do fire mitigation in times of low fire danger. do not use a logging company

Information about wildfires, prescribed burns, and other fire related info for the 2021 season.
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PAL
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Re: do fire mitigation in times of low fire danger. do not use a logging company

Post by PAL »

Yup, I am 70 now and Howard is upper 70's. We both still get out and mow down, rake and clear brush. We don't have to mess with the trees.
If everyone that can, do these things, it will help the community overall. The more that do this on their properties and also have FS work around the edges(eventually they will) then we can avoid the violent fire storms I am reading about in "Fireweather". It is insane reading.
Pearl Cherrington
Fun CH
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Re: do fire mitigation in times of low fire danger. do not use a logging company

Post by Fun CH »

The only area that didn't spread fire or burn during the Carlton Complex fire on the FS land near me, was an older clear cut.

At age 66 several years ago I had no problem fire treating a heavily treed and brushy 2 acre parcel in Pine Forest. That gave me a whole lot of firewood.

Meanwhile, PF had local contractor logging greenbelt and lots where owners paid a set fee.

They did do a lot of high grading, so some of the more fire resistant trees were cut down, but they were also marketable Timber that helped pay for the work which still cost more way more than the timber sales.

When the Cedar Crerk fire moved though and was stopped at Pine Forest, I was thinking of the hard work just one old guy can do to help his community say safe. So it can be done multipled by many old guys with chain saws. ;)
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Can't talk to a man who don't want to understand--Carol King
PAL
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Re: do fire mitigation in times of low fire danger. do not use a logging company

Post by PAL »

I'm involved in this forest issue quite a bit. In 2002 we had what was called a "gypo logging company" haul off about 8 truckloads off of about 12 acres.
We had another local group come in and limb and pile. We cut the ladder fuels down and piled. Then burned when we had 4" of snow and had a DNR permit. This helped our house from burning down in the 2015 fire. Along with locals wetting it down and then retardant drops. The fire did lay down at our property line versus the neighbors wherer there is a standing snag forest, which is not that bad of a thing. It is flourishing back there.
So if everyone could get their own properties in shape, it helps everyone. However there is a cost involved. We almost broke even with the logging.
The DNR does have a Forest Stewardship program where the cost is shared. And there are developments that do cost sharing.
Also the Forest Service needs to look at working closer in with their lands that abut private property owners. That may happen more and more.
But they do want to log vast swaths away from residential areas that will not keep the towns from burning down.
There is an event happening Aug.17th that will discuss the Firesafe Community. I will post more about this when it gets closer to the date in a a couple of weeks.It is not a Forest Service event.
It is worthwhile to use a logging company like we did. There is no way we could have done this on our own. Oh, but in the old days, didn't they use mules on properties? Ellis Fink comes to mind.
And like your statement David about harvestable and marketable timber. So true.
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mister_coffee
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Re: do fire mitigation in times of low fire danger. do not use a logging company

Post by mister_coffee »

The original post on this thread was made in reply to other posts in September of 2021.

Again I reiterate that a lot of fire mitigation does not involve removal of actual trees and a lot of tree removal does not involve harvesting marketable timber.

In our ecosystem here, most Ponderosa Pines are relatively fire resistant if ladder fuels are removed.
Last edited by mister_coffee on Fri Jul 21, 2023 2:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
:arrow: David Bonn :idea:
Jingles
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Re: do fire mitigation in times of low fire danger. do not use a logging company

Post by Jingles »

Roflmao every summer during fire season this topic pops up, tells you how folks have absolutely no concept of priority planning.
Just like what idijet needs the county Emergency Management Office to tell you moving to condition one, anyone that has lived here through at least 1 summer should realize come June 1st anyone with even 1/2 a brain should already be in condition 1
Fun CH
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Re: do fire mitigation in times of low fire danger. do not use a logging company

Post by Fun CH »

Why wouldn't you use a Logging Company to cut down and haul away trees?
What's so funny 'bout peace love and understanding--Nick Lowe
Can't talk to a man who don't want to understand--Carol King
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Re: do fire mitigation in times of low fire danger. do not use a logging company

Post by mister_coffee »

Yeah, I've been annoyed and frustrated about this problem since the Carlton Complex fires in 2014.

One thing that is important to remember is that not all land that requires fuel reduction is forest, and not all forests contain marketable timber. So just "logging the forests" won't solve the problem.

Another thing is that doing manual fuel reduction requires a lot of people and is pretty labor intensive. You should reasonably expect that to cost $1000+ per acre. Even prescribed burns which are slightly less expensive take a lot of work, a lot of planning, and have an extremely narrow weather window in which to do them safely.
:arrow: David Bonn :idea:
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