BOISE, ID – With the arrival of cooler temperatures and lower wildfire risks, crews have scheduled a series of prescribed fires in forests across Idaho this fall in an effort to protect communities and natural resources, officials said.
A prescribed fire, also commonly called a prescribed burn, is a planned and controlled fire that may be used for eliminating overgrown vegetation, reducing the risk of larger wildfires or restoring the health of an ecosystem that depends on fire.
“When we manage land with prescribed fire, we potentially set ourselves up to avoid more severe impacts that would occur if it burned in a wildfire,” said Stacy Tyler, a fuels management program manager for the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho.
“There is a lot of preparation work that goes into it, and we do a lot of science-based modeling to pick the best window to accomplish the best objective we have lined out, whether that is a restoration objective, protecting communities or reducing fuels, or it’s a combination of those,” Tyler added.
On Wednesday, a U.S Department of Agriculture spokesperson said firefighting operations on national forests will continue through the government shutdown, at least for now.
“Currently, the National Forests and Grasslands will remain open to visitors and wildland firefighting and disaster response will continue,” a U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesperson, who did not identify themselves by name, said in an email to the Idaho Capital Sun. “This may change due to length of the shutdown.”
The U.S. Forest Service is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Although crews strive for safety during prescribed burns, accidents do happen.
On Friday, Idaho Department of Lands seasonal firefighter Isabella Oscarson was killed after being struck by a falling tree while assisting the U.S. Forest Service with a prescribed fire in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, state officials said.
Gov. Brad Little ordered that all U.S. and Idaho flags be flown at half-staff until sunrise Sunday to honor Oscarson, the Sun previously reported.
Prescribed burns in Idaho began in September and are scheduled to continue throughout the fall
Some prescribed burn operations have already begun in Idaho, while others are planned throughout the fall.
Officials with the Caribou-Targhee National Forest announced in a press release that they began prescribed fire operations on the Westside Ranger District on Friday.
Forests, national parks to stay open during government shutdown, but services may be limited
In the Sawtooth National Forest in central Idaho, crews plan to conduct prescribed burns this month as weather conditions and permitting allows.
Sawtooth National Forest officials announced they plan a prescribed fire treatment of up to 5,000 acres in the southern portion of the Minidoka Ranger District’s Albion Division, located west of Almo, as well as up to 1,000 acres of single-tree burning located south and west of Oakley in the Cassia Division.
The Sawtooth National Forest also plans up to 3,700 acres of prescribed fire treatment on the Fairfield Ranger District near the South Fork of the Boise River, north of the Methodist Church Camp, officials said.
Tyler said Sawtooth National Forest officials are working with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game for the larger prescribed fires with the goal of restoring Aspen tree stands that serve as a barrier to wildfire spread and an important habitat for wildlife.
“Aspen is a pretty wildfire resistant species, unless it has been encroached upon by other trees and shrubs and has additional fuel loading,” Tyler said. “As long as we’re not in a drought year, we expect aspen stands to be a barrier to fire spread, so we’re creating future fire suppression opportunities for our firefighters.”
Tyler said crews will post signs and issue online alerts to keep the public informed about prescribed fire operations and any road or area closures.
“We do try to minimize our closures for our planned operations,” Tyler said. “And as the public may be coming back into an area afterwards, we place signs in the area warning them they are entering a burned area.”
On Tuesday, before the federal government shutdown, Jessica Maddock, a public affairs officer for the Sawtooth National Forest, said officials will post information about closures due to prescribed burns on the Sawtooth National Forest’s alert’s page.
On Wednesday, the Sawtooth National Forest’s alerts page featured a new message at the top indicating the site would be updated periodically during the government shutdown.
“The Radical Left Democrats shutdown the government,” the new message on the Sawtooth National Forest’s alert’s webpage said. “This government website will be updated periodically during the funding lapse for mission critical functions. President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people.”
On Wednesday, Maddock referred all questions about the impact of the government shutdown to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s press office, which responded to the Sun with a nearly identical statement about the shutdown and Trump.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
