NEWS
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Root cause of feared mega-fi re is fi re defi cit
GUEST COLUMN
Rob Kalvins
F
rom the depths of Hells Can-
yon to the high alpine peaks and
wild rivers, Wallowa County
is a landscape of superlatives. These
places and the clean cold water, wild-
life habitat, and freedom they provide
are what make our corner of Oregon
so special.
Our home has been shaped by
physical disturbances like volca-
nism, glaciation, wind, and fi re. For at
least 16,000 years, people have been
at work on it too. Neither nature nor
humans are fading in infl uence. The
Forest Service deserves praise for rec-
ognizing that practical reality.
For about a century, government
agencies and private industry have
become very good at putting out small
wildfi res. Coupled with other forms of
fi re exclusion, past mismanagement,
and development, many of our forests
have changed a great deal. For some,
this is a crisis.
A smart guy named Albert Einstein
once said, “we cannot solve our prob-
lems with the same thinking we used
when we created them.”
With increasing development and
climate change being accepted by all
but the most intransigent, there is no
doubt we are facing a serious situation.
We don’t have a lot of time to keep
repeating past mistakes. This year, on
a limited scale, the Forest Service tried
something different.
Welcome weather created an oppor-
tunity to take a calculated risk and let
a small number of wildfi res burn under
watchful eyes. The most notable local
example was the Granite Gulch fi re in
the Eagle Cap Wilderness.
And it was a risk. Though put-
ting out wildfi re is dangerous, expen-
sive, and ultimately counterproduc-
tive, there are economic, political, and
social pressures calling for more of the
same.
Infl uenced by Smokey Bear, many
of us refl exively see all wildfi re as
destructive and scary. Someday the
negative risk to human values will
be realized. However, taking a calcu-
lated risk over certain failure is a wise
course.
The decision also helps build trust.
The public is often asked to support
increasing the pace and scale of log-
ging in the name of restoration. Mean-
ingful restoration is bigger than just
changing the makeup of trees that
grow in a place, it’s also about restor-
ing natural processes. Appropri-
ate thinning can be part of the solu-
tion, but if we want to fi x the patient
we have to do more than treat the
symptoms.
Counter-intuitive as it may seem,
the root cause of the feared “mega-
fi re” is a fi re defi cit.
Especially in an age of climate
change, we aren’t much more likely to
stop natural disturbances like insects
and fi re any more than hurricanes or
fl oods. Trying to restore natural sys-
tems with more fi re suppression and
logging is only making the patient
sicker. If we are logging to “set the
landscape up for fi re”, it only makes
sense to take advantage of opportuni-
ties to let nature do its work.
Especially in an age of increasing
uncertainty, we all have an interest in
maintaining functioning landscapes
and the values they provide. Finding
balance between natural and active
restoration can be a challenge. How-
ever, we hope the choices made on the
Hollow Log, Granite Gulch, and other
wildfi res represent a step towards
achieving it.
Rob Klavins
Oregon Wild, Northeast Oregon
Field Coordinator
Fall prescribed burning projects to begin
on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
May include up
to 11,500 acres
USFS
Wallowa Whitman NF
BAKER CITY, Ore. —
As cooler, wetter weather
descends on Eastern Ore-
gon, the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest will begin
implementing its fall pre-
scribed burning program.
Prescribed fi re managers are
prepared to implement haz-
ardous fuel reduction burns
at many project sites across
the National Forest. Please
note that weather and other
site-specifi c conditions will
infl uence whether projects
can be implemented, where
and when prescribed burning
occurs, and how many acres
can be treated.
This fall, Wallowa-Whit-
man prescribed fi re informa-
tion is available to the public
on a new interactive map. To
access the interactive map,
please visit https://go.usa.
gov/xVseH.
