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June 4, 2009
The Honorable Weld County Commissioners
915 Tenth Street
P. O. Box 758
Greeley, CO 80632
Dear Weld County Commissioners:
Enclosed is a briefing paper and Range Bulletin that we received from the U.S. Forest Service
responding to inquiries our offices made on your behalf regarding the prescribed fire that was
conducted on the Pawnee National Grasslands earlier this year. We hope this material addresses
the issues and concerns you have raised regarding this burn. Please look over this material and
feel free to let us know if there are still some issues of concern or any other follow-up that may
be necessary with the U.S. Forest Service.
Sincerely,
Mark Udall
U.S. Senator
Michael F. Bennet
U.S. Senator
Enclosure
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PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
2009-1386
PNct prescribed gurw Research Suwt.vu.aru
Since 1997, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and
Colorado State University (CSU) have been studying the
effects of prescribed burns conducted during late winter on
shortgrass steppe of the Pawnee National Grassland (PNG).
During 1997 to 2002, burns on the western portion of the
PNG were studied, which compared plant growth on Forest
Service prescribed burns to adjacent unburned portions of
the same allotment at the same topographic position. These
burns were conducted in moderately grazed sites under a
wide range of precipitation conditions from 1997 through
2001. Results of this study indicate that burning did not
negatively affect plant production either in the first or sec-
ond post -burn growing season.
Burns had a small, but significant, negative effect on the
abundance of broom snakeweed and prickly pear cactus,
both non -forage species, during the first post -burn growing
season. Also, the concentration of crude protein in herba-
ceous forage was enhanced during May and June following
the burns. Burning followed by a severe drought in 2002
reduced plant production by 19% in the second post -burn
growing season of 2003.
During 2007 to 2008, more intensive studies of a burn were
conducted on the PNG's east side (South Allotment) in
District Notes
The Pawnee National Grassland is
pleased to introduce Vernon
Koehler, our new lands and miner-
als staff position. Vernon comes to
us from the Medicine -Bow Routte
and Thunder Basin National Grass-
land in Douglas, WY.
Melissa Hunt is our new VIS/front
desk person. Come say hi to her.
We're excited to welcome Tony
Becker back to the office May 11
after three months of Military Leave.
March 2007. Effects of the burn on soil moisture (0-10 cm
depth), soil nitrogen availability (0-10 cm depth), herba-
ceous plant production, and in vitro digestibility of blue
grama during the first post -burn growing season were ex-
amined.
There was no detectable effect on soil moisture from burn-
ing at any time during the 2007 growing season, but burn-
ing did increase the availability of inorganic nitrogen in the
soil, and increased the digestibility of blue grama collected
in late May 2007.
The 2007 South Prescribed burn had no effect on herba-
ceous plant production either in 2007 or 2008. These find-
ings suggest that except during severe drought, prescribed
burns conducted during the dormant season in shortgrass
steppe can have neutral or positive affects for livestock.
Contributed by: David Augustine; USDA-ARS, Rangeland Re-
sources Research Unit, Fort Collins, CO: Daniel Milchunas;
Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship Department and
Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State Univer-
sity, Fort Collins. CO; and Justin Derner: USDA-ARS, Range-
land Resources Research Unit. Cheyenne, WY
Above: Firefighters secure the control line along with an engine during the 2009 prescribed burn.
Pawnee National Grassland
660 0 Street Greeley, CO 80361
970-346-5000
www.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf/
Attach address label here
Message from- the Rawger...
I hope some of the adaptive management strategies we've
employed (adjusting AUMs based on available forage, tak-
ing cattle off when necessary, developing additional water
sources) have helped, in addition to having some moisture
patterns on our side when we really needed it. We will con-
tinue working together through whatever circumstances
dictate. To this end, a letter was sent allowing you to chose
non-use or partial use on your allotment this year for re-
source protection. This option would not penalize you
should you chose to reduce your numbers.
Another prescribed burn season on the PNG is complete.
The timing couldn't have been better, since we received
snow within a week of burning. As the snow melted, it
helped dissolve nitrogen rich ash into the soil, while replen-
ishing subsurface moisture and holding soil in place until
spring green up.
Some changes to this years' burn program included a 50%
reduction in treatment acres, 3,000 acres total, along with
requiring soil moisture sampling. The Bum Plan required a
minimum of 16 to 22 personnel to staff this year's pre-
scribed bum. Often, as with this year's personnel of ap-
proximately 35 firefighters, we increased this number to
provide additional safety and control and to help ease pub-
lic concerns.
