Forest Treatments Key To Wildfire Prevention

By Linda Kor
   Following the devastation of the Rodeo-Chediski fire in 2002, which burned 467,000 acres in southern Navajo County, the Sitgreaves Communities Wildfire Protection Plan (SCWPP) was implemented to help protect the county’s land, homes and residents.
   During the May 26 Board of Supervisor’s meeting,   Lloyd Wilmes, administrator of the plan, presented the board with an update on the progress for wildfire prevention.
   The updates presented to the board showed that since the inception of the SCWPP in 2004, it has allowed for the fuel treatment of 82,291 acres of public land and 3,875 acres of private land. More than 6,121 parcels of land have been assessed to identify high-risk parcels and of those parcels, more than 2,490 were rated high risk.
   The fire departments of those regions mailed letters to the owners of those parcels to make them aware of the assessment and invite them to take part in one of several grant programs to reimburse them for a portion of the cost of maintenance.
   “One of the concerns that has been raised is that properties that were treated two to five years ago are once again high-risk areas due to lack of maintenance,” explained Wilmes. The uncontrolled growth of grasses, brush and trees in those areas is once again presenting a potential wildfire risk due to the fuel reloading.
   Chairman Jerry Brownlow agreed, “We do need to put fire back in the ecosystem, but how do these private property owners who treat their land with fire work with the fire districts?”
   “That’s exactly what they need to do, work with the fire districts. There are a lot of constraints, but we can help reimburse the costs of maintaining these areas with grant funds,” Wilmes stated.
   The grant funds would not cover the entire cost of maintenance, but would defer some of the costs for property owners within those high-risk areas.
   Officials of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests have determined that a plan is necessary to implement an aggressive prescribed fire program across the burn area that would include controlled burns of approximately 30,000 acres each year.
   The proposal calls for the formation of a Prescribed Fire Council that would involve no more than 15 individuals, including community leaders, citizens and fire professionals who want to participate.
   According to the proposal, the council would be involved with the planning of activities with the agency, charged with outreach to the public, coordinate the development and implementation of a workable media and communication effort, and coordinate these activities with the Forest Service.
   The council would also provide followup information on the impacts and benefits of completed burns to local communities and residents.
   Steve Campbell, the Navajo County Cooperative Extension area associate for natural resources and forest health, stated that the residents of the county have to participate to make the plan work. “We have to have total community buy-in. We don’t need panic at every sign of smoke. We need for residents to understand the need for prescribed fire in order to maintain healthy forests and wildlife ecosystems,” he said.