Red Whale Prescribed Fire Information – Units 7 And 8

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.

unit_7_8 rw-areaclosure

Allen Chrisman Honored by the Society of American Foresters

North Forker Allen Chrisman has been elected as a recipient of the Society of American Foresters’ 2016 Presidential Field Forester Award. Award recipients will be recognized at the 2016 SAF National Convention, to be held Nov. 2-6 in Madison, WI. This is a great honor and we extend our heartfelt congratulations to Allen for being having won this award.

Message from Randy Kenyon NFLA President

During the past couple of board meetings, we began talks regarding the treasurer’s duties, generally directed toward simplifying and clarifying. This led to a further discussion regarding developing a secretary position, in light of the fact there are duties that should not really the responsibility of the treasurer. At the July business meeting, a board member made a motion to amend the bylaws to have the treasurer be elected instead of appointed; the creation of a secretary position; and both being voting board members. At the August business meeting, after a discussion and amending the original motion, it was passed. Please see Article IV Officers and Elections of the amended bylaws. We left the treasurer’s duties intact, with the secretary’s duties to be determined by the secretary and board at a further date.

The new board consists of myself as president; vice president Rachel Peura; treasurer Chris Heitz, secretary Donna Harrison, past president Karen McDonough; North Directors Irv Heitz and Larry Wilson and South Directors Kevin Ulrichsen and Jan Caldwell.

Sincerely,
Randy Kenyon
President NFLA

Firewise Day 2016

The NFLA’s Fire Mitigation Committee sponsored its annual Firewise workshop on July 13, 2016, preceding the Summer Interlocal meeting. About 45 people attended. Committee co-chair Allen Chrisman once again put together an outstanding program, with presentations from all of the federal, state and local agencies with wildfire responsibilities on the North Fork.

Angela Mallon and Erik Warrington represented the DNRC. According to Ms. Mallon, grant funding for fuels treatments by private landowners probably will continue. In order to assure that grant monies are well-spent, the DNRC recently decided to model and evaluate the effectiveness of treatments in different forest types in Montana.

In the past, the DNRC has recommended a uniform prescription for fuels treatments, calling for a minimum of 10’ between the crowns of trees. Based on its recent physics-based modeling, however, the DNRC now recommends that treatments be designed around site-specific attributes. Basically, except around homes, one size does not fit all. Landowner preferences are taken into consideration, too.

The DNRC continues to encourage at least 300’ of defensible space around homes. Ms. Mallon also emphasized the benefits of pruning trees to remove ladder fuels. Doing so encourages fire to drop to the ground, making firefighters’ job easier.

Smith Valley’s James Brower spoke on behalf of Flathead County, which has structure protection responsibilities on the North Fork. He commented that it takes a long time for a structure engine to reach the North Fork, so that it’s up to landowners to make their homes more defensible. He further commented that engines won’t enter overgrown driveways because of life safety concerns. If possible, the county prefers two means of ingress and egress from a property.

Mr. Brower added that woodsheds are structure firefighters’ nemesis. He suggested placing mesh over woodshed openings so embers can’t reach the firewood stored there. He also warned attendees not to stash firewood on decks or adjacent to structures.

Andy Huntsberger recently was named Fire Management Officer for the Flathead Forest’s Hungry Horse-Glacier View District. He told attendees that the Glacier Rim Fire in 2015 had brought home the potential for reburn on the North Fork. We were lucky last year because the North Fork did not get significant lightning. Almost 100,000 acres burned in the South Fork, however.

Mr. Huntsberger encouraged us to keep doing what we’re doing to protect our homes, as to make good decisions in the event of a fire. He stated that three lookouts will be staffed this summer, providing good coverage. He also mentioned that the Forest Service usually flies over the area the day after a lightning storm to check for any resultant fire starts.

Manny Mendoza, deputy FMO, commented that El Nino weather pattern appears to be breaking down. He said that fuel moistures were “pretty good” going into the mid-July to September fire season.

Bill Swope of the Flathead Economic Policy Council has worked with landowners for more than 10 years, implementing our hazardous fuels grant program. He estimated that they have probably spent $1 million in the North Fork since the fires of 2003.

Although about $18,000 is left in our fourth grant, the monies largely have been committed. We’ll probably apply for a fifth grant if the opportunity arises and will attempt to preserve our traditional cost-share ratio whereby the grant pays 75% of the cost of a project and the landowner pays 25%.

Mr. Swope remarked that grant monies may not cover the full cost of a job. For example, technical specifications may not provide for as much clean-up work as a landowner wants to have done. In that event, the landowner is responsible for the cost of any additional work.

