2 CapitalPress.com September 18, 2015 People & Places Software aids wildfire recovery plans Keith Weber uses satellite photos to help planners develop strategies Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester ..........................President Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Sid Freeman .................. Outside director Mike Omeg .................... Outside director Corporate officer John Perry Chief operating officer Capital Press Managers Mike O’Brien .............................Publisher Joe Beach ..................................... Editor Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press POCATELLO, Idaho — Thanks to an advanced mapping system called RE- COVER, fire recovery spe- cialists were already devel- oping rehabilitation plans for Idaho’s massive Soda wildfire while it was still burning. Keith Weber, director of Idaho State University’s Geographic Information System Training and Re- search Center, was the lead investigator in developing the cloud-based software, which quickly assembles satellite imagery and infor- mational “layers” from sev- eral sources to overlay on a fire map. RECOVER’s 21 existing datasets cover critical top- ics for fire restoration such as soil type, wildlife habitat, vegetation and topography. Weber started work on RECOVER in 2012 with a grant from NASA’s applied sciences program, which seeks to find practical uses for its satellite and comput- er technology to benefit the public. Working closely with the Bureau of Land Manage- ment and the Idaho Depart- ment of Lands, he tested RE- COVER on six Idaho fires in 2013. This summer, in the first season of a three-year NASA grant to further refine RECOVER, Weber’s system was used on its first large wildfire, the 283,000-acre Soda fire in Western Idaho. “What we’ve learned is even with a fire of that size, RECOVER can easily han- dle that,” Weber said. On such large fires, he es- timates RECOVER can save land managers up to four days of work assembling data and maps from a host of different sources, making certain all of the information is up-to-date and in a com- mon format. Michael Kuyper, a BLM supervisory natural resource specialist in southeast Ida- ho, said his agency has three Capital Press Entire contents copyright © 2015 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. Capital Press (ISSN 0740-.704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97.01. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97.08-2048. To Reach Us Toll free ............................. 800-882-6789 Main line ........................... 50.-.64-44.1 Fax ................................... 50.-.70-4.8. Advertising Fax ................ 50.-.64-2692 News Staff N. California Tim Hearden .................... 5.0-605-.072 John O’Connell/Capital Press Keith Weber, Idaho State University’s Geographic Information System director, shows maps of the recent Soda wildfire using RECOVER computer mapping technology he developed for use by agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management in more quickly developing fire recovery plans. The technology was funded by a NASA grant. Western Innovator Keith Weber Age: 49 Family: Wife, Soo, and son, Dustin Hometown: Chubbuck, Idaho Occupation: Director of Idaho State University’s GIS Training and Research Center Education: Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, field biol- ogy and ecology from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in wildlife biology from the University of Montana Innovation: The RECOVER mapping system, used by the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies to more quickly assess wildfire damage so rehabilitation plans can be developed weeks to submit a rehabilita- tion plan and make funding requests after a fire is extin- guished. Kuyper, who has worked closely with Weber on fine-tuning RECOVER, said the technology stands to help the agency meet report deadlines more easily and more quickly get seed and straw on the ground in prior- ity areas. Kuyper hopes Weber will add additional RECOVER layers for grazing allotments and rangeland improve- ments. He’s particularly ea- ger for Weber to complete a reporting function, which should provide land manag- ers instant statistics, such as miles of fence line and num- bers of cattle troughs with- in a burn area, simply by checking boxes, rather than cutting and pasting from GIS images to obtain figures manually. Kuyper said hav- ing access to RECOVER on hand-held devices will also enable BLM workers to up- date recovery maps while in the field, rather than taking GPS data back to the office to be uploaded. Kuyper said RECOVER maps upload much faster than the current system, can be used by employees who aren’t experts in GIS soft- ware and can be accessed from the “cloud” — the term computer experts use to describe applications and data kept on large computer servers linked to the Internet — by devices without down- loading software. Weber said RECOVER will also be used to evalu- ate fuel loads in burn areas during the months preceding fires and for longterm moni- toring of rehabilitated areas. John L. Schnase, Weber’s co-investigator at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Cen- ter, said RECOVER was developed for fire rehabilita- tion, but agencies have rec- ognized it has applications before, during and after fires. “Right now, we’ve been focusing on Idaho, but over the next three years we want to use this in other Western states,” Schnase said. Schnase emphasized RE- COVER fills a niche and will likely be among many data systems used by fire manag- ers. Schnase also hopes to use climate model data in RECOVER to predict pre- cipitation, temperature and soil moisture over time. 