Part 2 - FOREST FIRES: (This
is a continuation of my column reporting on a Regional Council of Rural Counties meeting
with Region 5 Forest Service Officials.)
It has been determined that 50-60 percent of National Forest fire
suppression money has been expended on 20-30 fires. Seven National Forests, (including the
Klamath, Shasta Trinity and Six Rivers,) have been targeted due to safety factors and
costs in managing these large, prolonged wildfires.
The Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) contains a variety of provisions to
speed up the approval process for hazardous-fuel reduction and forest-restoration projects
on specific types of federal land that are at risk of wildland fire and/or of insect and
disease epidemics. Jim Pena, Deputy Regional Forester for Region 5, talked
about the role of HFRA’s Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP) in protecting
“at-risk” communities by: (1) identifying and prioritizing areas for hazardous
fuel reduction treatments; (2) recommending the types and methods of treatment on federal
and non-federal land; (3) establishing specific forest “condition class” and
other objectives and measurable outcomes for management of federal lands adjacent to these
communities.
Ed Hollenshead, USFS Director of Fire and Aviation Management in
Region 5, indicated that communities that “would not be getting suppression resources”
would be prime for fuel reduction funding. To access funds, they should have robust master
plans, as well as CWPPs.
Shasta Trinity National Forest Supervisor Sharon Heywood indicated
that they would be pursuing a 5-10 year strategy to map priority areas where fuel work
needs to be done around communities.
Under the California constitution, the Board of Supervisors has local
land use (General Plan) authority and regulatory responsibility for reducing public
nuisance risk to local communities. The County also has special standing
(coordination) with federal and State agencies as outlined in its recent resolution “Asserting
Legal Standing and Formally Requesting Coordination With All Federal And State Agencies
Maintaining Jurisdiction Over Lands And/Or Resources Located in Siskiyou County.” All
CWPPs require County approval. Recently the Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance
establishing a Siskiyou County Wildfire Protection Council as advisory to the Board. This
will include representatives from Cal-Fire and the USFS, as well as others (to be
established by follow-up resolution.) They will make large scale level recommendations
regarding fuel reduction management in areas within and around communities in Siskiyou County.
They will expand upon all the hard work already done by local Fire Safe Councils.
SMOKE
MANAGEMENT: Recently, a working group met to discuss plans for the future impacts of
smoke from our annual wildfires. A representative from the Karuk tribe reported that
tribal health saw a doubling of clinic visits during last year’s fires. The Karuk
tribe declared a local air quality emergency and received an EPA grant to purchase HEPA
filter systems for their most vulnerable patients, as well as several facility-sized HEPA
units.
Generally emergencies are declared based on life and property loss.
It was not until late in the summer that Siskiyou County made an emergency declaration
based on the smoke. Such a declaration will be made more promptly in the future. County Office
of Emergency Services (OES) will pursue grant funds for similar HEPA filter units in
future smoke emergencies.
The working group also discussed monitoring and reporting of air
quality during fires. Last summer, Public Health reported the Air Quality Index (AQI)
reading on its website. This is a 24 hour average of the preceding day based on reading
taken twice daily. As smoke levels can change daily and throughout the day itself, the
group discussed whether it should work with the federal EPA and NOAA weather to come up
with a daily forecast. The group will explore some way to report this to the public –
perhaps on a call-in phone.
OES Director Rob Rowley reported that he had looked into a portable
local radio station that could be towed and could be activated remotely. The cost was
about $25,000 plus licensing fees. Rowley had written a grant application to the weather
service for a technology that would emit a background “data burst” on local FM
stations. People with special receivers would pick up an alert buzz and the receiver would
play a scrolling message. The grant covered the sender, license and 15,000 emergency
receivers. Unfortunately, it could only be submitted by the State and Rowley was unable to
find anyone at the State level who was authorized to apply for it. |
