Springtime Thinning: Double Duty

POTOMAC - Springtime is a good time of year for property owners to look ahead to fire season. Creating defensible space through fire mitigation can not only protect homes but establishes a healthier forest.

"This term [fire mitigation] is often used to refer to work being done to prevent high intensity fire and leave property and values with a fighting chance in the case of a fire being nearby," said Zachary Bashoor, a forester who owns Bashoor Land Management out of Missoula. "The key to fire mitigation is creating defensible space around structures and values and between the forest floor and crowns of the trees."

Bashoor, who worked as a firefighter on a hot shot crew prior to starting his business, believes fires can only be manipulated and not mitigated. "When it comes to fire, there is no prevention, only protection," Bashoor said.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), buildings have three zones of protection around them. The immediate zone is from the exterior wall out five feet and the intermediate zone extends from five feet to 30 feet. The extended zone is 30 to 100 feet.

Recommended thinning includes clearing of duff like sticks, deep pine needles and brush and dead plants. Small trees growing in between mature trees should be removed as they can contribute to ladder fuels which allows the fire to move from the forest floor up into the tree crowns.

Trees 30 to 60 feet from the home should be thinned so there is at least 12 feet between their tops. Trees 60 to 100 feet from the home should have at least six feet between their tops to help with fire control. This spacing is important for tree health as well because most tree stands are a mix of species with shade tolerant and shade intolerant trees growing together, said Bashoor.

"Crown spacings are also sometimes given as a general prescription (generally 10-20 feet) with flexibility so that you can be selective with which trees stay," he added.

Crown spacing within thinned forested areas is also dependent on slope and tree species involved.

Bashoor feels forest management is fiscally responsible to do as a member of a community. "Not only does this protect your own assets, but it might just save your neighbors and others as well."

He said firefighters are more apt to stay and defend properties that have worked to create defensible space more than those who haven't.

Fire alone will not restore our forests said Bashoor, who maintains the answer is to restore forests and the fire will restore itself.

"Fire is natural and will never go away. When our forests are no longer in their natural composition, then fire is no longer burning in its natural state," said Bashoor.

Presently Bashoor is thinning and managing forest areas on private land around Potomac. Bashoor along with the property owners decided the 'prescription' for their land to meet the landowner's objectives for forest health, restoration and fuel mitigation. Slope, aspect, tree species, how many trees per acre and size of trees can influence the mitigation process and which methods used to accomplish the objectives.

"Our prescriptions establish healthy spacing for fire and favor the species [can be multiple species] that are supposed to be dominant in that site-specific area," said Bashoor. "We [foresters] do this today because we love it and our passion is in restoring our land and helping to create a sustainable relationship long since lost between people and their land. Fire mitigation is one of those ways we [foresters] can help."

For more information about Firewise visit https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Wildfire/Firewise-USA. For information on fuel mitigation grants contact the Montana Department of Natural Resources grant program 406-542-4303 or visit Clearwater Resource Council's website for grants in the Seeley-Swan http://crcmt.org/fuels/.