ST. GEORGE — The Bureau of Land Management recently completed a prescribed burn south of St. George in an effort to improve the resilience of native plants.
The High Meadow treatment began April 15, approximately 75 miles south of St. George between Mt. Logan and Mt. Trumbull, with daily patrol and mop-up continuing on April 25, said Rachel Carnahan, public affairs specialist with the BLM’s Arizona Strip District.
The project’s goal was, in part, to improve wildlife habitat while protecting life, property and infrastructure, she added.
According to the Department of the Interior’s fuels management website, homes and other developments near environments like grasslands and forests may be vulnerable to wildfires, prompting the agency to work with its partners to develop fuel breaks and plan treatments to reduce potential impacts.
“Wildfires can be devastating, but not all fire is bad,” the website states. “Fire plays a natural and necessary role in many landscapes. Periodic low-intensity fires speed up the process of forest decomposition, create open patches for new plants to grow, improve habitat and food for animals and deliver nutrients to the plants that survive.”
Carnahan said the bureau aims to increase the resiliency of the plant community and its ability to recover from fire, such as ponderosa pine trees.
“Ponderosa pine need adequate sunlight,” she said. “This is achieved by frequent low-intensity, understory burns. In this forest type, faster-growing vegetation such as grasses, shrubs, and smaller trees are removed.”
Ponderosa pines evolved with a low-to-moderate intensity fire cycle. St. George News reported that the trees’ thick, jigsawlike bark pops off during low-intensity burns, making the trees resistant to wildfire damage.
However, the trees are still susceptible when young, and The Nature Conservancy reports that historical fire suppression techniques have allowed for an increased density of less fire-resistant plants.
“The density and layering of trees provide a path for flames to reach the high foliage of the ponderosa and potentially move from one crown of a tree to another,” the nonprofit states. “Smaller trees, shrubs, and brush can fuel even hotter flames, and send the blaze upward into the ponderosa pine’s crown. These crown fires are the most devastating kind of fire for pine trees.”
Fire suppression can also increase the risk of “enormous, catastrophic wildfires,” the conservancy states.
“Mimicking historical wildfire patterns is an important management strategy for ensuring the health, function, and services of forests, which will in turn help us adapt to a warming climate,” according to the nonprofit.
Preparation
The project began in 2016, with “a significant amount of preparation beforehand,” Carnahan said.
Carnahan said a team of scientists and specialists conducted an analysis of the area in 2016 under the Uinkaret Environmental Assessment and public comment period. These included biological analyses determining whether sensitive species occupied the area and culture surveys and tribal consultations to “ensure archeological and potentially sacred sites were not negatively impacted.”
“When an area like High Meadow is analyzed and cleared for vegetation treatment, fire planning begins long before implementation,” she said. “Fire specialists write a burn plan that provides guidelines.
“The burn plan includes mapping of the treatment area and utilizes fire behavior modeling to identify the weather and vegetation conditions required (referred to as the burn prescription) to safely conduct the treatment and achieve the desired effects on the landscape.”
Additionally, Carnahan said that the plan includes what personnel and equipment are required to implement the project safely and what techniques and sequences should be used to apply fire to the treatment area.
“You have the wind at your face and put a little fire down along the control line to keep it within the treatment perimeter,” said Arizona Fire Management Officer Ty Mizer.
Once a burn plan is approved, after a multilevel review by fire specialists, fire personnel begin preparation, constructing fire lines or fuel breaks to create a perimeter or protect areas that are excluded from the treatment.
Carnahan said crews often set up portable weather stations to obtain continuous data before and during work, as it is necessary to monitor fuel moisture and weather conditions in addition to other factors, such as fire behavior and effects and smoke dispersion. Work may be stopped if the conditions are not favorable.
“Treatment decisions are based on science and history and past lessons learned,” Mizer said. “Our primary goal is to conduct treatments safely for staff and the environment, and if we can safely accomplish the first goal, then we will begin the treatment with the secondary goal of meeting the objective.”
For this project, resources included crews from the BLM’s Arizona Strip and Colorado River districts, the U.S. Forest Service’s North Kaibab Ranger District and a module from the Prescribed Fire Training Center, with staff hailing from multiple agencies across the West.
Additionally, there were five fire engines, one water tender, fire support chase trucks, utility task vehicles equipped with slip-in water tanks and a Type-3 helicopter, Carnahan said.
Additional burns may be scheduled this fall, depending on weather conditions, Carnahan said. Information about prescribed burn projects can be found at the BLM’s website or by contacting Carnahan via email. If a person should see a fire and they’re unsure if it’s a planned burn, they can call the Color Country Interagency Fire Center at 435-865-4600.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.