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CapitalPress.com
Friday, May 21, 2021
Wildfire: Tracking the locations of trucks, engines, equipment helps managers
Continued from Page 1
“We’re using technology
for forecasting,” she said.
“Then you have fire behav-
ior analysts that will go out
basically working with the
situation unit to help prepare
them for what is expected.
They look at fire behavior
and potential.”
For example, she said,
“Maybe they need to put in
a fire line farther down the
road. That kind of involved
forecasting helps them
plan.”
Nauslar, the meteorol-
ogist, said though keep-
ing up with technology is
a challenge, he enjoys it.
He pointed to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s
Goesta-
tionary Operational Envi-
ronmental Satellite. Images
have gotten better and
updates have come faster in
the past 5-6 years.
“You can see a cloud turn
into a thunderstorm in real
time. … You can see a fire
start and grow in real time,”
he said.
Idaho Department of Lands
A Fire Boss single-engine air tanker.
Space force
At the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice’s multi-location Rocky
Mountain Research Station,
Jeffrey Morisette, Frank
McCormick and Sara Brown
are among the many scien-
tists who work with the lat-
est technology for track-
ing and understanding the
nature of wildfires.
“A theme is more inte-
gration of these geospa-
tial tools,” said Morisette,
the human
d i m e n -
sions pro-
gram man-
ager. Higher
image reso-
lution, more
frequent
Jeffrey
data
and
Morisette
enhanced
capability to
link new and historical data
and models are examples.
The same sensors farm-
ers use in precision agricul-
ture can help scientists like
him figure out what the fuel
loads are, he said.
“We are still learning the
best possible ways to uti-
lize that information and are
making gains there,” Mori-
sette said.
McCormick, who is the
air, water and aquatics pro-
gram manager, said tools
that analyze fire and ground
conditions are important,
“and access to high-speed
communications
means
people on the ground can
run them from (computer)
tablets.”
McCormick said the
Water Erosion Prediction
Project has been used to
identify areas prone to ero-
sion in forests in the U.S.
and internationally, “and
you can do model runs any-
where in the world if you
have computer access.”
Drought, the number of
consecutive days between
rain storms and the con-
dition of wildfire fuel are
among the aspects that tech-
nology can help monitor, he
said.
Keeping fire crews on
the ground safe is especially
Idaho Department of Lands
WSU
Drone with infrared camera helps Idaho Department of
Lands crews monitor fire behavior.
Washington State University Professor Mark Swanson
at a prescribed burn in Idaho.
Courtesy of Loren Kellogg
A Tactical Fire Suppression Forwarder in action in Cen-
tral Oregon.
important. In a system called
WildfireSAFE, remote sen-
sors provide information
on weather, hazards and
fire behavior. It is used to
increase firefighters’ situa-
tional awareness and help
them avoid risk.
Brown, who is the fire,
fuel and smoke science pro-
gram manager, said scien-
tists are integrating years
of fundamental research
and long-term data sets
“into useful
tools
that
land man-
agers and
others can
use. Wild-
fireSAFE
is a great
Sara Brown example.”
The tool
can link fire-danger fore-
casts to various data such as
vegetation conditions and
terrain.
Airplanes and drones
Satellites and sensors are
not the only tools in the tool-
box of 21st century wild-
fire fighters. Airplanes and
drones help them track and
extinguish blazes.
In Idaho, for example, the
state Department of Lands
contracts for a Fire Boss
single-engine air tanker for
fire suppression and uses
drones for tracking fires.
The plane is a cousin of
the Air Tractor used by
many aerial applicators in
agriculture.
The department often
deals with smaller fires
near communities.
“When you have a four-
tenths-acre fire that can burn
down two or three homes, it
won’t pop up” on satellite
imagery, Deputy Chief of
Loren Kellogg
Plans Scott Hayes said. IDL
often cooperates with local
fire departments.
Drones offer a solution to
that satellite blind spot.
“The best imagery typ-
ically is taken early in the
morning. You’re trying to
find hot spots, so you want
the least amount of ambient
temperature,” Hayes said,
referring to a drone-mounted
infrared camera that “sees”
heat.
He “flew”
a fire in north-
ern Idaho on
May 6, “and it
showed a hot
spot outside
the fire line,”
Scott Hayes a
concern.
“We
could
direct people and resources
accordingly.”
Within a few minutes,
“that image does you some
Wine: Companies invested in direct shipping to survive
Continued from Page 1
“There are no limits when
you go down to the store,”
said Rep. Marty Wilde,
D-Eugene.
It’s unlikely that people
struggling with alcoholism
will spend $40 or more per
bottle of wine when there
are cheaper alternatives,
said Leif. “I think they will
go down to the grocery story
and pick up whatever they
can.”
The current monthly two-
case cap has hindered sales
at a time that coronavirus
restrictions have already
reduced tasting room rev-
enues by as much as 80%,
said Dyson Demara, owner
of HillCrest Vineyard in
Roseburg.
“During the pandemic
it’s been absolutely golden,
it’s been a lifeline, but we
have found ourselves cut-
ting orders short or losing
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Wine bottles at Hyland Es-
tates Winery. The Oregon
Legislature has increased
the
direct-to-consumer
shipping limit from two cas-
es per month to five cases.
orders because of this limit,”
Demara said during a recent
legislative hearing.
The median Oregon win-
ery sells only about 750
cases per year, so they must
rely on some form of direct-
to-consumer sales rather
than the wholesale market,
said Mike McNally, owner
of Fairsing Vineyards near
Yamhill, Ore.
