Being firewise

The Fire Mitigation Committee has been working effectively since 2003 to inform landowners about steps they can take to protect their property and persons from wildfire. The committee is chaired by Molly Shepherd and co-chaired by Jerry Wernick.

Fire Mitigation News, Fall 2010

Fire Workshop

The NFLA’s Fire Mitigation Committee sponsored a workshop and open house on July 7, 2010, immediately preceding the Summer Inter Local meeting. Attendees were treated to diverse presentations and demonstrations.
      Michael Dardis, Fire Management Officer for the Forest Service’s Glacier View District, revisited the subject of allowing certain wildland fires to burn naturally. Risk management and safety are the principal parameters in determining whether to allow a wildfire to burn. The Forest Service will continue to do aggressive initial attack when structures are at risk. Dardis also introduced a recently-produced Forest Service video on the vast, destructive fires of 1910. He remarked that the fires had been a defining moment in the history of the Forest Service, particularly with regard to fire management.
      Ed Burlingame, Fire Rescue Trainer for MSU’s Fire Services Training School, also spoke at the workshop. He presented nuts-and-bolts information about preventative measures and saving your home in the event of fire. Duke Hoiland and Elmer Benson demonstrated the use of water tanks mounted on trailers. Both men are members of the Trail Creek Irregulars.
      Finally, Travis Paveglio outlined the FIRECLIM project and the North Fork’s role in it. FIRECLIM is a research and education project funded by the National Science Foundation. The project seeks to assess and manage risk in the Wildland-Urban Interface in light of future climate and land use changes. Fire Mitigation Committee members have been asked to participate in the project.

Grant Application

The Northwest Regional Resource Conservation & Development Council (RC&D) is applying for a third fuels mitigation grant on behalf of the North Fork and several other Northwest Montana communities. If successful, the North Fork’s share of the grant will be $100,000. The cost share allocation between grant money and landowner contribution remains to be determined. Funds made available to North Fork landowners by two previous fuels mitigation grants have been exhausted.

Federal and State Projects

According to Glacier View District Ranger Jimmy DeHerrera, the Forest Service will finally sell its Red Whale Project in October, 2010. The contractor probably will have three years to complete the project, which features both mechanical thinning and prescribed burning. The principal part of the sale covers about 1040 acres. Long in the works, implementation of the project had been delayed by the threat of litigation and a depressed lumber market.
      The Forest Service will sell the so-called “Red Dwarf Project” along Red Meadow Drive separately from the rest of the Red Whale Project. Reducing fuels on Forest Service property in the Red Meadow Drive area has long been a priority for neighboring landowners and for the Fire Mitigation Committee.
      Work is currently underway in the Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation’s North Fork by Two sale. The project involves harvesting timber in the state-owned Moose and Mud Lake sections. The harvest also will afford fuels mitigation in the two areas. The contractor has until late 2011 to complete the project. The DNRC also anticipates a small sale on Coal Ridge.

Firewise Community Status       The North Fork’s Firewise Community status was renewed for 2010, in recognition of activities in 2009.  The July 7, 2010 workshop and open house served as the community’s annual  Firewise Day, thereby satisfying one of the criteria for maintaining our Firewise Community status.  Among other benefits, the Federal Emergency Management Administration gives a Firewise community priority in consideration for pre-disaster mitigation planning and project grants.        The NFLA also may join Firesafe Montana, a statewide organization that serves as a clearinghouse for technical information and educational materials.  Its purpose is to reduce loss of life and property from wildfire

Flathead Community Wildfire Protection Plan

Posted December 2009—The NFLA's Fire Mitigation Committee completed a substantial revision of its North Fork Wildfire Mitigation and Planning Report. The original report was prepared in 2004, in conjunction with Flathead County's preparation of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). The North Fork report was appended to the county plan, the only geographic area in the county thus represented."
      Flathead County began preparation of a revised CWPP in 2009. The Fire Mitigation Committee recognized that many changes had taken place on the North Fork since 2004 so undertook to revise and update its Wildfire Mitigation and Planning Report. The revised report will be appended to the new Flathead CWPP, which is not yet complete. The text of the report but not the accompanying photo and maps may be accessed here.

