BURNED AREA EMERGENCY REHABILITATION (BAER) While many wildfires cause minimal damage to the land and pose few threats to the land or people downstream, some fires cause damage that requires special efforts to prevent problems afterwards. Loss of vegetation exposes soil to erosion, water runoff may increase and cause flooding, sediments may move downstream and damage houses or fill reservoirs, and put endangered species and community water supplies at risk. The Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) program is designed to address these situations. The BAER program addresses the key goals of protecting life, property, water quality, and deteriorated ecosystems. BAER objectives are to: Determine if emergency resource or human health and safety conditions exist. Alleviate emergency conditions to help stabilize soil; control water, sediment and debris movement; prevent impairment of ecosystems; mitigate significant threats to health, safety, life, property and downstream values at risk. Monitor the implementation and effectiveness of emergency treatments. BAER teams are staffed by specially trained professionals: hydrologists, soil scientists, engineers, biologists, silviculturists, range conservationists, archeologists, and others who evaluate the burned area and prescribe treatments to protect the land quickly and effectively. In most cases, only a potion of the burned area is actually treated: severely burned areas, very steep slopes, places where water runoff will be excessive, fragile slopes above homes, businesses, municipal water supplies, and other valuable facilities. The treatments must be installed as soon as possible, generally before the next damaging storm. Time is critical if treatments are to be effective. Special funds are authorized for BAER activities and the amount of these expenses varies with the severity of the fire season. Some years see little BAER activity while others are extremely busy. The Washington Office must approve BAER proposals over $300,000. On average, BAER expenses have been about 5% of the cost of fire suppression. The Forest Service coordinates rehabilitation plans closely with private landowners and with other Federal and local agencies, such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), National Park Service (NPS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and local forestry departments. HOW CAN YOU BE INVOLVED OR LEARN MORE? Gain awareness of the BAER program and how the process works. Find out who manages BAER activities at the local Forest or District Ranger Office. If a wildfire occurs that requires emergency treatment, work with local officials to identify badly burned areas, homes, businesses, and other resources that may be at risk. Help the BAER team design treatments for your area. Provide ideas and sources of materials and personnel to install the treatment measures. See if you can help install some treatments as a volunteer, or help monitor the success of these treatments and maintain them in following years. WHO CAN I CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION? Contact your local Forest Service office, or Jeff Bruggink, R4 BAER Coordinator at 801-625-5357, jbruggink@fs.fed.us, or Bruce Sims, R1 BAER Coordinator at 406-329-3447,bsims@fs.fed.us. You may also learn more about BAER techniques by viewing our training web page at www.fs.fed.us/r5/baer. Thank you for your interest in the Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation program.

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