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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2017)
16 Winter 2017 Applegater Upper Applegate Watershed planning and the Miller Complex Fire BY DON BOUCHER Lightning in mid-August ignited over 30 fires within the Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District. Ongoing fires across the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, including the Chetco Bar Fire and the High Cascades Complex, quickly overwhelmed firefighting resources. Of these 30-plus fires, all but five were quickly contained. In late August an incident management team (IMT) arrived to help manage the fires, which were divided into east and west zones with the fires west of the Applegate River managed by the IMT as the Miller Complex, comprised of the larger Burnt Peak, Abney, and Creedence fires, as well as numerous small lightning fires. Fires on the east side were managed by a local team. Within the Upper Applegate Watershed Restoration Project area, the Burnt Peak Fire burned approximately 4,600 acres in the Palmer and Kinney Creek drainages. Based on the preliminary Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) report, an estimated four percent of the fire burned at a high severity, 28 percent at moderate severity, and 50 percent at low severity, while roughly 18 percent of the area within the perimeter of the fire was unburned. (The BAER reports for all the fires are available at fs.usda.gov/rogue-siskiyou.) These numbers were estimated using a Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) model, which is based on a satellite-derived map of post-fire conditions. BARC maps compare satellite images of near-infrared reflectance values to those of shortwave infrared reflectance values. Near-infrared light is largely reflected by healthy green vegetation, while shortwave infrared light is largely reflected by rock and bare soil. Based on the preliminary BAER report, the US Forest Service (USFS) has determined several actions it could take to protect human life and property, to reduce or minimize threats to life and property, and to prevent unacceptable degradation to natural or cultural resources. For the Burnt Peak Fire, recommended actions include road-hazard signing, storm-proofing of roads in the burned areas, and patrolling the area after major storms to make sure drainage structures are functioning. On August 1, the USFS distributed a scoping letter for the Upper Applegate Watershed Restoration Project (UAWRP) to interested parties, seeking comments on proposed activities designed to address landscape resilience to disturbance and climate change. On September 7 we mailed a second notice, postponing the scoping deadline for the UAWRP Burnt Peak Fire burning along Kinney Creek Road. due to ongoing fires in the Miller Complex, including the Burnt Peak Fire the burn perimeter are the same as in the in the Upper Applegate Watershed. We original scoping project. wanted to delay scoping in order to take While the BAER report looks at a close look at the fire and how it might emergency post-fire needs, the planning affect the proposed action. Now that the effort of the Upper Applegate Watershed Burnt Peak Fire has been contained, we are offers an opportunity to look at long-term resuming the scoping. The revised deadline restoration needs within the burned area. was November 22, 2017. Among actions that would answer those The proposed action would affect some needs might be noncommercial thinning areas within the Burnt Peak Fire perimeter: in patches of small trees scorched by the several units identified for prescribed fire, prescribed fire to maintain burned burning (for oak and pine restoration), areas, and the planting of native seeds or several units identified for noncommercial seedlings in areas with high-severity fire. thinning (plantations), and 270 acres that We look forward to having discussions fall within the Upper Applegate Road with the community in regard to the fires. Hazardous Fuels Reduction project. The If you have questions or would like more burn severity in most of these areas was information, please feel free to contact me. low to moderate. Don Boucher • 541-899-3840 Although there may be minor Upper Applegate Team Leader modifications during implementation, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest the proposed activities that fall within dboucher@fs.fed.us The map on the left outlines the Burnt Peak Fire Area within the Upper Applegate Watershed Planning Area. The photo below shows the mixed-severity fire effects on the Burnt Peak Fire.
