The concept of the Columbia Breaks Interpretive Center (CBFIC) began with the idea of bringing an old tower from the mountains to the valley – where the young and young-at-heart could climb its stairs to capture the romance and excitement of look-out duty. The idea grew into a vision of establishing an interactive, education center where visitors could learn what experts know about wildfire, how wildfire is a natural component of this ecosystem, and how people relate to fire. It is a place where questions can be asked about and fire management – questions like:

How have the and our attitudes towards wildfire changed over the last century? What can the fire history of our forests tell us? How can ecosystems with a variety of plant and animal species be maintained in a healthy condition? How is fire a part of this ecosystem? What do we want from our forests – how should they be managed? How has urban encroachment affected the forests and the way we deal with fire? How can fire be used as a tool? Are the destructive that we have experienced recently, what we can expect in the future?

It is difficult to offer answers to any one of those questions without considering the others.

Walk the trail to see how wildfire has shaped the eastside forests. See how people, past and present, have interacted with this environment. See why we will always have questions to ponder…

You have examples of both sagebrush and bitterbrush in front of you. These are the most dominant shrubs in this ecosystem. As you travel the trail, you will notice that there is abundantly more bitterbrush. The sagebrush is limited to only a few areas, including the site behind you. Both shrubs have a difficult time coming back after a fire: however bitterbrush is more tolerant of fire. If the fire is not too hot, it can regenerate from root crowns and from underground seed caches that rodents make. Sagebrush must be seeded from sources outside the burn area, and that takes many years.

Sagebrush Notes Bitterbrush Notes

* The most dominant plant in the shrub-steppe ecosystem * Bitterbrush has darker green leaves because they do not have the tiny hairs on top of * A woody shrub that stays green all year. its leaves. However, if you look on the underside of the leaf, it is lighter. * It has a sharp, distinct odor (pinch one of its leaves). * It cannot tolerate shade and is very drought-resistant (can stand periods of very * The leaves are small and narrow which reduces water loss. little precipitation). * Notice the light color of the leaves – they are covered with tiny hairs * It has a very long taproot that may reach down 15-18 feet; plus it also has shallow that reflect light and help retain moisture leaving the plant. lateral roots. * During the hottest part of the summer, it may drop some of its * Many bitterbrush plants have colonies of bacteria on their roots that act as nitrogen leaves. fixers. They take nitrogen from the air and change it so that plants can absorb it in * It blooms in the late summer or early fall. the soil. Plants need nitrogen to make their food. * It has a long taproot for finding water deep underground and has * This shrub is an important source of food during the winter for browsers like deer shallow, lateral roots for absorbing water during rain and snow and elk. The seeds are also eaten by rodents, rabbits, and birds. storms. During the night, the taproot pulls moisture up to the * Like sagebrush it provides shelter from the heat for numerous animals. shallow branching roots that grow near the surface. * It can live over a hundred years, if the conditions are ideal. * It provides habitat for wild birds, and rodents. The endangered sage * It blooms in the spring and produces thousands of seeds. grouse cannot live without it because the bird eats the leaves and depends upon the plant for nesting sites. It also provide shelter for reptiles like snakes and lizards. *The leaves contain oils that make it difficult for ruminants like deer to digest them.

As you walk the trail, you will see that several stops center around the ponderosa pine, obviously the most prominent species of plant in a healthy ponderosa pine ecosystem. Like most species of plants in this arid environment, it has unique features that help it survive. Indeed, as you walk the trail, ask yourself how each of the plants are adapted to this harsh environment. How can they survive temperatures that range from over 100 degrees to below freezing? How can they adapt to this dry, sandy, rocky soil? How can they compete with all the other plants that are fighting for survival? How can they possibly survive frequent wildfire?

The ponderosa pine is a fascinating :

• They love lots of sunshine. • They don’t like a lot of competition from other plants. Old growth forests of pine have that are spaced about 30-50 ft. apart with lots of grass growing underneath them. • They have taproots that can go down more than 36 ft. to find water. • As they grow older, their lower branches fall off – fire has a difficult time climbing up to the crown. • They may produce up to 500,000 thousands seeds per acre in their large cones – rodents love them! • Their bark smells like vanilla (go ahead – walk to the tree and smell it) • They may be attacked by over 300 types of insects. • When insects attack, sap (pitch) flows into the hole to kill the insect and plug the hole. • They have really thick bark which protects their growing layer (cambium) from fire and insects. • Under the right conditions they live an average of 250 years and up to 650 years. • The needles on the tree are in bundles of three. They are thin with a thick skin which helps reduce water loss.

is dedicated to

Francis B. Lufkin Marion “Mac” McFadden

In 1939 Francis was selected to assist in an experimental project, in Winthrop, Washington, to evaluate the feasibility of parachuting men and equipment into remote backcountry .