“Most of these winer-
ies can’t attract the large
national distributors to sell
our wine,” he said.
About half of the reve-
nues at Fairsing Vineyards
come from wine club mem-
bers, many of whom want
to order additional cases
for holidays or weddings,
McNally said. “Under the
current rules, they’re not
able to do that.”
The average price of
direct-to-consumer wines
is more than $40 per bot-
tle, compared to $16.50
for those sold at retail
stores, said Dionne Irvine,
co-founder of Irvine & Rob-
erts Vineyards in Ashland,
Ore.
Wineries have invested
in direct shipping to survive
because restaurant sales have
dried up along with tasting
room visits, she said. “These
typical direct-to-consumer
wine shipments are some of
our most premium products
sought out by our loyal wine
customers.”
Oregon’s two-case limit
has been the law since 1989
while California and Wash-
ington — neighboring states
with even larger wine indus-
tries — don’t currently have
any caps on such shipments.
However, stakeholders
in the Oregon wine indus-
try negotiated increasing the
cap to five cases and didn’t
seek limitless direct-to-con-
sumer shipping.
Under an “emergency”
provision of SB 406, the
bill will become effective as
soon as it’s signed by Gov.
Kate Brown.
In 2019, Oregon had
nearly 1,300 vineyards that
produced about $238 mil-
lion worth of grapes on
37,400 acres, while its 900
wineries sold more than 4.6
million cases valued at about
$674 million.
good on the ground,” Hayes
said. Using it in conjunction
with a mapping application
“gives us the ability to create
near-real-time aerial imag-
ery” complete with exact
locations.
Drone-based sensors are
also important where wild-
land and urban landscapes
intertwine, said Mark Swan-
son, Washington State Uni-
versity associate professor
and forestry program leader.
“What academic insti-
tutions need to do is
increase educational offer-
ings in drone-based and air-
craft-based sensors,” he
said.
On the ground
Tracking the locations
of trucks, engines and
other equipment also helps
fire managers know what
resources they have, and
where.
Brian Williams is support
services manager for the
U.S. Bureau of Land Man-
agement’s National Fire
Equipment Program. He
said BLM Location Based
Services aims to combine
GPS technology with dis-
patch and suppression pro-
grams “to enhance safety,
situational awareness and
operational efficiency.”
Eighteen types of equip-
ment, from engines, dozers
and command vehicles to
semi-trucks and crew carri-
ers, comprise the firefight-
ing fleet.
“We currently have 773
satellite terminals installed,
and that covers our whole
fleet,” Williams said. “Our
program is currently focused
on tracking the equipment
that the firefighters use, and
not specifically tracking the
individual. In the future, our
system could expand into
tracking individuals.”
The terminals provide
location information view-
able on mobile phones and
laptop computers. Users can
see vehicles and current fire
details.
Williams
said
see-
ing equipment locations
helps managers pre-po-
sition resources “and can
aid in dispatching the clos-
est resources to a new fire.”
Officials hope to integrate
the information into dis-
patching software.
Satellites, drones and
planes give wildfire fighters
an airborne advantage, but
Loren Kellogg knows much
of the battle is often fought
on the ground.
Enter the Tactical Fire
Suppression Forwarder.
The Forwarder com-
bines a state-of-the-art vehi-
cle used in logging with fire
suppression equipment and
has the potential to work
where helicopters once were
the only option.
“The system can be used
in firefighting or forest
treatment,” said Kellogg,
an Oregon State University
forest engineering profes-
sor emeritus. In light of the
need for forest restoration
and fuel thinning, “in North
America in the last 10-15
years, we are starting to see
the advantages of this sys-
tem in our forests.”
Its mountain goat-like
abilities to travel across rug-
ged terrain, cut trees and
move them out of the way
and spray water on hot spots
allow it to fight wildfires
deep in the backcountry.
“There is not any other
equipment now with that
ability to get onto steep ter-
rain,” Kellogg said. “These
catastrophic wildfires can
be just so difficult to con-
tain and control, especially
on steep terrain.”
But even with all of the
high-tech tools there are
still other variables, said
Nauslar, the meteorologist.
People still have to effec-
tively put those tools to
work to control a wildfire,
often relying on crews on
the ground.
“You can’t model every-
thing, especially when you
add the human element,” he
said.
Hemp: Prices have fallen
due to overproduction
Continued from Page 1
“If allowed to stand,
DEA’s intrusion will under-
mine a lynchpin of the
new hemp economy that
has created tens of thou-
sands of new jobs and pro-
vided a lucrative new crop
for America’s struggling
farmers,” according to the
complaint.
The hemp industry
argued the crop and its
extracts are shielded from
Controlled Substances Act
enforcement by the 2018
Farm Bill, which nationally
legalized hemp in 2018, so
the DEA lacks authority for
its regulations.
Boasberg has now ruled
the “exclusive pathway” for
this argument is before the
U.S. Court of Appeals for
the D.C. Circuit, not in his
U.S. District Court.
“Interesting as this ques-
tion may be, the Court ulti-
mately concludes that it
is powerless to entertain
the merits of Plaintiffs’
entreaty,” the judge said.
The Hemp Industries
Association has filed a par-
allel legal action in the fed-
eral appeals court, but it’s
been on hold while the
lawsuit before Boasberg
remained active.
Regulatory uncertainty
at the federal level has
been blamed for discourag-
ing major consumer brands
from investing in CBD
products, limiting the hemp
industry’s growth.
Prices for raw hemp
have fallen due to overpro-
duction, prompting farm-
ers in early-adopting states
such as Oregon to scale
back their their acreage of
the crop.