18 Fall 2009 Applegater
OPINION
Managing wilderness fires: Getting beyond aggressive
attack or “let burn” strategies
BY TIMOTHY INGALSBEE, PH.D.
Those folks who take the extreme view that all
forest fires, even those ignited in designated wilderness
areas, should be immediately attacked and aggressively
suppressed should be pleased with the outcome of the
Backbone Fire, but those people who take the opposite
view that we should let lightning-caused fires burn
unfettered in wilderness areas are very upset. Had
the Backbone Fire occurred during last year’s wildfire
siege, both groups might have been equally upset.
The Backbone would likely not have been staffed for
considerable time as firefighters would have focused
their efforts on defending communities, but then the
fire would have been fought very aggressively, causing
damage to wilderness values. As the Backbone Fire
is going out, though, the controversy over wilderness
wildfire management is just gearing up.
The problem for those who feel that we should
“aggressively attack” all wilderness fires is that the
environmental damage directly caused by firefighting
and the ecological damage indirectly caused by removing
fire from the landscape, degrades the very values
Americans cherish in wildlands (e.g. healthy forests,
clean water, abundant fish and wildlife, scenic beauty).
Attacking all forest fires will not preserve wilderness but
will ecologically degrade and eventually destroy these
values over time.
The problem for those who feel that we should
“let-burn” all wilderness fires is that large-scale, long-
duration fires do eventually spread to areas that threaten
communities and other social values. Even in the remote
wild country of the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains, those
large wilderness areas reside in a matrix of small villages,
highways and power lines, campgrounds and other
recreational sites and Native American sacred sites that
would be destroyed by severe wildfire. Passively letting
all forest fires burn may restore wilderness and other
natural areas, but will not protect communities, and the
tradeoffs between a restored wilderness and a destroyed
community are socially unacceptable.
For wilderness wildfires, is there some kind of
middle path between the extremes of either aggressive-
attack or “let-burn” strategies? The answer is yes.
Recent changes in federal fire policy by the Obama
administration allow us to take that middle path
forward, managing fires for both ecological restoration
and community protection goals simultaneously.
First of all, we need a new language for fire
management that gets us away from the “war metaphor”
and the mentality of “fighting” fire or “battling” blazes.
Essentially, this mentality has us annually making war
on America’s wildlands—a war we ultimately cannot win
and can no longer afford in terms of taxpayer dollars or
firefighter lives. We should neither aggressively fight
nor passively ignore any fire—instead, we should actively
manage every fire. Thus, for example, when a fire is first
detected, it needs an initial action, not initial “attack.”
Second, we need to stop blindly reacting
to wildfire ignitions as if they were unforeseen,
unpredictable emergencies, and begin to proactively plan
and prepare for them as anticipated, predicted seasonal
events. This means developing fire-management
plans that provide guidance for firefighters on how to
maximize the social and ecological benefits of fire while
minimizing the risks to firefighters, costs to taxpayers,
and impacts to the land from fire-management actions.
It is utterly preposterous that the Six Rivers National
Forest has no fire-management plan, and thus must
blindly attack all future blazes no matter how unsafe,
expensive or ecologically destructive a given firefight
may be.
Third, firefighters must be given the right tools,
training and authority to work with fire rather than
against it. Instead of stopping all fires, they would
focus more on starting and steering fires, leading flames
into natural areas that need a good burn to reduce
fuel loads or restore habitat diversity, and away from
communities or other sites that cannot tolerate any fire.
We have amazing monitoring, mapping and modeling
tools that increase our ability to accurately predict the
spread, behavior and effects of fire—it’s time we start
applying them to strategically herd fire rather than
simply hammer it. This means turning fire fighters more
into “fire guiders.”
With the new federal fire-policy tools available,
all that’s needed is agency officials and fire commanders
to have the “backbone” to avoid the extremes and
implement the middle path. Let’s hope that the next
wilderness fire in the Klamath-Siskiyou mountains we
see firefighters neither aggressively attacking nor “letting
burn,” but instead, actively working with fire to achieve
both ecological restoration and community-protection
goals.
Timothy Ingalsbee, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Firefighters United for Safety,
Ethics, and Ecology
info@fusee.org
(July 31, 2009 Op-ed for the Redding Record-
Searchlight)
Discover the fun side of autumn at Pacifica
Annual Harvest Festival,
Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze
The bees are busy pollinating the pumpkins,
the corn is growing very tall and the annual Harvest
Festival, Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze is waiting
to be enjoyed by one and all. There will be plenty
of fall fun again this year for all ages.
If you’ve attended before, you know how
much fun happens. If you haven’t attended before
you are in for a treat. This is the third year that a
huge field of corn has been planted which magically
becomes a mind-boggling corn maze. Great orange
pumpkins lovingly grown by John and Wes Hill
surround the maze and every child in attendance
gets to pick one out and take it home.
Come and see wool spinners, crafters, artists
and many more fabulous community vendors. Local
volunteers will provide wonderful activities for the
kids. There will be horseback rides from the Brush
Rider’s, boomerang throwing, rainbow making
with the Williams Volunteer Fire Department, a
trip through the salmon cycle with ODFW, story
telling, pumpkin painting, hay rides, wagon rides
and of course clowns! Adults are guaranteed to have
as much fun as the kids!
This year, the weekend of choice is Oct. 24th
and 25th. Gates are open from 10:30 am until 4:30
pm both days. The entrance fee is $20.00 per family
(up to 5 people) and this entitles each child to pick
a pumpkin and participate in all of the activities.
All of the proceeds from this event will
help support Pacifica’s Caterpillar program. This
program helps elementary school children in Jackson
and Josephine counties learn and appreciate the
wonderful world of nature. It is through grants,
donations, fundraisers and the help of volunteers
that the price of the Caterpillar learning experience
remains affordable to the elementary schools in
Jackson and Josephine counties.
So, on October 24 and 25, you won’t just
be having a great time with your family, you’ll be
helping lots of kids get an opportunity to learn
more about the world around them and nature’s
wonderful ways.
Pacifica’s Annual Harvest Festival, Pumpkin Patch
and Corn Maze
Date: 10/24 and 10/25, 2009
Time: 10:30 am to 4:30 pm
Place: Pacifica a Garden in the Siskiyous
Address:14615 Watergap Road, Williams, OR
Phone: (541)-846-1100