In 1940, Francis and other Forest Service staff started the first full-time bases in Missoula, Montana and Mac was the first fire lookout to serve on the Chelan Butte Lookout from Winthrop, where he helped establish the North Cascades 1938 – 1940, pictured here in his “new” uniform. His season began in the spring with trail and telephone line maintenance, then the entire summer was Smokejumper Base. He made the first jump to a fire in the spent on the lookout watching for fires. During the winters Mac attended Pacific Northwest in August 1940. Francis managed the business college, and then worked in the grocery business until purchasing an NCSB until 1972; when he retired after 33 years as a orchard in 1942. Through the years he added more orchard, advertised apples smokejumper. During that time, he received a citation from and managed an apple warehouse. He also owned a tire business for over 30 years. Mac was active in the community, serving on various boards and President Johnson and also numerous awards from the Forest commissions in Chelan County. Service.

Many lookout towers were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, created by Look up and imagine a hot August day in 1939. You are the guard for the Franklin D. Roosevelt to create employment for veterans and other young men during the new Chelan Butte Lookout. Spectacular lightening filled last evening’s skies, Great Depression. By the end of the 1930’s but no rain fell. Scanning the western horizon, you spot a rising wisp of there were about 8,000 fire lookout towers . You quickly crank the telephone and tell the dispatcher the fire’s in the . location. Within an hour, a call back says that a fire crew is hiking to the blaze. You know that the hard work of digging a fireline will soon stop this wildfire.

The 1900’s marks an era of fire suppression in the West. Federal and state agencies, the timber industry, and railroads waged war on wildfire. The goal: to prevent loss of lives, trees, and structures. Early detection and a speedy response meant the difference between a small fire and a catastrophic one. Do you think you could be a fire lookout? Could you… This lookout, one of over 600 once operated in Washington, served as the early-warning system. Gradually, airplane surveillance replaced most stay by yourself for weeks/months at a time? lookouts. leave the tower when you know bear or cougar wander nearby? go for days/weeks without shower facilities? be alone at night with strange sounds and nobody near? A fire lookout uses an Osborne Fire Finder climb a high stairway when the steps are wet and slippery after a storm? to locate a fire. stay while lightening flashes around you and thunder shakes your tower? stay when it feels like high winds will blow your tower off the mountain? feel comfortable with strangers who might visit your tower?

In hindsight, we see that successful fire suppression created new problems for the forest. The next few stops on the trail, especially the fire-wise ponderosa pine, will help us understand the complexity of those problems.

Children, with fire-crackers, unintentionally started a fire here on a hot windy July day. It wasn’t the first fire and it won’t be the last. As you travel the trail, look for evidence of past fires. In some areas you will see very little evidence, the floor thick with bitterbrush and grasses where the fire has not burned in a long time. In other areas, you will see blackened tree trunks with scattered shrubs and grasses growing between the trees – the sign of a low-intensity burn and a healthy ponderosa pine ecosystem (like at the next stop). In these areas, the fire reduced the amount of fuels on the forest floor. Today, if flames go through those areas, a low surface fire will quickly burn up the grasses and small shrubs, and leave the larger pines unharmed. In other areas you will see serious damage where the fire burned hot and deep into the soil, causing serious soil damage. Flames climbed into several tree tops, and those weakened pines are easy targets for insect attack.

Fire, whether natural or people-caused, has been and will always be a part of this environment. On the trail you will learn how it has been both a healthy and a destructive force; how people have altered the frequency and effects of wildfire; and what the challenges are today as we try to manage this aspect of our environment.

Look at this grove of ponderosa pines: fire charred bark below, live green branches above. How can this be?

Ponderosas naturally resist damage from low-intensity fire, like the one that swept through here in the 1980’s. Thick insulating bark protects the living tissues from killing heat. Notice where their branches begin. Do any touch the ground? The branchless lower trunks provide little fuel so fire can’t easily climb into the crown.

Look at the ground here. When fire comes often, few burnable fuels build up on the forest floor. The next fire will quickly consume the shrubs, grass, and dead needles, and then move on.

The fire here did kill very young trees whose trunks were smaller than your fist (trees that were between 6 and 12 years old). Burned grasses re-sprout from roots. Shrubs, like bitterbrush, and forbes (wildflowers) re-grow from seeds, stimulated to germinate by the heat of the fire. Walk ahead to compare these pines with some that haven’t experienced a frequent wildfire.

Which forest below probably needs to burn soon to stay healthy?

The writings of turn-of-the century settlers say that it was easy to drive a wagon through the well-spaced pine groves of the eastside dry forest. Ponderosa pines like to grow far apart with little competition from other plants, and frequent fires helped create that condition. Would you be able to drive a wagon easily through this area of brush and trees (pretend there are no boulders)?

