Red mountain plans prescribed burns to minimize forest fire risks

A 900 hectares of burning was organized on the Red Mountain near the Sunnyside Trail. The combustion is intended to improve the quality of living space for wild animals, including the local herd of moose, and at the same time reduces dry, aging vegetation, which could fire a large forest fire.

The combustion will be a piece of Valleywide Waldfire reduction and preparatory strategy, which aims at the collaborative Roaring Fork Valley Waldbrand to be together with partner agencies, including the US forest service and the local fire brigade district.

Plans for the prescribed combustion

The forest service began burning last autumn with the preparations for the prescribed, when the crews cut around 24 hectares of brush and other vegetation to create control lines near the Sunnyside hiking trail. The officers of the forest service are waiting for ideal conditions that are defined in a combustion plan for the area before a fire is inflamed.

Officials have declared that the soil and the vegetation must be dry enough to carry flames with medium intensity, while snow still surrounded on Ridgelines and the target area to contain burning.

Program manager of Forest Fuels, White River National Forest, explanation by Dan Nielson

Dan Nielsen, program manager of Forest Fuels for The White River National Forest, said: “We are waiting for the best environmental window that we can.

“It could be that these projects sometimes do not happen because we deal outside of our control. We try to implement this in spring, at the end of March to April.

“Or it could be a really snow -covered march and then we urge. There is a lot of planning and we will not do anything if it is not the right window.

“If you have high endangered values, we will take more precaution before implementing a fire on the floor or.

“This is how we keep it in his box and can not be spread out outside the device.”

Features of the combustion plan

The combustion plan lays a certain sentence of conditions, a recipe, including factors such as the moisture level of vegetation, the fire, temperature, the wind direction and the speed, the relative humidity and the degree of inclination on which the fire burns.

A weather station provides real -time data on site, while the snow melts and the forest service model helps how a fire can move over the landscape and plan the ideal circumstances to reduce dangerous fuels and promote new vegetative growth.

Officer of the public, White River National Forest, David Boyd's statement

David Boyd, officer of the public affairs of the White River National Forest, said: “If we are used with a prescribed fire and burn understoring brushes and signatures, we shoot a moderate intensity fire that will burn in a mosaic pattern, which means in spots that A lot of edge creates like wild animals.

“If it is a moderate combustion, the vegetation reacts immediately with a new, young, nutritious vegetation that the wild animals really seek.”

The time of the prescribed combustion must be aligned with the weather and climate conditions as well as the needs of the animals to which the fire is supposed to help.

Wildlife Biologist, White River National Forest, statement by Phil Nyland

Phil Nyland, Wildfire biologist for the White River National Forest, said: “The time of this project is crucial to minimize the effects of the forest fire.

“The reason why we burn in spring is the minimization of the possible effects of the animals.”

The time between winter snow and spring green when the animals give birth to their boys and are great is ideal.

“If winter goes over to spring and we get into birth time, we don't want to disturb these animals with fire and mechanical treatments,” said Nyland.

At the end of March and early April, birds and hibernation animals have not yet returned, and snow stains can offer animals that are in the area during the fire.

Nyland said he had been prescribed before Hirsch and Bighorn sheep have observed the flames of within 200 meters without being stressed.

He added: “Fire is a natural part of her landscape. They tend not to react as people like. “

The environmental evaluation of the forest service notes that the reduction of fuels and the production of breaking broken can reduce the spread, duration and severity of forest fires.

Aspen Fire Chief, Rick Ballenine's statement

Rick Ballenine, fire chief of Aspen, said in a statement: “Wildfire is an undeniable reality in the West, and we have two options: Lean back and wait for a disaster or take determined measures to manage the risk.

“This prescribed combustion is a strategic, carefully planned effort to reduce the fuel loads before a forest fire beats on its own conditions.