Over the last fi ve years,
the Forest has increased
prescribed burning by 20
percent. Prescribed fi re
has a wide variety of ben-
efi ts, including reducing
dead and down fuels, thin-
ning understory trees, stim-
ulating fi re-tolerant plants,
enhancing
forage
and
browse, reducing the risk
of stand-replacement fi res,
and creating strategic fuel
breaks in urban-interface
areas. Fire history studies
have shown that fi re has
long been a dominant nat-
ural process in the Blue
Mountains — maintaining
open, park-like conditions
in low- to mid-elevation
forests of ponderosa pine,
Douglas-fi r, and larch. The
Wallowa-Whitman’s pre-
scribed fi re program allows
fi re fi re to play. It’s natural
on the landscape under con-
trolled conditions.
“By getting good fi re
back into the forest, we’re
protecting
communities
while restoring and sustain-
ing the land,” forest Fuels
Program Manager Steve
Hawkins said. “We appre-
ciate the cooperation and
understanding of our stake-
holders as we work toward
our shared goal of healthy
landscapes
in
Eastern
Oregon.”
Hazardous fuels reduc-
tion is not without impacts.
Smoke associated with pre-
scribed burning is challeng-
ing to forecast and can be a
concern for vulnerable pop-
ulations. Managers work
closely with the Oregon
State Smoke Forecast Cen-
ter on a daily basis to deter-
mine when, where, and how
much to burn. If a forecast
predicts that a burn will sig-
nifi cantly impact a com-
munity or smoke-sensitive
area, it will be rescheduled
to a more favorable date.
The Wallowa-Whitman
could burn up to 15,000
acres across the forest this
fall as conditions allow. The
areas listed below are pri-
oritized. To access maps of
the burn units, please visit
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/
incident/maps/6289/
Please note that where
and when burning occurs,
and how many acres are
treated within a project area,
may vary due to weather,
fuel conditions, smoke dis-
persion, and other vari-
ables. It is anticipated that
not all areas will be within
prescription and will not
be implemented this fall,
while other project areas
may have additional acres
within prescription that may
be implemented.
For more information
about the Wallowa-Whit-
man
prescribed
burn-
ing program, visit https://
go.usa.gov/xVseH or con-
tact Steve Hawkins at (541)
523-1262. Additional infor-
mation is available on the
Wallowa-Whitman
2019
Prescribed Fire InciWeb
site at https://inciweb.nwcg.
gov/incident/6289.
For further information,
please contact:
Wa l l o w a - W h i t m a n
National Forest, Supervisor
Offi ce at (541) 523-6391.
A5
2019 ODF fire season extinguished!
Oregon Department of
Forestry
SALEM, Ore. – The
2019 fi re season offi cially
ends today on all lands
protected by the Oregon
Department of Forestry
(ODF). The last district to
end its fi re season — the
Southwest Oregon District
covering Josephine and
Jackson counties — did so
this morning at 9 a.m.
The 923 wildfi res on
ODF-protected lands this
year is about average. How-
ever, thanks to favorable
conditions and successful
initial attack, the 16,867
total acres burned is 56 per-
cent below average. Based
on the number of days in
fi re season as an agency,
this year was the shortest
fi re season in the 21st cen-
tury at only 99 days. This is
about three weeks shorter
than the 121-day fi re season
average for ODF.
“Thanks to a minimum
number of wildfi res on the
landscape statewide, we
were fortunate to have ade-
quate resources to respond
to fi res on our jurisdiction,”
said ODF Fire Protection
Chief Ron Graham. “With
two team deployments –
to the Milepost 97 Fire and
Ward Fire — we share in
the success of the 2019 fi re
season with Oregon’s com-
plete and coordinated fi re
protection system, includ-
ing forest and range land-
owners, local fi re districts,
Tribes, contractors, federal,
state and county partners.”
The end of fi re sea-
son removes restrictions
on ODF-protected lands
intended to prevent wild-
fi re, such as on backyard
debris burning and use of
certain equipment. Many
structural fi re departments
in Oregon, however, still
require a permit for debris
burning, so check with your
local fi re department before
starting a burn.
As Oregon transitions
out of fi re season, ODF dis-
tricts across the state are
shifting their attention to
wildfi re prevention efforts.