In addition to live presentations, attendees saw a video by internationally known fire researcher Jack Cohen of the Missoula Fire Lab. Mr. Cohen stressed that it’s “the little things” that typically cause a house to burn during a wildfire. In particular, embers may land in fine fuels around a home, which in turn ignite it.  Open gables may allow embers to enter; covering vents with mesh may prevent them from gaining access. He emphasized that landowners should address the little things before a fire starts rather than waiting until their homes are threatened by wildfire. In follow-up remarks, Allen Chrisman commented that it’s incumbent on North Fork landowners to “self-rescue.”

The Fire Mitigation Committee is grateful for the continuing support and collaboration of agencies with jurisdiction on the North Fork, including their participation in our Firewise Day workshop.

Firewise Day 2016

This year’s Firewire Day workshop will be held on Wednesday July 13, 2016 from 9:30 a.m. to noon at Sondreson Hall, immediately preceding the Summer Interlocal meeting.

Our Firewise Day agenda includes the following items:

  • A video by Jack Cohen, internationally known wildfire expert at the Fire Lab in Missoula.  The video’s title is “Your Home Can Survive a Wildfire,” with advice about how to create defensible space around your home.
  • A presentation by Angela Mallon and Lucas Wells of the DNRC.  They will report on the preliminary results of their study on optimal spacing of trees in hazardous fuels reduction projects.
  • A presentation by Lincoln Chute, Director of Emergency Services for Flathead County.  Mr. Chute will explain the county’s “Ready, Set, Go” evacuation program.  He may illustrate ingress/egress concerns with video footage from the Fort MacMurray fires.
  • Remarks by Andy Huntsberger, Fire Management Officer for the Forest Service’s Glacier View/Hungry Horse District.  He will review the fire season forecast and resources available on the North Fork this summer.  He’ll also touch on the potential for reburn in areas burned since the Red Bench Fire in 1988.
  • A review of the status of our hazardous fuels grants by Bill Swope and Carol Daly.  They also will address opportunities for landowners.
  • Tentatively, remarks by Christine Johnson, Executive Director of Firesafe Montana.  She will tell us about the Firesafe program.  The North Fork Landowners Association is a Firesafe member.

Here is the final agenda for Firewise Day.

Community Outing to Stonehenge Air Museum

Community outing to Stonehenge Air Museum in Fortine with lunch after at Renee’s Rolling in Dough. If you have not been, it is wonderful. A book has been written about one of the airplanes you will see – “A Higher Call” by Adam Makos.

The plan is to start the tour at 10AM. To get there, go 0.3 miles north of Montana Highway 168 on Highway 93, turn on to Crystal Lake Road. Then got 2 miles and turn left on Stonehenge Drive.

Reservations are needed at the museum and lunch, so please either call Dennis or Carol Groebe at 406-888-9803 or come by and leave a note (130 Rainbow Drive).

July National Wildland Fire Potential Outlook

Here is the latest National Wildfire Potential Outlook covering July, August and September: http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/predictive/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf

So, we are expecting a “normal” fire season in Northwestern Montana, which will begin as early as mid-July and last through the end of September. Normal means that we will have a number of lightning fires, and fires that occur with good position with heavy fuels on active burning days will move significantly. If we get recurring moisture that keeps the live fuels moist it can reduce the severity of fires absent wind events. But we will see those effects diminish as shrubs cure out in September.

Knapweed Under Attack!

North Fork Weed Wranglers with their sacks of weedsThe knapweed at Sondreson Meadow was under attack on Thursday by the North Fork Weed Wranglers, a committee of the North Fork Landowners Association. The weed pull was organized by Donna Harrison, committee chair. Kat Pine, the Education/Compliance Officer from the Flathead County Weed Department joined the group under cloudy skies to add her expertise to the search and eradication of knapweed. Many bags of knapweed were hauled away by Kat.

On Tuesday, July 19th, is the Annual Weed Roundup. Meet at Sondreson Community Hall at 10AM. There will be weed identification in the morning and weed pulling in the afternoon. Bring your own weeds for identification. Please bring water, lunch, gloves, and garbage bags.

The Weed Wranglers would like to remind landowners that we are responsible for controlling noxious and invasive weeds on our properties.

New North Fork Sign

New-North-Fork-SignFolks may have noticed that there’s a new sign on the south side of the Home Ranch Bottoms pavement. Although it keeps with the spirit of the old sign, this one is spiffed up and legible, reflecting well on our community. Our many thanks to the North Fork Patrol for taking the time and effort to update this North Fork landmark.