Category: Committees

The Fire Mitigation Committee met in May to plan its activities for the year, including its annual Firewise Day workshop.  The workshop will be held in Sondreson Hall on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 from 9:30 a.m. to noon, preceding the Summer Interlocal.

Our principal speaker this year will be Byron Bonney, who has been instrumental in working with landowners on hazardous fuels treatments in the Bitterroot Valley.  He’ll tell us about the effects of those treatments in the area burned by the Roaring Lion Fire last summer.   The fire was aptly named:  it came roaring out of a canyon and then fanned out into the valley, behavior that is also typical of many North Fork fires.  Although the Roaring Lion Fire destroyed a number of homes, most of the homes whose owners had created defensible space around them were spared.  The treatments brought fire to the ground and limited the fuels that could be ignited by flying embers.  They also improved the chance of survival for neighbors’ homes downwind.  So as we’ll hear at the workshop, the fire provided important corroboration of the value of defensible space.

We’ll also hear from Lincoln Chute, Director of Emergency Services for Flathead County and a member of our committee.  He’ll talk about the county’s pending revision of its Community Wildfire Protection Plan or CWPP.  The committee expects to update the North Fork’s fire plan in conjunction with the county’s revision.  Lots of work has been done since our last update in 2009, as maps will demonstrate.  Community input is required in the CWPP process so landowners can expect to hear more about the project this summer.

With respect to the status of our cost-share assistance grants, we basically have $10,000 left in our current grant.  We may apply for another, smaller grant.  But we also have potential access to funds from grants that cover larger areas of the county.  There’s now a fair amount of flexibility in where the monies can be spent.  Landowners who are interested in creating defensible space around their North Fork homes should contact Bill Swope at 406.250.9812 or bhswope@gmail.com.  Mason Richwine, who has worked with many North Fork landowners over the last 10+years, has retired.

Finally, the June 1 Wildland Fire Potential is posted on the NFLA website.  The Northern Rockies’ outlook is for a slower than normal fire season in June and July, moving to normal in August and September.  But we can’t be complacent:  hot, dry, windy days cure out fine fuels, making them more combustible.  Landowners should be cautious about any burning, and do so only with a permit.   Now is also a good time to clean up accumulated flammable debris around our homes, so it doesn’t provide a fuel bed for embers.

The following information was provided by Allen Chrisman…

Here is the June 1 National Outlook for Wildland Fire Potential. It is forecasting a slower than normal fire season for the Northern Rockies for June and July, moving to a “normal” fire season in August and September. That is the good news. Locally, the hot dry weather we have had recently makes things a bit more combustible.

Bottom line, even if we are still in the active burning period (by permit, of course), let’s be careful out there. I passed up burning last week because it appeared that things would carry just too well with the hot dry weather.

Mark your calendars for the North Fork’s 2017 Firewise Day, which will be held the morning of July 19, preceding the Summer Interlocal. For more information, see “Fire Mitigation Committee Report, Late Winter 2017” by Molly.

The summary says… By mid-late July, the western fire season will begin to progress north into the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies. While a normal transition into fire season is expected in the lower elevations, a delayed entrance is possible in the higher elevations as both regions enter their fire seasons having seen abundant winter and spring precipitation and snowpack accumulation.

The Fire Mitigation Committee is planning for the North Fork’s 2017 Firewise Day, which probably will be held the morning of July 19, preceding the Summer Interlocal. Byron Bonney will be our featured speaker.  He has been instrumental in working with landowners on hazardous fuels treatments in the Bitterroot. We expect him to tell us about the effects of those treatments in the area burned by the Roaring Lion Fire last summer. Although many homes were destroyed in the fire, almost all of the homes whose owners had created defensible space around them were spared. The treatments brought fire to the ground and limited the fuels that could be ignited by flying embers. They also improved the chance of survival for neighbors’ homes downwind. So as you’ll hear at the workshop, the fire provided important corroboration of the value of defensible space.

We have at least $10,000 left in our 4^th hazardous fuels grant, with about 55 acres already treated and 35 in process. So far, landowners and community members have provided over $80,000 in cash match and in-kind labor. Special thanks goes to Flathead County, which donated almost $8000 in equipment and labor for chipping the slash that resulted from our Trail Creek Project. The Fire Mitigation Committee probably will apply for a 5^th grant if it has the opportunity.

The Flathead Economic Policy Center administers the grants and provides landowners and the committee with invaluable technical assistance. We’ve just learned that our friend Mason Richwine, a FEPC forester who has worked with many North Fork landowners, is retiring in order to concentrate on hunting and fishing. We wish him success.  Bill Swope will continue to work with us.

Flathead County is launching another revision of its Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The Fire Mitigation Committee expects to update its North Fork Wildfire Mitigation and Planning Report in conjunction with the county’s revision. We’ll need community input in the process. We’ll also need to update maps of the significant public and private work that’s been done on the North Fork since the fires of 2003.

Finally, the DNRC is sponsoring a multi-media presentation on the Era of Mega-Fires in Kalispell this Spring. The presentation will be held on Tuesday April 25 from 6 – 8 p.m. at Flathead Valley Community College, Arts & Technology Room 139.  We understand that the program is compelling.

Andy Huntsberger, Fire Management Officer for the Forest Service, wrote with the following information… We plan on doing some Prescribed Fire implementation in the North Fork of the Flathead on 9/28 and 9/29/2016. Specifically Red Whale Units 7 (270 Acres) & Unit 8 (308 Acres) located directly west of Polebridge, MT. We plan on hand igniting the ridges and potentially utilizing Helicopter PSD ignition to burn the lower portions of the units.

Click here for an interactive map of the planned areas.

Please see the attached maps for the specific locations and area closure.