Committees – Page 28

Fire Mitigation Committee Report, Fall 2014

2014 Firewise Day

The North Fork Landowners’ Association’s Fire Mitigation Committee held its annual Firewise Day workshop on July 16, 2014. The theme of the workshop was “Wildfires Happen: Take Action! Plan. Prepare. Prevent.”

The program began with a powerful DVD about recent major fires in Colorado, with a segment on the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona in 2013. Several outstanding presentations followed. Angela Mallon, Stewardship Specialist with the Montana DNRC’s Forestry Division, used model simulations to demonstrate the effectiveness of various fuel treatments. North Fork landowner Larry Kinsolving described the restoration work that he and his wife Ruth are doing on their property in the aftermath of the Wedge Canyon Fire in 2003. The title of his presentation was “Closing the Ring: Fire, Restoration and Beyond.”

The forty attendees heard updates about North Fork activities from representatives of the U. S. Forest Service and the DNRC. They also learned about the status of the North Fork’s current hazardous fuels mitigation grants. Finally, they were given an overview of the Firesafe Montana program by Jennifer LaManna, Firesafe’s Executive Director.

Sondreson Community Hall Hazardous Fuels Project

The North Fork Landowners’ Association applied for and received a hazardous fuels reduction grant for work around Sondreson Community Hall. North director Allen Chrisman, who also serves as co-chair of the Fire Mitigation Committee, lined out the project. The objective was to remove surface and ladder fuels and to provide space between the crowns of the remaining trees.

Nineteen volunteers contributed a total of 81 hours and the use of equipment to the Hall project. They sought to minimize soil disturbance and visual impacts, leaving strong, healthy trees in place. The project was completed in late May 2014 and has been well-received by the community.

Hazardous Fuels Grants

The DNRC awarded the North Fork its fourth hazardous fuels grant in the Fall of 2013, this one in the amount of $91,000. As with our three previous grants, monies are available on a cost-share basis, with the grant paying 75% of the cost and the landowner contributing the remaining 25%.

A priority of the new grant is to reduce fuel accumulations along the lower segment of Trail Creek Road, where it passes through private property. Treating the fuels will provide significant benefits, among them improving ingress and egress for landowners, allowing safer access for firefighters, and affording an escape route over the Whitefish Divide in the event of a large fire or other catastrophic event in the lower North Fork Valley.

The Fire Mitigation Committee is working collaboratively with private landowners, the Forest Service and Flathead County on the Trail Creek Road project.

2014 Fire Wise Day

For eleven years (since the Wedge Canyon Fire in 2003, the NFLA has had a very active Fire Mitigation Committee. Each summer, the committee hosts a Fire Wise Day at the Hall to help inform landowners about what they can do on their property to mitigate the effects of catastrophic wildfire. Grants have been available to help landowners with reducing fuels around their homes. This year’s Fire Wise program began with a staggering film about the devastating wildfires that have plagued Colorado in recent years. This film covered some of the causes of those fires and the conditions that control the options that fire managers have in fighting huge wildfires. The overwhelming message of the film is that if you choose to live in a fire-prone area, you will eventually have to deal with the consequences. The remainder of the program focused on research concerning adequate distance between trees in thinning projects and the Kinsolving’s restoration project since the Wedge Canyon Fire. Molly Shepherd and Allen Chrisman received an award from Fire Safe Montana for their leadership with the NFLA Fire Mitigation Committee.

Molly Shephard & Allen Chrisman receive award from Fire Safe Montana at the NFLA Fire Wise Day

Gardening with Native Plants

North Fork “plant nerds” gathered at the Community Hall on Tuesday morning for a workshop on Gardening with Native Plants. Because it was a beautiful day, the workshop was held on the front porch. Terry Divoky from Wildflower, who has been leading this workshop in our community for many years, and Stacey Jacobsen Burgard from the Center for Native Plants, presented information, answered questions, and sold native plants that they had brought with them. After attending this workshop for several years, many North Fork gardeners have transformed their home sites by landscaping with native plants. Next year, we plan to organize this workshop as a field trip to see native plants in North Fork yards.

Gardening with Native Plants Workshop

Don’t forget about the Gardening with Native Plants Workshop at Sondreson Hall led by Terry Divoky; native plants will be available for sale. She will be joined by Andrew Beltz. This will take place on Tuesday, June 24th starting at 10AM at Sondreson Hall.

