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Title: |
Applegate Valley, OR - Applegate Fire Plan
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Type: |
Regulatory
Homeowner assistance
Education
Designation of high risk areas
Community Planning
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Jurisdiction: |
Multi-level
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State: |
Oregon
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Program Description: |
The Applegate River Valley is a scenic, rural area of Southwestern Oregon and Northern California. The land area crosses many jurisdictional boundaries, and encompasses parts of both Jackson and Josephine counties in Oregon, as well as Siskiyou county in California. Approximately 70% of the 500,000 acre Applegate River watershed is managed by either the Bureau of Land Management, the USDA Forest Service, or the State of Oregon. The remaining 30% of the land is privately owned, and fairly evenly distributed in a checkerboard pattern throughout the watershed. Fire has been excluded for approximately the last 100 years, making the area subject to large wildfires which, in recent years, have burned thousands of acres of land, claimed several homes, and threatened the communities located within the Applegate.
The Applegate Fire Plan, originally called "Applegate Communities' Collaborative Fire Protection Strategy", is a collaborative effort developed jointly by local citizens and federal, state and local agencies. General project coordination was organized by the Applegate Partnership, a non-profit community-based group founded in 1992. Initial funding for the project was awarded via the National Fire Plan in October, 2001. While the complete plan is not available on the internet, large excerpts of it are available on the Applegate Fire Plan web site.
The Goals of the Applegate Fire Plan
- To improve community awareness of our stewardship of the land and foster a respect for ecosystems and the processes that maintain them;
- To develop a wide array of strategies for fuel reduction and fire suppression that Applegate residents can accept as sensible precautions against catastrophic fire and that the agencies that manage lands in the Applegate can incorporate into their current management practices;
- To develop a system of emergency communications for Applegate neighborhoods;
- To restore fire-adaptive species in the ecosystems, thereby encouraging more fire-resilient forests.
Plan Development
The Applegate Fire Plan website provides valuable information on the development of the plan, including how and why the residents wanted to create a plan for dealing with fuels reduction in the entire Applegate watershed. The twenty-four cooperating agencies and public citizens found that despite many differences in how they individually use the land, they could agree on concepts, strategies, and goals. The plan provides an overall view of the watershed and its relationship with fire, historically and presently, and suggests ways to improve that relationship, backed up with science.
Environmental Inventory and Maps
The plan begins with an in-depth environmental inventory, using the "layer cake" approach of analyzing geology, topography, soils, hydrology, vegetation, wildlife, climate, human development and land uses. These factors are all described, mapped, and analyzed in relationship to historic fire regimes, vegetation condition classes, fire hazard, fire risk from human activity, and fire occurrence. The analysis resulted in the creation of a map of Fire Hazard Ratings in the Applegate Watershed, showing areas of low, moderate and high fire risk, and a supporting database with maps.
Creating a Philosophy
The plan discusses how the Applegate planners developed a philosophy for creating fuel reduction strategies. Two questions were preeminent: "What is at risk in the event of a wildfire? How do we identify the things we most want to protect from destruction during a wildfire?" The three agencies which manage 70% of the Applegate have mandates which set out life as a first priority, and resources and property as second and third priorities; residents were also surveyed for their priorities. Using this information, and the many layers of maps for fire hazard risk, historical fire starts, communities at risk, roads, and topography, the planners looked at the watershed as a whole, without reference to jurisdictional boundaries. Instead they divided the watershed into nineteen Strategic Planning Areas by sub-watershed.
Prioritizing Areas for Fuels Reduction Work
The analysis of all the layers of maps led the planners to conclude that the wildland-urban interface, the area where the physical aspects of the lands, the numerous human-caused fire starts, and the vegetation build-ups come together, presents the highest risk. Areas around homes were deemed the first place to start fuels reduction activities. Next were lands near residences and roads, especially those where aspect, vegetation, slope and elevation combine to increase the hazard risk. The two priorities agreed on by all the planners were: private and federally-managed land around the communities at risk.
Recommendations for Fuels Reduction Work
The plan includes recommendations for action in each Strategic Planning Area (SPA). Recommendations are general, not specific. Some examples are: "develop a fire management plan for the wilderness area", or in an area with several communities at risk: "promote fuel reduction work on private lands, private timber land, and adjacent federally managed lands as collaborative projects". The plan offers suggestions and technical assistance to landowners. It does not mandate actions. The complete recommendations can be found in Hazard Reduction Without Borders.
Resources for Landowners
The remainder of the Applegate Fire Plan offers information on how to properly thin overgrown vegetation, how to create defensible space around a home, methods of fuels reduction, where to apply for cost-share assistance in thinning and clearing, how to organize a neighborhood phone tree for emergency information, evacuation procedures, and much more. Some of these supporting documents are available on the Applegate web site.
The section "Living in a Biocracy" gives pointers to landowners on correct thinning practices to protect the soils, rare plants, forest canopy, riparian areas, fisheries, wildlife, deer winter range, rangeland, and dealing with port-orford cedar root disease. Much of this information would be useful beyond the boundaries of the Applegate.
Resource Tables
The Table of Fuels Reduction Methods compares the pros and cons and costs per acre of many fuels reduction techniques including: manual and mechanical thinning, lopping and scattering, crushing, Slashbuster, chipping, hand piling, prescribed fire, grazing with goats and Lomakatsi natural treatments.
The Funding Opportunities Table presents information on state and federal programs which offer grant or cost-share funds to landowners for fuels reduction work. The table sets out the eligibility requirements for each program.
Monitoring the Effects of The Fire Plan
The Applegate Fire Plan has been very well received by the community, and much fuels reduction work has already been accomplished on both private and BLM lands. An agreement between the Oregon Department of Forestry and BLM has provided opportunities for a Slashbuster on contract with BLM to complete work on adjacent private lands.
The Applegate planners will continue to monitor progress by tracking the number of owners doing work on private property, the number of public and private acres treated, location of treated areas in the watershed, and the methods used to treat fuels. This information will be reported in the "Applegator" newsletter and at agency meetings every six months for five years. Public reaction to the Fire Plan will also be monitored to see if residents continue to have a heightened awareness of the danger of hazardous fuels buildup, and are taking action to reduce fuels on their land. Finally, effectiveness will be studied by creating photo points and plots in woodlands and brush fields, monitoring tree growth and survival, changes in canopy, and plant response after prescribed burning, and GIS mapping of changes in fuels buildup and hazard ratings.
The Applegate Fire Plan takes a very comprehensive approach to eco-management across jurisdictional boundaries. It is a good example of a collaborative planning tool for private landowners working with local, county, and federal government. For more on the Applegate Fire Plan and lessons learned in the planning process, see the North Central Research Station website.
Contact Information
For more information on the Applegate Fire Plan, contact:
Jack Shipley at (541) 846-6917, or via email at [email protected].
Copies of the Applegate Fire Plan are available to non-residents for $40.00 by writing to:
Applegate River Watershed Council
6941 Upper Applegate Rd.,
Jacksonville, OR 97530.
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Images: |
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Slashbuster reducing fuels in a manzanita/scrub oak field.
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Applegate Fire Plan Committee receives their plan documents.
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