We will be monitoring the burn to assess the effects to soil,
rangeland forage, vegetation, plover habitat and population,
and noxious weeds. A study was also conducted during this
season's bums, with help from ARS, to evaluate effects of
burning on archeological resources. We hope the results of
this research may save us time and money surveying this
resource in the future.
I would like to thank those who took the time to visit with
Forest Service staff during the burn: Dana Bowman,
CVLA Board Member; Bob Hill, PCGA Board Member;
Charles Tucker, Weld County Councilman; Dave Long,
Weld County Commissioner; News 4; and the Greeley
Tribune. We appreciate you personally coming out to see
the operation side of the our prescribed burning.
Thanks for reading, Lori Bert
USDA Forest Service
Briefing Paper
March 19, 2009
Topic: 2009 Pawnee National Grassland Prescribed Burn
Issue: The Weld County Commissioners have expressed concern about the prescribed burn program on
the Pawnee National Grassland (PNG). These concerns have included the risk of escape fire and dry
conditions, lack of local input, and expense of bringing in resources from the Black Hills National Forest
during operations.
Background: Prescribed burning on the Pawnee National Grassland has taken place since 1994. In
2008, a decision was made after an environmental analysis was completed, to continue burning on the
PNG. This analysis can be found online at www.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf/proiects/ea-
proiects/pnq/prescribedfire/index.shtml. The purpose for continuing the burns includes promoting
diversity in vegetation type, structure, composition, and successional stages; managing vegetation to
provide for wildlife habitat; continue utilizing prescribed fire to mimic natural disturbance (e.g. natural
fire); to improve rangeland forage; and to reduce grassland fuel hazards.
This analysis considered public input received during two public meetings, the scoping and public
comment processes, meetings with the Weld County Commissioners, and meetings with the two PNG
grazing associations. There was also the opportunity to appeal the decision, but the U.S. Forest Service
did not receive any appeals.
Summary: We take the concerns of the Weld County Commissioners and other interested parties very
seriously. We worked through both our environmental analysis and our annual burn plan to address and
mitigate their concerns as much as possible. A burn plan identifies the requirements necessary for the
burn to be implemented. These include requirements for staffing, weather and environmental conditions,
public notifications, and smoke permits.
Risk of Escape and Dry Conditions: To adequately respond to the concerns about fire danger we have
nearly doubled the number of resources on scene during operations to include approximately 35
firefighters and seven fire engines. There are also specific weather conditions, monitored throughout
each day of the burn, identified in our burn plan to optimize the burn objectives while minimizing the risk
of escape.
To ensure it is not too dry for the recovery of grass growth, our soil scientist took soil moisture
measurements for each unit we plan to burn to ensure sufficient moisture is available. Each of the units
averaged nine to 14 percent moisture within the upper 12 inches of surface soils, which is adequate for
regrowth of drought tolerant vegetation on this grassland ecosystem.
Lack of Local Input: As mentioned above, the U.S. Forest Service provided many opportunities for the
public and interested parties to provide input during our environmental analysis. We also work with the
permittees as we identify units to burn. As a result of input from our interested parties, we reduced the
number of acres being burned this year. In 2009, we've planned for approximately 3,000 acres of
prescribed fire on the PNG, which is less than two percent of the grassland. In recent years we have
burned between 5,000 and 6,000 acres. We are committed to work with all interested parties on this and
other grassland issues.
Expense of Implementation: It costs the U.S. Forest Service approximately $20 per acre to implement
the Pawnee National Grassland Prescribed Burn.
For each of the burn units, there are approximately 35 firefighters working in various roles from ignition to
holding the fireline. These firefighters are predominately U.S. Forest Service crews, including members
of our AmeriCorps crew. There are three fire engines from the Black Hills National Forest in South
Dakota with nine firefighters, as well as one firefighter from the Pike National Forest in Colorado. These
individuals are being housed at the local U.S. Forest Service administrative site, reducing the expense.
The rest of the firefighters are from the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National
Grassland. One reason for pulling in the additional resources is to maintain staffing of local engines on
our mountain districts to provide initial attack response if any wildfires were to break. The burn is also an
opportunity for firefighters to continue developing their skills and work with different individuals from
different locations, as often happens during the year on wildfires.
As for involvement of local volunteer firefighters, they are kept well informed of prescribed burn plans. In
the burn plan, the volunteer firefighters are identified as part of the contingency plan if an escape were to
occur and would be utilized to protect private property. It is an important part of the planning to ensure
the success of the prescribed burn.
For Additional Information Please Contact: Reghan Cloudman, 970-295-6770 or
rcloudman(u�fs.fed. us
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