Both Terry and Andrew will be bringing plants to the workshop to sell. Want to preorder so that you can get just the plants you want? Open this preorder list, make your selections, then email Andrew at andrew@forestoration.org.

North Fork Homesteads Resource Brief

One of Glacier’s many cultural resources is highlighted in this brief. The homesteads in the North Fork not only remind us of the settlers in this area and how they lived, but also about early park history and controversy. Take a look at the updated brief on the CCRLC’s website at http://www.crownscience.org/download_product/1218/0

The North Fork’s newest noxious weed

Trish Hoffman, USFS Weed Specialist, wanted to provide us with a “heads up” that a noxious weed new to the North Fork has been discovered just north of the border on the Canadian side in the river corridor. Spring runoff erosion will likely be bringing this new invader, Blueweed, onto North Fork properties that are adjacent to the Wild and Scenic River Corridor, if it hasn’t brought them south previously.

It grows to about 2 to 5 feet tall. The flowers are in varying shades of blue. The stamens are pink. From a distance blueweed has been confused with lupine.

Blueweed contains an alkaloid that is toxic to humans and animals. It attacks the liver. Blueweed is pullable, but gloves and a long-sleeved shirt must be used because the stiff hairs on the plant make handling it similar to handling fiberglass. Small infestations can be pulled or dug up and bagged. If a larger infestation is found, call the Flathead County Weed Department for advice on using herbicide. If blueweed is found growing with a hay crop, it will ruin the hay when baled and stored due to the plant’s high moisture content. (I know this probably applies to only a couple of North Fork landowners.)

Early identification of this new invader and eradication of it while the infestations are small are critical to effective and relatively inexpensive control. Besides, it’s just part of being a good steward of the land and a good neighbor. For more information, contact Trish Hoffman at 406-758-3510.

Applications for 2015 Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is taking applications for 2015 Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

The program provides funding to forest landowners to help them manage their forest. Practices offered under EQIP are: Pre-Commercial Thinning, Slash Treatment (pile& burn or chipping), Fuel Break around buildings, Tree Planting, and Noxious Weed Control. The signup is continuous but the deadline to qualify for funding for spring 2015 is June 1, 2014. Please contact the local NRCS office in Kalispell at 752-4242 X 3 for more information or to obtain an application.

Fire Mitigation Committee Report, Late Winter 2014

2014 Firewise Day

For the ninth year, the North Fork has been recognized as a Firewise Community. One of the requirements for recognition is holding an annual Firewise Day event.

This year, the Fire Mitigation Committee will sponsor its Firewise workshop on July 16, 2014 from 9:30 to noon, preceding the Summer Interlocal meeting. The program will include a powerful video about several recent, destructive fires in Colorado. The fire behavior depicted in the video is similar to that seen in large fires on the North Fork. A principal message of the video is that firefighters can’t save structures if landowners haven’t done their part by modifying the fuels around them. Tentatively, several landowners will showcase the fuels modification work that they have done on their properties. Planning for the workshop continues.

Hazardous Fuels Grants

The DNRC awarded the North Fork its fourth hazardous fuels grant in the Fall of 2013, this one in the amount of $91,000. Monies are available on a cost-share basis, with the grant paying 75% of the cost of an eligible project and the landowner contributing the remaining 25%. A primary objective of the grant is to thin vegetation on private land along Trail Creek Road, making it a safer exit route in the event another large fire visits the area. The committee will be working with private landowners, the Forest Service and possibly Flathead County to accomplish the work.

Funds under the third hazardous fuels grant are almost exhausted. The grant has been used to connect landowners’ treatments with those on public lands, as well as to treat around homes. For those interested in applying for grant monies, additional information is available on the NFLA web site.

Mapping Project

The Fire Mitigation Committee hopes to update maps of complementary fuels reduction work that has been done on public and private land since the Wedge Canyon Fire in 2003. Wally Bennett, Type 1 Incident Commander during the Wedge fire, anticipates that the work will make a big difference in future fire behavior and suppression efforts on the North Fork. He spoke at our successful and well-attended 2013 Firewise workshop, after visiting many of the sites. Updated maps would enable the North Fork landowners and their agency partners to see what they have accomplished in the last ten years.