HomeMy WebLinkAbout20060552.tiff United States Forest Arapaho and Roosevelt 2150 Centre Avenue, Building E
USDA Department of Service National Forests and Fort Collins,CO 80526-8119
Agriculture Pawnee National Grassland Voice: (970) 295-6600 TDD: (970) 295.6794
Web: www.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf
Fax: (970)295-6696
File Code: 5100
Date: Fre 3 not
Office of Board of County Commissioner
915 10th Street
P.O. Box 759
Greeley, CO 80632
Dear Weld County Commissioners:
This letter is in response to your request of January 25`h to either cancel or postpone prescribed
burning on the Pawnee National Grassland (PNG) in 2006. Your request is based on the possible
dangers of prescribed burning due to the dry conditions in Weld County and northeastern
Colorado, and of the experience with the escaped fire on the PNG on March 11, 2005.
Let me assure you that we share your concerns and awareness about the soil moisture content
and long range weather forecast on the Grassland and their potential effects on the regeneration
of healthy grass cover. Without good regeneration of the grass, unacceptable soil erosion could
occur. We monitor soil moisture and the forecast, along with daily weather conditions, in a
predetermined prescription to ensure the best possible outcomes from any prescribed fire
activity.
I also understand your concern about the Klingensmith escaped fire of March 11, 2005.
Following that incident, we held a review with the support of fire specialists from throughout the
Rocky Mountain Region. While there is inherent risk with prescribed fire, we have incorporated
recommendations from the review in our prescribed fire operations to minimize the risk. Some
of these are:
• Selecting burn areas for 2006 which will meet our burn objectives, but which are also
safer from a control standpoint (see attached maps), due to the presence of perimeter
roads and lower levels of adjacent fuels.
• Adding an additional Holding Boss to our burn organization, so that the two Holding
Bosses can monitor and coordinate holding resources (personnel and engines) on each
flank of the fire.
• Adding a weather observer to our burn organization. The weather observer will take
and document weather conditions regularly and communicate these observations to the
Burn Boss and burn personnel.
• Requiring that the Burn Boss meet with PNG personnel at the burn site in the
preparation of the Burn Plan, to strengthen the assessment of fuels, topography, values
at risk, fence locations, water locations, and access routes within and adjacent to the
prescribed fire units.
G'em-n ti-itic=etitox:z) 2006-0552
r2- ow- <L'n Caring for the Land and Serving P ople
• Including fire contingency maps in the Burn Plan that identify fuels, topography, values at
risk, fence locations, water locations, access routes, and secondary control lines outside of
the prescribed fire unit boundary.
Based on our track record and the improvements we have made in our prescribed fire operations,
I believe that prescribed burning can be conducted safely on the PNG. In fact, before
Klingensmith, we conducted burns on more than 36,000 acres over the previous twelve years.
There are also many benefits of prescribed fire: improved wildlife habitat for short grass
dependent species such as the mountain plover and swift fox; improved palatability of rank,
over-mature grasses for cattle forage; reduction of invasive plants species which are not adapted
to fire (as the native grasses are); and reduction of fuels to reduce the risk of wildland fire
intensity and rate of spread, among others.
However, because of the lack of soil moisture, PNG District Ranger Steve Currey and I have
decided to wait on burning until soil moisture improves. Because we may still get enough
moisture this winter and spring to give us the opportunity to burn, we are proceeding with the
necessary planning and preparations, including: selecting burn units that total about 6000 acres
of the PNG (about 3% of the total acreage); completing the Prescribed Fire Burn Plan; obtaining
smoke permits from the State; preparing burn equipment and personnel; and, improving control
lines of the burn units.
In closing, I want to assure you again that we share your concerns for the current conditions and
the long term productivity of the PNG. We are considering alternate treatments of the fuels to
apply if the dry conditions persist, but would prefer application of prescribed fire due to the
reasons stated above. We will continue to monitor weather and soil moisture conditions. If
conditions are not right or we do not have the necessary resources to burn safely, we will not
burn. We will be in close contact with you if conditions become favorable and we decide to
conduct prescribed burning on the PNG in 2006.
Thank you for letting us know your concerns about management of the Pawnee National
Grassland. If you have further questions, please feel free to give Steve Currey a call at
346-5003, or me at the number above.
Sincerely,
MES S. BEDWELL
Forest Supervisor
Enclosures
cc: Bruce Barker, Weld County Attorney,
John Cooke, Weld County Sheriff
Rick Cables, Regional Forester,
Mark Boche, Regional Director, S&PF
Hal D. Gibbs, ARP Ecosystem Group Leader,
Geoff Bell, ARP Fire Management Officer
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