Following is an excerpt from this report...

"The Flathead Community Wildfire Protection Plan established county-wide priorities for funding fuels mitigation projects. In areas where large fires occur, the criteria for determining priorities appropriately included life safety issues associated with population density; the presence of fuel hazards; fire history; threats to infrastructure; and environmental considerations.
      The North Fork has a relatively low population density and limited infrastructure. Nonetheless, a compelling case can be made for assigning a high priority to North Fork fuels mitigation efforts. Despite relatively quiet fire seasons on the North Fork since 2003, the current fire cycle has not ended. Given the North Fork’s fire history, it is reasonable to project that at least some of the areas that have not burned since 1988 will burn before the cycle ends. High fuel loads in many unburned sites increase the probability of severe fires.
      The need for proactive fuels mitigation to help protect firefighter and public safety is commensurate with the probability of large fires in the future. So is the need for proactive mitigation to help protect structures. The North Fork’s relative remoteness and limited escape routes make it dangerous, difficult and expensive to wait until fires are burning to attempt to abate known hazards. Public policy is better served by encouraging responsible mitigation measures, particularly in light of the human and financial costs of suppressing the Wedge Canyon fire.
      Finally, the North Fork community has recognized its vulnerability and has taken action to reduce the risks that wildfire poses to safety, structures, ingress and egress. The community’s willingness to address wildfire risk is an appropriate consideration in determining priorities for funding future risk mitigation projects."

Molly Shepherd, Chair

Open burning prohibited

Updated July 10, 2010—Open burning is prohibited from July 1 through Sept. 30. Burning will resume between Oct. 1 through Nov. 30. More information may be found at the Interagency Burn Permit Center’s Web site.

‘Fire-use’ policy explained

Posted June 15, 2008—According to a story by Jim Mann in the June 11 Daily Inter Lake, the Flathead National Forest is considering extending its “fire-use” policy (see U.S. Forest Service definition) outside wilderness areas.
     On June 12, a representative from the forest explained the program to North Forkers at a meeting in Sondreson Hall.
     Mann reports, “The approach was put to work in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in the 1980s as a means of restoring a natural process to a landscape that has evolved with fire for centuries. ... Fire use was expanded last year to specific ‘suitable areas’ along Hungry Horse Reservoir. Now forest officials are considering specific areas north of Columbia Falls, the west face of the Swan Range south of Bigfork and in the Mission Mountain Wilderness.

Protecting your place from wildfire

Even if you’re a seasonal North Fork resident, it pays for you to take some time out of your vacation to protect your property from wildfires.

North Fork Fire Chief Lynn P. Ogle (e-mail) has the following tips:

• The best way to dispose of slash and debris that is a fire hazard is by safe burning. From May 1 through June 30, before the woods dry out, a burn permit is required. To obtain a permit, call the Interagency Burning Permit Center at (406) 752-7376 or (800) 545-7376. You may also apply for a permit on line. You will need a legal description of your property, which can be ascertained using an official Flathead National Forest map. The center’s Web site also lists open and closed burning periods for the year, and fire-safety tips.
• Always use care when burning. You may not burn garbage, man-made wood products, plastic, wire or anything like furniture, etc.
• Even with a burn permit, you must call the Air Quality Hotline at (406) 751-8144 to determine whether burning is allowed that day.
• Avoid smoky fires that will violate your neighbors’ privacy and enjoyment of the North Fork.
• If you have a fire ring, make sure it’s clean and safe. Be sure the pit is away from overhanging limbs and other flammables, and keep water and firefighting tools close at hand.
• If your fire gets out of control, send someone for help and call the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office at (406) 758-5610.
• There are several North Forkers who have firefighting equipment and training. They are Duke Hoiland (Trail Creek Road); Lynn Ogle and Larry Wilson (just south of Trail Creek Road east of the North Fork Road); Jerry Wernick (driveway across from Red Meadow Creek Road); Frank Vitale (Red Meadow Creek Road); John Frederick and Oliver Meister (North Fork Hostel in Polebridge).
• It is not a crime to ask for help in putting out an out-of-control fire. However, you are responsible for damage done to adjacent property by a fire you started.