Much of today’s low elevation forests are like the thick grove of trees in front of you. Each Tree’s roots are competing with one another for limited amount of soil nutrients and water. Competition makes each tree weaker, and easier for insects and disease to attack.

What will fire do here? Look at the low branches that will act like ladders to the crown of the tree. And look at how large and dense the shrubs have become. Fire will climb up and kill the tree tops. Yet, the death of this small, dense grove will benefit the well-spaced larger trees next to it.

1Fire spreads from the ground to the tree canopy in four ways: 1. Fuels on the surface burn hot enough to preheat and ignite the canopy. 2. Fire climbs partially fallen trees. 3. Fire ignites understory (smaller) trees and shrubs. 4. During extremely dry conditions, fire may climb the downwind side of tree trunks, where gaseous fuel accumulates. From: The Book of Fire

Fire Frequency and Fuel Buildup Fire Scars Tell the Story Look at the two tree profile graphs. The graph showing the forests Cat-face is the name for this blackened scar on a tall pine. When from 1750 to 1900 show a forest with trees that are spread farther wind moves a fire through the forest, the fire burns hotter and deeper apart. Fires were allowed to burn because there were no organized into the trunk on the uphill side. After the fire, sap seeps out to seal efforts or equipment to stop them. Smaller trees, brush, and grass the inner parts of the tree, but the scar remains. This pattern repeats were burned frequently, leaving more room and less competition for when fire returns. the larger trees to grow. The graph between 1900 and 1990 shows what happened when we effectively suppressed (stopped) wildfires. Cross sections of these cat-face trees provide a history of fire The resulting fuel buildup of smaller trees (such as shade-tolerant frequency in the Entiat area from 1750 to 1993. Scientists have been fir), brush and debris means that today’s fires burn much hotter and examining slices from hundreds of dead trees, stumps, and living are more destructive to trees and soil. In historical time, fires were trees to reconstruct these fire patterns. Fire scars on these cross- more frequent yet low in severity. Now fires burn less often, but are sections of ponderosa pines, found in 1994, show how it survived an more destructive. average of one fire every 10 to 20 years. Look at the cross-section below. Note the lack of fire scars between 1895 and 1994 – why? Representation of Forest after 1910 What happened in those 100 years?

Representation of Forest prior to 1910

1900 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990

1750 1850 1900

You are standing in a typical shrub-steppe / ponderosa pine ecosystem. A fire started here on a hot, windy day could quickly grow beyond the ability of fire- fighters to control it. What conditions are required to ignite an uncontrolled fire and then sustain it in this type of environment?

Fire Triangle Fire Behavior Triangle All fires start with the same 3 requirements: Success in fire suppression depends upon how well fire A Fuel Source such as dry grass, leaves, managers can predict how a fire will behave – the safety of all pine needles, shrubs, bark……which can be fire fighting personnel also depends on this knowledge. heated to the point of combustion by…. What makes some wildfires burn so hot and others not? A Heat source such as lightening, matches, What makes fire spread so fast on one day and slow on the embers, sparks…….which cause the molecules next day? and electrons in the fuel to move around faster and faster until the chemicals in the fuel break down and combine with…. Wildfires burn according to the conditions of the environment Oxygen in the air…..releasing a burst of energy in the form of heat in which it is burning. These conditions can also be and light which we call “combustion.” represented by a triangle consisting of the 3 main elements that interact with each other – and the fire – to determine whether or not a fire will continue to burn, and how intense it All 3 of these ingredients must be present to create a fire. will burn. Eliminate any one of them and you will not have a fire – eliminate any one of them from a going fire and you will Can you think of some examples of how extinguish the fire. That is the challenge of the wildland the Fuel, Weather, and Topography . They must decide which part of the triangle they (shape of the land) might combine to will remove – in the safest and most efficient manner – that affect the intensity of a wildfire in this will protect and sustain life, property and the environment. area?

Look west to the trees at the base of the rocky slopes. Imagine the grove ablaze, due to an August lightening strike. You are in charge, directing your crew to dig a fire line. Dangerous conditions confront you: steep slopes, high winds, and a thick build-up of dry fuels. The wind is pushing the fire up the steep slope. Fire is creeping into the wind towards the town of Entiat. You watch flames leap into the tree tops, sending embers flying, spreading the fire.

One quarter mile away, engine trucks are wetting down houses at the edge of the nearest development. You hear the overhead whir of a and watch it dump a bucket of river water onto the wall of flames. An air tanker may be requested to drop a load of retardant along the fire’s edge, hoping to slow down the rapid spread of the fire. Hand crews are cautiously moving in to construct a line around the fire – their goal being to remove a line of fuels between the fire and unburned fuels. Expensive, yes, but protection of those homes is most important.

Will Entiat residents have to face the threat of this type of high-intensity fire again? Yes, but can you think of things that both home owners and forest managers can do to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire?