Clearing vegetation, cre-
ating defensible space
around homes, and keep-
ing those debris piles under
control are just a few ways
ODF is working with local
landowners, members of
the public and fellow fi re
response agencies to miti-
gate wildfi re risk.
“While we are seeing
cool, rainy fall weather, it
is important to note condi-
tions can change quickly,”
Graham said. “Given most
of the lightning this time
of year is accompanied by
rain, human-caused fi re
starts tend to increase in
number. People are anxious
to burn backyard debris
piles and can get compla-
cent with fi re safety. We
are grateful for the help of
every Oregonian working
together to prevent wild-
fi res year round.”
The start and end of fi re
season are set by each fi re
protection district based on
the fuel conditions in their
area. The arrival of steady,
soaking rain coupled with
cooler temperatures and
shorter day lengths usually
triggers the closure of fi re
season.The 2019 fi re sea-
son varied in length from
122 day in ODF’s South-
west Oregon District to just
78 days in theNorthwest
Oregon District.
For more tips on how to
keep yourself, your loved
ones and your property
safe from wildfi re at any
time of year, visit ODF’s
Fire Prevention webpage
at www.oregon.gov/ODF/
Fire/pages/FirePrevention.
aspx or go to the Keep Ore-
gon Green website at www.
KeepOregonGreen.org.
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Gov. Brown bans sale of fl avored vaping products for six-months
By Claire Withycombe
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown has imposed a
six-month ban on the sale of
fl avored vaping products.
Eight cases of respiratory
illness associated with vap-
ing have been reported in
Oregon as of Oct. 1.
In two of those cases,
the patients died, accord-
ing to the Oregon Health
Authority.
People vape by breathing
in and out through electronic
cigarettes or vape pens that
heat liquid to create a vapor.
That liquid can contain nico-
tine, THC and other ingredi-
ents such as fl avorings. The
industry has been criticized
for promoting sweet-fl a-
vored products that appeal
to children, such as bub-
ble gum and crème brulee
fl avors.
The ban does not cover
Wikipedia Commons
Ore. Gov. Brown has banned fl avored vaping products for six
months while their eff ects on health and culpability in deaths
are investigated.
unfl avored vaping products.
“My fi rst priority is to
safeguard the health of all
Oregonians,” Brown said
in a statement Friday, Oct.
4. “By keeping potentially
unsafe products off of store
shelves and out of the hands
of Oregon’s children and
youth, we prevent exposing
more people to potentially
dangerous chemical com-
ATHLETE
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pounds, and help lessen the
chance of further tragedy for
any other Oregon family.”
Brown added that the
“safest option” for people
right now is stop vaping
altogether, in line with what
State Health Offi cer Dean
Sidelinger advised Sept. 26.
“Until we know more
about what is causing this
illness, please, do not vape,”
Brown
said.
“Encour-
age your friends and fam-
ily members to stop vaping
immediately. Talk to your
children about the dangers
of vaping. The risks are far
too high.”
Last week, Rep. Cheri
Helt, R-Bend, called for
a temporary ban on vap-
ing products to dig into the
causes of illness and death
that have resulted from
vaping.
“Protecting young Ore-
gonians from the dangers
of fl avored vaping prod-
ucts is the right decision,”
Helt said in a statement Fri-
day. “I encourage the Ore-
gon Health Authority to go
further to understand and
ensure the safety of all vap-
ing products. Next year, I’ll
seek bipartisan legislation to
protect the lives and health
of Oregonians who use vap-
ing products, including bans
if necessary.”
Serving our
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Maly
209 NW First St., Enterprise • 541-426-4567
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Eagles in Oregon
Watching Them
Watch Us
Watch Them
Friday
October 18th
7 pm • FREE!
Join Frank Isaacs as he compares
and contrasts bald and golden
eagles, and discusses the latest
nesting research.
In Enterprise & Joseph
Frank
Isaacs , MS
Oregon Eagle Foundation
www.windingwaters.org
541-426-4502
2006 Order of the Eagle Award • 1996 Oregon Wildlife Society Award
1989 Oregon Wildlife Achievement Award • 1987 Dave Simons Award
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