Chetco Bar BAER Specialist Reports Burned Area Emergency Response Soil Resource Assessment Chetco Bar Fire OR-RSF-000326 Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest October 2017 Lizeth Ochoa – BAER Team Soil Scientist USFS, Rogue River-Siskiyou NF
[email protected] Kit MacDonald – BAER Team Soil Scientist USFS, Coconino and Kaibab National Forests
[email protected] 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Chetco Bar fire occurred on 191,197 acres on the Gold Beach and Wild Rivers Ranger District of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, BLM lands, and other ownerships in southwestern Oregon. Approximately 170,321 acres of National Forest System (NFS) land, 6,746 acres of BLM land and 14,130 acres of private land were affected by this wildfire. Within the fire perimeter, approximately 14,012 acres burned at high soil burn severity, 64,545 acres burned at moderate soil burn severity, 76,613 acres burned at low soil burn severity, and 36,027 remain unburned. On NFS-managed lands, 10,684 acres burned at high soil burn severity, 58,784 acres burned at moderate soil burn severity, 70,201 acres burned at low soil burn severity and 30,642 acres remain unburned or burned at very low soil burn severity (Figure 1). The Chetco Bar fire burned area is characterized as steep, rugged terrain, with highly dissected slopes and narrow drainages. Dominant surficial geology is metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks, peridotite and other igneous rocks. Peridotite has been transformed into serpentine through a process known as serpentinization. This transformation is the result of hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic (high iron and magnesium) rocks.