. If you don't plan for maintenance, you'll be in the same situation in five years," Wolske said. Certainly fire is no stranger to Wildcat Canyon. In 1959, a devastating wildfire burned the entire canyon and several thousand acres into the Ashland Watershed. According to association documents, "historically abusive practices in the canyon, including careless mining and slash cutting the forest, followed by 40 years of environmental neglect have rendered the canyon again vulnerable to catastrophic, low burning and intensely hot wildfire." Viewed from above Wednesday in Wolske's private plane, the work accomplished is plainly visible. While other areas outside the canyon are choked with trees, the "slashbusted" areas stand out as oak-dominated, park-like areas. But Wolske is not content to let the work stand as is. "Our idea is to replant trees to suppress brush. We're forcing the climax level of the forest that we want here. If we can manage that, we'll reduce the fire hazard enormously. And assuming we haven't altered the climate too much already, I'm a believer in the idea that trees bring the rain," Wolske said. Certainly, a wet spring has dampened the chances for wildfires in the area - at least temporarily. Ron Neilson, a bioclimatologist at the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station, is working on computer simulations that predict fire risk for the first time this year. According to his models, Oregon's biggest wildfire risk continues to be the area in southwest Oregon that felt the fury of the Biscuit Fire last summer. The rest of Oregon does not appear to be in immediate danger. "Our model nailed the Biscuit Fire in 2002. It was bound to go in one of those two years (2001 and 2002) if given an ignition source. The big difference in fires between 2001 and 2002 was dry lightning. The Biscuit area is still a risk, but that's not to say that it will go up again this year. At this time, there's not as big a risk for Southern Oregon and Jackson County at this time. Our simulation indicates a whole lot less fire danger this year," Neilson said. He added the predictions are only as good as the computer model, which he notes remains experimental. In the meantime, ODF has already issued a warning to homeowners to clear gutters and rooftops of debris on their homes, cut their grasses to four inches or less, and establish a perimeter of fuel free space - 100 feet is recommended where possible - around homes and outbuildings. "My personal sense is that it's touch and go every year," Chambers noted. "Every year there's lots of fuel still on the ground. Every year we have temperatures over 100 degrees, lots of wind, and often some lightning. There's lots of things that can start a fire every year, so I think everybody needs to prepare as best they can," Chambers said. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -