SRRC - Fire Planning & Fuels Reduction Program

Overview

Catastrophic wildfire is the greatest single threat to fisheries, ecosystem health, and biodiversity in the Salmon River watershed.

The SRRC began the Fire Planning and Fuels Reduction Program in 1994 to help reduce the likelihood of catastrophic fires and reduce the risks that they pose for the watershed.

The program includes the operation of the Salmon River Fire Safe Council, prioritized fuel reduction activities, and the development of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan and detailed neighborhood fire safe plans.

The SRRC also hosts events such as Fire Awareness Week, fire safety training, and volunteer fuels reduction workdays.

Fire History

A Fire-Adapted Landscape

In its natural state, the Salmon River watershed is a fire-adapted landscape that has evolved with a relatively frequent recurrence of non-catastrophic wildfires. Naturally-occurring wildfires are ignited by lightning strikes during infrequent but powerful summer thunderstorms.

With the natural balance of fire and the resulting fuel consumption, wildfires typically did not devastate large areas of the watershed but instead burned more slowly, lower to the ground, and did not damage large areas of soil or consume vast stands of forest. Many components of the ecosystem require fire to maintain their natural balance and species composition.

Fire: Out of Balance

The balance of natural, fuel-reducing fire occurrence was changed with the advent of large-scale fire suppression in the early 1900’s. Early fire suppression efforts were generally successful and kept many areas from experiencing wildfire. As an unintended result of preventing nearly all natural fires, fuel loads increased throughout the watershed. Ultimately, any fire not suppressed would grow many times its natural potential size as it consumed this additional fuel load. In essence, fire suppression demanded further suppression in order to prevent conflagrations. Logging, road-building and other activities also significantly increased fuel loads.

Complete suppression is, of course, not possible and the Salmon River watershed began experiencing series of large, catastrophic wildfires beginning in the second half of the 20th century. It is estimated that 69% of the watershed has burned since 1911, with more than half of that having burned since 1977. Some areas have burned more than once. For example, many areas burned in the 1977 Hog Fire burned again in the 1987 Complex (and some of these again in the 2002 Forks Fire).

Need for Action

The Salmon River watershed is one of the highest risk fire areas on the entire Klamath National Forest and has had the greatest concentration of wildfires in Siskiyou County. Recent fire histories point to the need for a programmatic approach to reducing fuel loads throughout the watershed.

Fuels Reduction

The Salmon River Restoration Council began implementing a fuels reduction program in 1995.

Though the creation of shaded fuel breaks, we have treated over 450 acres on 70 parcels of private land. Funding has been provided by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the US Forest Service.

Each project features the selected release of native plants which are the most fire resistant and which provide shade for the fuel breaks and riparian areas. In several of our projects, previously fire-denuded areas were planted with selected native plants grown in our local cooperative nursery facilities.

With the recent signing of a participating agreement with the Klamath National Forest, we will have the opportunity to reduce fuels on national forest land around private property and along emergency access routes.

Salmon River Fire Safe Council

The Salmon River Fire Safe Council (SRFSC) formed in 2000 in order to get more involvement from agencies and the community on fire issues.

Mission

The mission of the SRFSC is to help plan, implement and monitor the reinstatement of natural fire regimes in the Salmon River ecosystem in a manner that protects life and property, improves forest health, and enhances the resources valued by its stakeholders.

Community Wildfire Protection Planning

The Fire Safe Council has been working on two levels of fire planning. We have completed a draft Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) for the entire watershed. We are also developing more detailed CWPPs for the towns and neighborhoods in the watershed.

Working in Partnership

The SRRC and the Forest Service work together to develop partnership agreements and memorandums of understanding for various resource protection, enhancement, and awareness projects in the Salmon River watershed.

Through the Fire Safe Council, we are coordinating fire planning and fuel reduction activities with community members, the Karuk Tribe, CDF, US Fish & Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, Salmon River Volunteer Fire and Rescue, the Salmon River and Orleans Ranger Districts, and others. We are currently involved with the Eddy Gulch LSR Project.

Meetings

The Salmon River Fire Safe Council holds monthly meetings to deal with many issues including: development of community and neighborhood fire safe plans; water source (tanker fill sites) identification, mapping and signing; road signing; private properties universal number signage, helispot location and mapping; community outreach and education; training; water tanks and hydrant systems; general cooperation and sharing with stakeholders and agencies.

Please see our calendar for upcoming meeting dates.

Program Coordinator

Jim Villeponteaux,

Salmon River Restoration Council
PO Box 1089
25631 Sawyers Bar Road (shipping only)
Sawyers Bar, CA 96027

phone: 530-462-4665 or 800-840-4665
fax: 530-462-4664