 Fall
2010
Prescribed Burn Plan
Cooler temperatures and scattered rain showers have
improved forest conditions enough to begin implementing the Umatilla
National Forest's fall prescribed burning program. Forest visitors
can expect to encounter prescribed burning activities this fall and
need to be cautious when hunting or camping near a treatment area.
Why prescribed burn?
Prescribed burns are used to achieve several goals.
Most burns are prescribed to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire
by reducing dead fuel accumulation, rearranging fuel accumulations
and effecting the live vegetation in the area.
Research has shown that, in areas where prescribed
burning has taken place, wildfires are more likely to stay in the
surface fuels, close to the ground, and out of the tree crowns.
Previous fuel treatments and prescribed burns on Umatilla National
Forest Lands played a significant role in stopping the progress
of the 2006 Columbia Complex Wildfire and the 2005 School Wildfire.
Prescribed burning is also used to significantly
lower the risks that wildland fires represent to local communities,
such as public safety and loss of private property.
Positive Benefits for
Wildlife
Prescribed fire activities produce many positive
benefits for big game animals such as mule deer, Rocky Mountain
elk, and whitetailed deer. The absence of frequent low intensity
fires in the landscape due to past fire suppression has caused a
decline in forage quantity and quality in many areas of the Blue
Mountains.
Also, with years of conifer encroachment, browse
species such as bitterbrush, mountain mahogany, aspen, choke and
bitter cherry, willow and other hardwoods species have declined
or are essentially unavailable as forage. These hardwoods are an
important source of high quality forage for deer and elk, especially
as they prepare for winter, and again in the spring as they replenish
lost body mass from the previous winter.
Prescribed fire invigorates both hardwoods and native
grass species, making them more palatable and nutritious for big
game species. Prescribed fire conducted on
big game winter ranges not only improves forage quality and quantity,
but it can help keep deer and elk on public lands for longer periods
and away from private lands where conflicts can occur.
When will prescribed
burns take place?
Prescribed burning is highly dependant on weather
conditions. Conditions have to be within a narrow criteria window
in order to use prescribed fire. Wind speed and direction, temperatures,
relative humidity, and fuel moistures are all taken into consideration.
Fall and spring weather provide the best conditions for prescribed
burning: moist soil, dry material and cooler temperatures.
Burning will only take place when and if the conditions
are right. The fall prescribed burning program should be completed
by the end of November.
What is burned in a
prescribed burn?
The Fall 2010 burn program includes burning both activity
fuels and natural fuels. Activity fuels such as “slash piles”
consist of the non-merchantable material remaining after harvest activities.
Activity fuel burns also reduce potential fire hazards and prepare
the area for reforestation. Removing slash can stimulate plant growth
for wildlife winter forage and reduces fuel accumulations. Natural
fuels are created by the normal accumulation of dead and down material
and can be compounded by insect and disease mortality. Natural fuel
burns, or “landscape burns,” are low intensity burns conducted
to meet forest management objectives and can take weeks to complete.
How do you conduct a
prescribed burn?
Ignition will either be done on the ground by hand
crews with drip torches or by aerial release of ping-pong balls, filled
with a dark gray, granular substance called potassium permanganate
that bursts into flames seconds after being injected with ethylene
glycol (anti-freeze). Ping-pong ball ignition is an efficient, cost
effective method for igniting large areas. Ping-pong balls drop through
the tree canopy, keeping flames small and close to the ground. Crews
will monitor burn activities.
What about all the smoke?
All prescribed burning will comply with federal, state,
and local air quality and smoke dispersal guidelines to reduce the
impacts of smoke on forest visitors and local residents.
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