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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2021)
14 Fall 2021 Applegater Do fuels treatments really tame fires? BY JENA VOLPE Public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are interwoven amongst the communities and private properties in the Rogue River watershed, including the Applegate Valley. Each year, the BLM Medford District treats thousands of acres to reduce fuel loading by thinning (noncommercial and commercial), hand- piling, and underburning. Our fuel treatment objectives are to: • Reduce fuel loading and negative post-fire effects, such as widespread canopy mortality; • Provide strategic locations for fire personnel to safely engage wildfires and limit the growth of large fires; • Improve overall forest health and promote long-term fire resilience; and • Modify fuels for easy maintenance of forests and woodlands with periodic prescribed fire. Since 2008, several wildfires have put our treatments for reducing hazardous fuels to the test. By monitoring fuel treatment effectiveness, we have been able to observe how effective our treatments are at moderating fire behavior (the manner in which a fire reacts to the influences of fuel, weather and topography) and whether In this photo composite, on the left side, the forest was left untreated for hazardous fuel reduction; on the right the treatments make it side, hand pile-and-burn fuel reduction were used to reduce the fuel load. Photo: L. Meredith/BLM. easier to put out wildfires. We conduct field assessments wherever methods for several reasons. It slowed a reduction of surface fuels, ladder fuels, fuels treatments are intersected by the rates of fire spread and reduced fire and vegetation density from prescribed wildfires, or used for wildfire control, intensity and flame lengths (to less than (controlled) fires. within three months of the burn. First- four feet). Strategic treatment locations These field observations are consistent hand accounts from firefighters, burn provided safe anchor points for burnouts with a growing body of evidence indicating severity maps, and field measurements all along roads. Thinned tree canopies that well-designed and maintained fuel inform these assessments. The goals are to allowed retardant and water to reach treatments can positively influence wildfire determine if fire behavior was changed as the forest floor. And dealing with less effects and fire management capabilities. a result of fuels treatments and to learn if vegetation (fuel) in the treated areas helped But our work isn’t done—the study also firefighters build firelines more quickly. the treatment helped control the fire. found that treatments can lose effectiveness In treated areas, fire stayed mostly in just 15 years. We will always be Between 2008-2020, there were 219 fuel treatments intersected by 57 fires. Sixty- on the ground (surface fire), reducing conducting fuels treatments to help protect eight percent of the time, fuel treatments damage to soil and trees and resulting in our local communities, create safer areas moderated fire behavior. Sixty percent of less tree mortality than that in untreated for firefighters to engage wildfires, and the time, the treatment contributed to areas. Fewer spot fires occurred in treated promote resilient forests and woodlands. areas, and those that started were easily wildfire control (extinguishing blazes). Jena Volpe, Fire Ecologist We saw that reducing fuels allowed contained. Post-fire effects in treated areas Bureau of Land Management firefighters to safely use direct attack were comparable to results anticipated after jvolpe@blm.gov Free anti-overdose drugs distributed Free distribution of life-saving overdose medication and HIV tests is set for 10:30 am-1:30 pm on Sunday, September 5, at the Sugarloaf Center, 206 Tetherow Road, in Williams. Park in the parking lot and take a short walk to the center, which is at the end of the gated driveway. Volunteers from the nonprofit group Rogue Harm Reduction will offer free doses of naloxone to take home, along with instructions for use. They’ll also give out free fentanyl test strips, take-home HIV tests, and condoms and lube. Free overdose response training takes about 20 minutes. Walk-ins are welcome. Those who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 are asked to please wear a mask. Rogue Harm Reduction, a volunteer- run, nonprofit health collective, promotes community wellness and harm reduction strategies in response to substance use disorders and other community health concerns. The events are held the first Sunday of each month. Fo r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n , e m a i l rogueharmreduction@gmail.com. Why do we no longer see children in leg braces, as we saw so often in the '50s? 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