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Information from the Bu- reau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service shows a significant portion of the roughly 32,000 miles of federally controlled roads in Montana are closed to cars, trucks and snowmobiles. Sponsor of the legislative study, Rep. Kerry White, was concerned the road clo- sures total more than 9,000 miles, an estimate that was confirmed by legislative re- searcher Joe Kolman. White and other Republi- cans on the council contend the agencies are mismanag- ing public roads. But feder- al officials who attended the meeting said the roads are closed for routine reasons ranging from wildlife pres- ervation to the protection of water quality. “I can say no roads have been closed for the sole rea- son of inability to maintain it,” said George Bain, a re- gional director at the Forest Service. “They’re purpose- fully closed.” Road access may be in- creased if competing conser- vation and recreation indus- tries could strike a balance, Bain said. Representatives of vari- ous wilderness organizations suggested the federal agen- cies need financial or tactical support. Bain disagreed. “It’s not a budget prob- lem. But there are budget considerations in there — trade-offs like which roads are to be closed when,” Bain said. “We have to close that gap of what we want to have, need to have and can afford to have.” For White, a closed public road is oxymoronic. “I don’t think the public knows the extent of what they’ve lost,” he said. White said his constitu- ents have voiced anxiety over accessing public lands for hunting, fishing, berry pick- ing and firewood collection. He said he worries the road closures could affect wildfire management. “I’d like to see the state partner with the federal agen- cies to try to keep some of these accesses open,” he said. White said the inquiry into road access is unrelated to oth- er proposals of his aimed at transferring federal lands to state control. Committee Chairman Sen. Gene Vuckovich has said the Environmental Quality Coun- cil will not take up the issue of federal-to-state land transfers during his tenure. The roads study will con- tinue through 2016. Any re- sulting bills would have to pass the Legislature as a whole and receive the governor’s sig- nature. Monday, Sept. 21 Center, Puyallup. Ketchum and Hailey, Idaho. South Portland, Maine. Washington State Fair, 10 a.m., Washington State Fair Events Center, Puyallup. Saturday, Sept. 26 Friday, Oct. 9 Friday, Nov. 6 Washington State Fair, 10 a.m., Washington State Fair Events Center, Puyallup. Trailing of the Sheep Festival, 9 a.m., Sun Valley, Ketchum and Hailey, Idaho. American Agri-Women National Convention, DoubleTree Hotel, South Portland, Maine. Sunday, Sept. 27 Saturday, Oct. 10 Saturday, Nov. 7 Washington State Fair, 10 a.m., Washington State Fair Events Center, Puyallup. Trailing of the Sheep Festival, 9 a.m., Sun Valley, Ketchum and Hailey, Idaho. American Agri-Women National Convention, DoubleTree Hotel, South Portland, Maine. Saturday, Oct. 3 Sunday, Oct. 11 Sunday, Nov. 8 Alpaca Harvest Fest, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Alpacas of Oregon, Sherwood, 50.-628-202.. Two farms, one convenient location. Trailing of the Sheep Festival, 9 a.m., Sun Valley, Ketchum and Hailey, Idaho, Ketchum and Hailey. American Agri-Women National Convention, DoubleTree Hotel, South Portland, Maine. Sunday, Oct. 4 Friday, Oct. 30 Washington State Fair, 10 a.m., Washington State Fair Events Center, Puyallup. Alpaca Harvest Fest, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Alpacas of Oregon, Sherwood, 50.-628-202.. Two farms, one convenient location. Washington State Sheep Producers Annual Convention, 8 a.m., Marriott Courtyard, Walla Walla. Thursday, Sept. 24 Wednesday, Oct. 7 Saturday, Oct. 31 Trailing of the Sheep Festival, 9 a.m., Sun Valley, Ketchum and Hailey, Idaho. Washington State Sheep Pro- ducers Annual Convention, 8 a.m., Marriott Courtyard, Walla Walla. Thursday, Oct. 8 Thursday, Nov. 5 Trailing of the Sheep Festival, 9 a.m., Sun Valley, American Agri-Women National Convention, DoubleTree Hotel, Calendar To submit an event go to the Community Events calendar on the home page of our website at www.capitalpress.com and click on “submit an event.” Calendar items can also be mailed to Capital Press, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR 97.01. Saturday, Sept. 19 Washington State Fair, 10 a.m., Washington State Fair Events Center, Puyallup. Mount Angel Oktoberfest, 11 a.m.-11: 55 p.m. Mount Angel, Ore. 1-855-899-6..8. Mount Angel’s Oktoberfest celebrates 50 years, bringing together .50,000 people to celebrate the harvest. Pendleton Round-Up, all day, Pendleton Round-Up Grounds, Pendleton, Ore. Sunday, Sept. 20 Tuesday, Sept. 22 Washington State Fair, 10 a.m., Washington State Fair Events Center, Puyallup. Small-Scale Equipment Field Day, noon-6 p.m., Oak Creek Cen- ter for Urban Horticulture, Corvallis, Ore. 541-766-.556. This event will allow participants to connect with multiple toolmakers and suppliers, try tools out, see equipment in action and ask questions. Wednesday, Sept. 23 Washington State Fair, 10 a.m., Washington State Fair Events Center, Puyallup. Washington State Fair, 10 a.m., Washington State Fair Events Center, Puyallup. Friday, Sept. 25 Mount Angel Oktoberfest, 11 a.m.-11: 55 p.m. Mount Angel, Ore. Washington State Fair, 10 a.m., Washington State Fair Events Visa and Mastercard accepted To get information published Mailing address: Capital Press P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97.08-2048 News: Contact the main office or news staff member closest to you, send the in- formation to newsroom@capitalpress.com or mail it to “Newsroom,” c/o Capital Press. Include a contact telephone number. Letters to the Editor: Send your comments on agriculture-related public issues to opinions@capitalpress.com, or mail your letter to “Opinion,” c/o Capital Press. Letters should be limited to .00 words. 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Friday, Nov. 13 If you see a misstatement, omission or factual error in a headline, story or photo caption, please call the Capital Press news department at 50.-.64-44.1, or send email to newsroom@capitalpress.com. Oregon Water Law Conference, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Hilton Executive Tower, Portland, Ore. Friday, Nov. 20 Denim & Diamonds Auction, Dinner & Awards, 5-10 p.m. Ore- gon Convention Center, Portland, 50.-595-9121. We want to publish corrections to set the record straight.