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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 2017)
A6 News Blue Mountain Eagle FIRE REFORM Continued from Page A1 Continued from Page A1 Now, Hessburg said, that patchwork has filled in. In- stead of fires that burn one tree stand and stop at the next meadow or that remain on the ground below the tree cano- pies, the additional fuel cre- ates hotter fires that climb into the treetops and burn from one to the next unimpeded in the dense stands. “We’ve got to deal with these forests,” Walden said. A version of the Resilient Federal Forests Act has passed the House each of the last four years. It focuses on measures to speed up the pace of resto- ration, providing categorical exclusions for certain projects to expedite environmental re- view. Projects that would qual- ify for categorical exclusion include hazardous fuels re- duction, salvaging dead trees, protecting watersheds or im- proving wildlife habitat. The bill caps project sizes at 10,000 acres, or 30,000 acres if they are developed by a multi-inter- est collaborative group. The bill also directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a pilot program to resolve lawsuits filed against forest management through ar- bitration, rather than heading to court, and would prevent plain- tiffs from recovering their attor- ney fees in such cases under the Equal Access to Justice Act. Opponents of the legisla- tion, however, claim it would severely undermine environ- mental review and cater to the interests of the timber industry. Steve Pedery, conservation di- rector for Oregon Wild, de- The cause The current conditions were not caused by a single factor, Hessburg said, but a variety of changes through the years that have culminated in today’s megafires. Before European settle- ment, Hessburg said American Indians would intentionally light fires in spring and fall. These first prescribed fires helped prevent larger blazes during the summer, he said. In the mid-1800s, he said, European immigrants began grazing cattle, which reduced frequent fires by reducing grasses. With railroads came unintentional fire breaks that stopped the spread of low-in- tensity fires, he said. After the Big Burn in Wash- ington, Idaho and Montana in 1910 that burned 3 million acres and killed 87 people, Hessburg said fire became “public enemy No. 1.” These and other factors preventing small fires, coupled with a lack of understanding of the important role of fire on the forest, “worked together to create the current epidemic of trees, more trees than the land- scape can support,” Hessburg said. The tree density not only in- creases the risk of fires, he said, but also makes the forest more susceptible to damage from in- The Canyon Creek Complex fire explodes just across the valley from Prairie City on Aug. 26, 2015. sects and disease. But with current climate conditions, increasing tempera- tures and drought, Hessburg said forests are primed to burn. Current fire seasons are 40-80 days longer than they were 50 years ago, he said, and even the most conservative es- timates for the future are dire. The solution Despite the difficulties ahead, Hessburg said there are tools and options available to mitigate some of the risks. He said, while wildfires are inevitable — and, in fact, necessary for many species of plants and animals — main- taining fire-adapted communi- ties, ensuring safe, effective fire responses and creating fire-re- silient landscapes would help reduce the damage. “We can restore much of the power of that patchwork,” he said. With more homes being built in treed areas adjacent to forests — known as the wild- land urban interface — Hes- sburg said it is important for communities to be prepared for wildfires. Organizations such as Firewise, which has several local communities participat- ing, provide free help to people who are interested. To create resilient forests by reducing fuels and return- ing the land to more natural conditions, prescribed burning and logging — or mechanical thinning — are two of the best options, he said, but both face opposition. After clearcut logging of the past, he said many are “timid” about thinning projects, despite the fact current sustainable logging practices are far more ecologically sound. Logging reduces the fuel load while providing an economic benefit to the communities that house Forest Service employees. Prescribed burning allows forest managers to reintro- duce fire on the landscape in a low-intensity setting, providing the benefits of fire similar to when the forest was a patch- work of stands and meadows with less risk of catastrophic crown fires. However, prescribed fires can only be ignited when weather conditions are expect- ed to be safe and conducive to the operation, and even when those conditions are met, state smoke management goals of- ten prevent prescribed fires from being permitted. Hes- sburg said prescribed burns are regulated as a controllable nuisance because the smoke can exacerbate health prob- lems, but when the much larger wildfires inevitably erupt, the smoke is far worse. “There’s no future without lots of fire and smoke,” he said. “How do you want your fire? How do you want your smoke? How do you want your forests in the future?” DRIVING Continued from Page A1 offender who did not cause a crash would face a Class B violation, with a presumptive fine of $260 but a maximum fine of $1,000. Those first-time offenders could have their fine suspended if they complete a course of safety classes within four months, but the violation Wednesday, September 27, 2017 scribed the bill as a wish list for timber lobbyists. “It’s really about maxi- mizing the profits of logging corporations over the health of our public lands, and the ability for Americans to enjoy them,” Pedery said. Specific to Eastern Oregon, the Resilient Federal Forests Act would allow logging of trees more than 21 inches in diameter. Individual for- est management plans would also no longer be subject to the National Environmental Protection Act — the Blue Mountains Forest Plan, which includes the Umatilla, Wal- lowa-Whitman and Malheur forests, is 13 years overdue for its latest revision. Speaking Sept. 14 to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Walden urged support for the bill as a means to jump-start forestry reform. “Year after year, we have catastrophic wildfires on fed- eral lands, some of which have been set aside and managed in a way that they have no man- agement,” Walden said. “So if you want to do something that is extraordinarily important, join us in reforming the way we manage our precious pub- lic lands and federal forests to reduce the fuel loads.” As for fire borrowing, a bi- partisan group of senators has introduced the Wildfire Disas- ter Funding Act to ensure the firefighting budget does not eat into the fire prevention budget, and allow projects to proceed with greater financial resources. In the same joint statement with Wyden, Merkley said it is time to reverse what has be- come a vicious cycle. “The way we fund wildfire suppression today is counter- productive and crazy,” Merkley said. “As this fire season has proven all too vividly, robbing from forest health and fire pre- vention programs to pay for suppression only creates a vi- cious cycle of bigger and big- ger fires.” The bill would work by capping the firefighting bud- get at the most recent 10-year average, with any additional funding for fighting wildfires coming from federal disaster relief coffers. That would place wildfires more in line with oth- er natural disasters, such as the hurricanes that have devastat- ed parts of Texas and Florida. Supporters include oth- er Western lawmakers from across the political aisle, in- cluding Idaho Republicans Mike Crapo and Jim Risch; Colorado Republican Cory Gardner and Democrat Mi- chael Bennet; California Democrat Dianne Feinstein; Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell; and Utah Republi- can Orrin Hatch. will stay on their record. Second-time offenders face a Class A traffic violation, on par with driving more than 30 miles per hour over the speed limit and carrying a presump- tive fine of $435 but a maxi- mum of $2,000. Any additional violations become a Class B misdemeanor, resulting in a criminal record for the perpe- trator and up to a $2,500 fine and six months in jail. There are a few exemptions to the rules. A person can call 9-1-1 while driving during a emergency if there is no one else in the vehicle who can make the call. Drivers can also use a single touch to activate a hands-free device. School bus drivers, commercial truck drivers, emergency responders and utility workers can use a two-way handheld radio in the scope of their employment. Church Services In Grant County Come Worship with us at
