Document text
SATURDAY February 28, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels January 13, 2004 Smoke in the hills Smoke will continue to rise from the hills above Ashland through spring as crews burn piles of material cut to reduce wildfire risk. Controlled burns in watershed are part of wildfire prevention Workers are torching branches and small trees on U.S. Forest Service, City of Ashland and private land, according to Ashland Fire & Rescue Chief Keith Woodley. Material is cut during the dry season, but burning has to wait for the return of winter rain. The burning has worried some residents, who called the fire department to report smoke from the Ashland Watershed, he said. "People see the smoke and they get concerned. I wouldn't have it any other way. That kind of vigilance has saved the watershed in the past," Woodley said. In response to the need to get out information on burning activities and in case of actual wildfires, local officials previously set up the City of Ashland Fire Information Hotline at 552-2490. Although planned burning is occurring, concerned residents should not ignore all fires. They can call the information line to make sure the smoke they see is coming from a treatment area, Woodley advised. Workers from Small Woodlands Services, Inc. - a company owned by the city's forestry consultant, Marty Main - are burning piles on portions of the 160-acre, city-owned Winburn Parcel high in the watershed. That burning began Wednesday, according to Woodley. Smoke from that distant area may not be visible from Ashland, he said. However, burning on private land just east of the watershed likely is visible, Woodley said. Smoke can be seen where Forest Service crews are burning piles on federal lands near the urban-wildlands interface as part of the multi-year, 1,550-acre Ashland Watershed Protection Project. Crews began work last week and plan to burn piles on 200 acres over a three week period near the White Rabbit Trail, according to Robert Shoemaker, assistant fire management officer and fuels planner for the Ashland and Applegate Ranger Districts. After the piles were cut, they were covered to preserve a dry inner core. That allows the material to burn when ignited even when the surrounding forest is drenched, he said. "The Ashland Watershed has granitic soils that don't hold water," Shoemaker said. "It dries out quicker than soils with more clay. That's why we try to get in when the worst weather is here." Among other safety precautions, crews wear all their personal protective gear, have chainsaws on hand and notify dispatchers of their activities to ensure that backup resources are readily available in case a fire spreads, he said. An underburn - a low-intensity prescribed fire beneath the forest canopy - is planned for March or April on 50 acres, according to Shoemaker. Even as the burning progresses, the Forest Service has awarded a contract to Grayback Forestry to cut and pile material on another 89 acres. Shoemaker plans to award contracts for cutting and piling on an additional 200 acres this year once fund allocations are finalized. Forest Service officials also hope to conduct helicopter logging to thin commercially-sized trees on 63 acres this spring. Trees larger than 17 inches in diameter will not be cut because of a limit put in place by Ashland District Ranger Linda Duffy when she approved the Ashland Watershed Protection Project in 2001. If all the proposed work is carried out through the spring, more than 600 acres of the project area will have been treated. Planning continues on a proposal to thin 8,950 acres in the watershed to augment the current project. That proposal focuses on thinning wide strips in the watershed to compartmentalize the area and keep a wildfire from spreading throughout the watershed, source of Ashland's water supply. Additional interface thinning would be carried out in later years. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: The new search is here! Click here for more information. .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams