[treeswarper]

Good reading for an armchair fire education. Learn from this

[treeswarper]

Near Ashland, OR http://www.dailytidings.com/news/20160828/ashland-watershed-forest-health-prescription-get-thinner

[Ski]

[treeswarper]

The Ashland Forest Resiliency project is a group effort by the U.S. Forest Service, Lomakatsi Restoration Project, The Nature Conservancy and the city of Ashland. It was created as a way to restore the forest by acknowledging the natural role of fire and working with it. The way the watershed is thinned and managed is based on that principal, as well as other best practices in restoration, according to the partnership. I would guess that the FS was not trusted to do such a thinning and had more trees been marked for falling and sold to the mill, it would have been labeled a "timber grab" and held up in the appeal process. Too many shallow pockets wanting to grab money from the deep one.

[Ski]

Ashland Forest Resiliency Stewardship Project website good grief. this has been in the works at least a decade or so. they're doing it one little piece at a time. guess that makes sense if it's supplying the water source for a metropolitan area. curious that they have a trail system and roads running through it, though - City of Hoquiam's watershed is strictly off limits.

[Pyrites]

Ashland butts up directly to the USFS, and the stream from the watershed flows right through downtown. Just go uphill from Lithia Park. Those parking lots uphill from the Shakespeare Festival are in Lithia. Hoquiam's watershed isn't next to downtown. Ashland is a bicycle town. I'd imagine both local users and those catering to tourists would oppose closing trails.

[WANative]

Controlled burning

[Ski]

September 21, 2016 16:43 PDT Controlled burns planned to reduce wildfire risks, enhance habitat OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) plans to conduct controlled burns on parts of wildlife areas in southcentral and northeast Washington to reduce wildfire risks and enhance wildlife habitat. Depending on weather conditions and approval from the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), controlled burns could start as early as the first part of October on 80 acres of the Oak Creek Wildlife Area in Yakima County and 170 acres on the Sherman Creek Wildlife Area in Ferry County. A small part of Oak Creek will be closed from Sept. 26 through Oct. 28 for the safety of fire crews and the public. Ross Huffman, WDFW Oak Creek Wildlife Area manager, said the signed closure includes about 120 acres, about a mile of secondary road, and one or two dispersed campsites off of the U.S. Forest Service 1401 road near the wildlife area’s western boundary. Matt Eberlein, WDFW Prescribed Fire Program manager, said additional acreage identified on both areas for prescribed fire use could also be burned if conditions allow. The project areas range from grass to Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine stands. Some have been thinned and currently contain logging debris and slash. “Controlled burns are monitored until they are out, which may not be until rain and snow extinguish the fires later in the fall,” Eberlein said. Smoke could make its way into towns near the areas, like Naches near Oak Creek and Kettle Falls near Sherman Creek, Eberlein said. Smoke could also temporarily affect visibility on highways and forest roads at night or early morning. Motorists should use caution and watch for personnel, fire equipment, and smoke on roads in the vicinity of the burns. “Recent wildfires demonstrate the importance of conducting controlled burns,” Eberlein said. “By burning off brush and other fuels, we can reduce the risk of unnaturally high-intensity wildfires that can destroy wildlife habitat. The goal is to reduce damage caused by potential wildfire on treated areas, provide a defensible space to contain wildfires should they occur, and enhance habitat with low-intensity controlled fire.” WDFW is coordinating with other agencies in the areas along with qualified Washington state private contractors to provide assistance with the burns. -WDFW-

[treeswarper]

More work

[Ski]

[WANative]

It's been a good growing year and areas thinned last year and over the last few years in the Plain area look absolutely outstanding. They did controlled burns on a couple areas and singed some of the canopy but man...it looks like a park. Glad they are aggressively moving forward and actively managing the forests. It's a win win for everybody.

[Token Civilian]

http://komonews.com/news/local/thinning-forests-aims-to-reduce-fire-risk-04-03-2017-190506340 Local - in the Cle Elum area.

[DigitalJanitor]

Given the swaths of disease/bug kill that's easily seen throughout Kittitas Co, this is a GOOD thing. Hopefully we can get more thinning/controlled burns going on the ridge and in the Teanaway also.

[MtnGoat]

They did some burns on Rattlesnake creek above Nile last fall too. I was pleased to see that, though it's always unnerving to be driving around with stuff smoldering away all around you. The GF thinks she saw a pine marten just above the burn zone, that was random.

[Ski]

^ Well.... if they're not going to cut it, they should probably be doing burns all up and down that valley from the confluence of the American and the Little Naches down to Nile - it's a tinderbox from about June until mid-September. The scorched trunks on those Ponderosas are pretty good evidence the area's seen lots of fire historically. I posted a blurb about the Oak Creek management plan public hearing coming up on the 11th of this month here somewhere in the Stewardship forum. Don't know if burns are going to come up on that one or not.