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Burn helps wildlife habitat photo by Jim Craven A helicopter crew uses a torch dripping with jellied gasoline to burn 100 acres of brush on Bureau of Land Management land near Ruch. By PAUL FATTIG RUCH � It emerged like a fire-breathing dragon from a medieval myth, leaving behind a billowing trail of smoke and flames. But the helicopter, although armed with a dangling torch dripping jellied gasoline on the brushy ridge overlooking the Bishop Creek drainage, posed no threat early Tuesday afternoon. The mission was to burn roughly 100 acres of brush on the Bureau of Land Management land to improve wildlife forage while reducing the chance of a catastrophic fire, explained Don Ferguson, spokesman for the BLM�s Medford District. "The objective is to regenerate wildlife habitat," he said. "A lot of the brush there is fire-dependent. As it gets older, it gets less productive." Another goal of the broadcast burning was to help restore the oak woodlands on the lower elevation of the south-facing slope, he said. "In the absence of fire, oak woodlands have become a rapidly shrinking ecosystem," he said. "They are being encroached upon by the brush." Oaks that have been freed from fields of brush produce more acorns for deer and other wildlife, he explained. The towering column of smoke from the site, about a mile north of Ruch, could be seen from throughout the Rogue Valley. Local resident Donita Reed, whose 30-acre parcel abuts the BLM land, watched the helicopter from her yard. "I wasn�t sure what they were doing, but if it�s to help the habitat, then that�s fine," she said, noting that a severe wildfire swept the area just before her family moved there 30 years ago. "It�s certainly interesting to watch," she said. The helicopter, provided through a contract with Merlin-based Grayback Forestry, dangled a 75-foot cable holding a 100-gallon fuel container which spewed the jellied gasoline. The flammable material, similar to napalm used in Vietnam, was ignited by a propane torch. The result was a flame sometimes reaching more than 75 feet to the ground. Earlier this month, the upper section of the area had been burned as a safety precaution to ensure the fire didn�t escape, Ferguson said. The trick is to torch an area when it�s dry enough to burn but not dry enough to be uncontrollable, he said. "It behaved the way we wanted," he said. "Once the smoke column started up, it burned really well." Ground crews were scattered along the perimeter of the fire to stop it from spreading. "They�ll be patrolling and mopping up until it�s extinguished," Ferguson said. The precaution, normally not needed in late February, is a result of the abnormally dry conditions, he said. The agency has completed its broadcast burning in the area for the season, but will continue to do some "underburning" which entails ground crews using drip torches, Ferguson said. Underburning, which produces much smaller flames as it crawls along the forest floor, doesn�t create as much smoke as broadcast burning, he said. Spring is the usual time for underburning, he added. "If we can establish a mosaic of areas where we have gone in intentionally with fire, the eventual wildfire won�t burn as hot when it gets into those areas," he said. To protect air quality during the burning periods, the agency works closely with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the National Weather Service, the Oregon Department of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service. The prescribed burning is only allowed on days when conditions will allow the fire to burn safely while blowing the smoke away from populated areas. Call 618-2354 to hear a recorded daily update on prescribed burning activity in the BLM�s Medford District. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.