WildEarth Guardians

Saturday, October 27, 2007
Suppress Wildfires Or Not -- the Debate Goes On

Fire isn't used nearly enough as a tool to manage fuels in New Mexico and Arizona's forests
Contact: Albuquerque Journal

Art Morrison spent nine summers jumping out of airplanes. Before his feet even hit the rugged terrain of the backcountry, he had a single goal in mind.

"I used to specialize in getting the little ones quick,'' he says of his career as a U.S. Forest Service smokejumper. "In those days, we used to have what was called the 10 o'clock rule.''

The Forest Service once prided itself on getting flames under control by 10 a.m. the next morning and keeping fires to less than 10 acres. But with overgrown forests fueling more intense wildfires these days, the agency is trying to restore fire to its natural role in the landscape.

The goal is to clean up the nation's forests and reduce the threat of catastrophic fires, like those racing across southern California.

Yet while the Forest Service has developed fire management plans that consider the benefits of wildland fire use, the agency recently has drawn criticism from those who say fire isn't used nearly enough as a tool to manage fuels in New Mexico and Arizona's forests.

Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians, in a report issued this month, claims the region has spent an average of $84 million per year over the last several years on near complete suppression of fire on forests in the two states.

"We're really just throwing money into the fire as we spend all this money to suppress fires that just don't need to be suppressed,'' said Bryan Bird, the group's public lands director. "... It's a lot of money and a lot of people's lives are in danger fighting fires that we don't need to fight.''

Although letting more fires burn in the backcountry could ultimately save tax dollars, restore ecosystems and protect communities, the report contends that fire suppression remains the norm in the Southwest.

Only four of the region's 11 forests are using naturally ignited fires to manage fuels, and about 80 percent of all fires on New Mexico and Arizona forests are put out before they grow to a single acre, according to the report.

Bird points to fear as a driving force behind the reluctance to allow more fires to burn.

"The managers on the ground, they understand fire in the Western forest. They understand its vital role. They are sympathetic to the concept that we need to get it back into these ecosystems. But the political realities are challenging,'' he said.

Nevertheless, Bird said, the Forest Service needs to get serious about using fire as a tool.

The agency says it's already doing so. The southwest region conducted fuel treatments on nearly a quarter of a million acres during the last fiscal year, and most of that was done with fire, said Emily Irwin, a regional fuels specialist.

In response to the report, Irwin said the region agrees with WildEarth Guardians on the need to use fire more often. She pointed out that the region's central priority is restoring fire-adapted ecosystems in the Southwest.

"I think philosophically we're hand-in-hand, it's just at the rate we get there,'' she said. "We have different scales and time frames on how we're going to get there.''

Morrison, who has worked in the region 20 years, said wildland fire use is beyond a cookie-cutter approach.

"It's easy to over-generalize,'' he said. "Even with our different habitat types, from pinon-juniper up to sub-alpine, the whole way you go about doing it is different, not to mention the moisture regimes change. It's a lot more complex than a lot of people might think.''

Forest officials have to answer many questions before deciding how to handle each fire - for example, was the fire caused by lightning or a person and did it start in an area where wildland fire use is allowed?

They also have to consider the weather, fuel conditions, natural and cultural resources and social issues such as air quality, local economies and impacts to tourism.

Morrison said there have been times when wildland use fires have to be suppressed because of changing conditions. Some of those fires have burned more than planned, resulting in a public backlash.

"It's kind of this balancing act,'' he said. "We know what we'd like to see happen as resource managers, to restore the functionality of fire-adapted ecosystems, but it's like taking baby steps so that you can get better at it.''

Both the Forest Service and WildEarth Guardians agree that one of the areas of most concern is the wildland-urban interface, where development is pushing against wilderness.

Irwin said the region has put a lot of effort into the urban interface "because we know once we get those areas treated, it opens up a lot more options in fire management.''

However, she said forest managers still see the importance of treating the wilderness.

"If you look at some of the large fires that have threatened communities, they didn't start in the urban interface,'' she said. "Look at Rodeo-Chediski, Cerro Grande and some of the other fires. They started miles away from communities.''

As for when fire will play a greater role in the Southwest, Irwin said that will be different for each forest.

"But it's not going to happen over night,'' she said. "It's going to take persistence and resilience.''

A look at fire suppression costs for Southwest forests

Here is a look at some of the findings from a report released this month by Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians on fire suppression costs in 2006 for forests in New Mexico and Arizona. The group also graded the fire management plans of the region's 11 forests.

APACHE-SITGREAVES NATIONAL FOREST, ARIZONA: Total fires: 231 Total acres burned: 10,079 Number of fires less than 1 acre: 193 Average cost per acre: $571 Grade: D

COCONINO NATIONAL FOREST, ARIZONA: Total fires: 416 Total acres burned: 5,955 Number of fires less than 1 acre: 362 Average cost per acre: $1,054 Grade: F

CORONADO NATIONAL FOREST, ARIZONA: Total fires: 82 Total acres burned: 9,786 Number of fires less than 1 acre: 48 Average cost per acre: $549 Grade: F

KAIBAB NATIONAL FOREST, ARIZONA: Total fires: 215 Total acres burned: 62,961 Number of fires less than 1 acre: 183 Average cost per acre: $24 Grade: D

PRESCOTT NATIONAL FOREST, ARIZONA: Total fires: 96 Total acres burned: 7,376 Number of fires less than 1 acre: 74 Average cost per acre: $457 Grade: F

TONTO NATIONAL FOREST, ARIZONA: Total fires: 328 Total acres burned: 13,377 Number of fires less than 1 acre: 270 Average cost per acre: $749 Grade: F

CARSON NATIONAL FOREST, NEW MEXICO: Total fires: 113 Total acres burned: 116 Number of fires less than 1 acre: 95 Average cost per acre: $10,020v Grade: F

CIBOLA NATIONAL FOREST, NEW MEXICO: Total fires: 141 Total acres burned: 18,188 Number of fires less than 1 acre: 104 Average cost per acre: $147 Grade: F

GILA NATIONAL FOREST, NEW MEXICO: Total fires: 181 Total acres burned: 90,379 Number of fires less than 1 acre: 129 Average cost per acre: $142 Grade: B

LINCOLN NATIONAL FOREST, NEW MEXICO: Total fires: 36 Total acres burned: 25 Number of fires less than 1 acre: 32 Average cost per acre: $54,015 Grade: F

SANTA FE NATIONAL FOREST, NEW MEXICO: Total fires: 166 Total acres burned: 3,190 Number of fires less than 1 acre: 149 Average cost per acre: $1,100 Grade: C

Source: WildEarth Guardians

Copyright 2007 Albuquerque Journal - Reprinted with permission