Every year, for several reasons, people are moving from urban (city) areas and building homes closer to or in the natural environment. As cities expand, their borders flow into the surrounding forest land. Living in those “interfaces” means living with wildfire – living with the threat that wildfire could easily destroy their homes and change their pristine landscape forever. Firefighters agree that is not if a wildfire will occur in these areas, but when…

Once governments allow people to build in these areas, their fire fighting agencies must decide how they are going to protect those lives and properties. Often, they cannot fight wildfires aggressively because they must use all their fire fighting resources to protect those first priorities: life and property. Indeed, they often have to decide which properties they are able to save.

Each year many families unnecessarily lose their homes and possessions to wildfires. These losses can be minimized if homeowners take the time to enact safety measures that reduce the fire hazards around their homes.

Defensible Space Some guidelines for Creating a Defensible Space

Defensible space is an area around a Get rid of piles of debris from around structures. structure where fuels and vegetation are Remove brush, weeds, dry grass, needles, leaves and any other treated, cleared or reduced to slow the flammable vegetation within 30 ft. of any structure. spread of a fire towards the structure. An additional clearance of up to 100 ft. may be needed to protect Defensible space allow firefighters space to homes near brush fields or wooded areas. do their jobs and reduces the chances that Use fireproof building materials, especially on the roof. your property will be destroyed. Have adequate road access to your property.

Maintain roof, gutters, and deck surfaces.

Can you think of any other?

Look at this grove of 90 year old ponderosa pines, some marked with an “X.” There are too many trees growing too close to one another – this stand of trees is too dense. A fire coming through this area would probably destroy all of them. Imagine removing each marked tree. Compare this altered photograph with the actual forest and note that these trees have been removed. Suddenly, this grove’s structure will be a step closer to last century’s open forest condition.

The advantage of is that fewer trees means less build-up of dead limbs and needles on the forest floor. Remaining trees will grow faster and stronger, competing less for soil nutrients and water. Strong trees can also better resist insects and disease. When fire comes, it will sweep through the thinned grove quickly and with low intensity, consuming the limited ground fuels. Blackened trunks supporting green and healthy tree tops will be a sign that this is a stable, healthy forest.

Private and public forest managers are attempting to implement large-scale thinning and in eastside dry forests. They are lowering the risk of future catastrophic fires that would kill entire stands of trees.

Look ahead at the thick accumulation of dead needles and dry limbs. Can you spot A fire ladder tree, with low branches easy for flames to climb? A fire started on a Hot, dry, windy day could quickly grow beyond the ability of fire-fighters to control it.

Locals vividly remember Firestorm 1994. August skies were smoke-choked, friends evacuated, neighbors burned out, and $70 million spent to suppress fires. It began with an evening lightening storm that ignited 99 Washington fires during an extremely hot, dry summer.

One, the Tyee Creek fire, started in the Entiat River drainage, 16 miles northwest. It became the largest single fire ever in the Wenatchee National Forest. In less than 24 hours, it grew to 2000 acres and Entiat Valley residents were evacuated. It was finally contained one month later, with 135,000 acres burned and 19 homes lost – the cost to the public unprecedented.

How do we avoid future destructive fires? The answers are not simple….

What does the future hold for this site, especially the young ponderosa pines that take so long to grow? Think of this site as representing the entire low elevation eastside dry forest. We now know that frequent, low-intensity fire was the force that brought stability to the resilient pre-1900 forest. 100 years of effective fire suppression here has reduced fire frequency and the acreage burned, but increased fire’s destructive power.

Efforts to suppress wildfires will continue to be essential to save lives, homes, and valuable resources. However, we must take action to restore our forests’ resiliency to inevitable destructive wildfires. Thinning, pruning, prescribed burning, and allowing natural fires to burn in certain areas can result in a forest structure like that created by frequent low-intensity fires. We have learned that fire is just as much a part of the shrub-steppe /ponderosa pine ecosystems as the plants and animals that live here. Natural and prescribed fire play a vital role in the long-term health of these environments.

Acting to restore forests requires dialogue and cooperation between citizens, scientists, private industry, public agencies, politicians and forest managers. When lightening strikes again in this century, what kind of wildfire will it bring? The answer is in our hands.

Thank you for traveling the Trail of Fire and Forest!!

We invite you to join us as we make this dream come true. Why an interpretive center about fire? People are both fascinated and fearful of wildland fires and fire-fighting, yet there are few places that exist to learn about it. What began as a modest idea to bring an old lookout tower down to the valley expanded into a vision of an interpretive center. Visitors can come here to learn about fire’s role in our landscape – past, present, and future.

Find out how you can contribute to our dream by going into our visitor center, or by checking the outside information box, or by:

Checking our website: www.wildfirecenter.org

Telephone: 509-663-2062

Mailing Address: Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center (CBFIC) P.O. Box 3773 Wenatchee, WA 98807