SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FORESTERS Western Forester April/May/June 2018 Oregon • Washington State • Inland Empire • Alaska Societies Volume 63 • Number 2 Fire and Fuels Management in the Future: Roles and Challenges BY JOHN D. BAILEY Note: The summary from the 2018 Fire Summit Report is abridged and edited by John D. Bailey. We live with and in unprecedented fuel conditions throughout much of the West; I equate our situation to that of a filled reservoir where the pond is an accu- mulation of biomass poised to be drained. Our land management prac- PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN D. BAILEY tices, for better or for worse, have cre- The 2003 B&B Complex fire one decade later, taken near the crest of the ated this reservoir—a fuel base that is Cascades (and Three Fingered Jack). more contiguous and more homoge- cessful for many decades. Recently, of proactive management to mitigate nous than at any point in history. however, wildfires have changed. We those conditions. Scientists and land Furthermore, greater numbers of have set records for severity in three of managers alike tell us that we need to humans are more closely connected to the past four years, and in eight of the adopt both short- and long-term prac- forests in communities that have an past ten; we have “mega-fires”—com- tices that strategically integrate that extended area of wildland-urban inter- plex fires that burn at least 100,000 management (across all ownership face, and more people seem to have acres. Our society now invests more boundaries) with the reality of fire and deeply held values about the forests time, energy, and resources fighting fires wildfires clearly in mind. Residents of they only rarely visit. Meanwhile, the than we do taking proactive steps to western states cannot expect a future climate is warming and the forests are reduce wildfire severity and foster the free of wildfires any more than resi- becoming drier, making fire seasons resiliency of our forested landscapes. We dents of Florida can count on a future longer and stretching management find ourselves continuously responding free of hurricanes—the difference is resources further. We now live with a to the next emergency rather than act- that we can take proactive steps to fire behavior triangle on steroids: ing on a broader, more strategic view of reduce the severity of wildfires and rugged topography, unprecedented how to coexist with fire and smoke, and minimize their adverse social impacts fuels, and more extreme fire weather. to manage our forested landscapes to over time. But we must be prepared to Suppressing fire has been at the reduce severity when wildfires do occur execute that new strategy with all its heart of our forest management strategy (including the use of fire). component parts. and our profession for a century or This context cries out for solutions more. I “fought” fire for years as an and policies that are adaptable to that 2018 Fire Summit undergraduate student, though some of long-term perspective. It took a centu- Oregon State University sponsored a those years included prescribed burning ry to create the fuel-laden conditions Fire Summit held in Portland, Ore., on as well. And fire suppression was suc- in our forests, and it will take decades (CONTINUED ON PAGE 2) In This Issue: Fuels Management The report can also now serve as a plat- We were organized into three work- Fire and Fuels form for subsequent dialogue. ing panels corresponding to thematic Management Approximately 30 scientists, land areas aligned with the National (CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE) managers, and forest policy experts Cohesive Wildland Fire Management March 1-2, 2018, at the World Forestry participated in preparatory meetings in Strategy: 1) managing for landscape Center to identify viable forest manage- the weeks leading up to the Summit’s resiliency; 2) promoting fire-adapted ment practices that would help in miti- Day One session. These experts repre- communities; and 3) developing effec- gating the risks and impacts of high- sented relevant areas of expertise, geo- tive wildfire responses. I worked direct- severity fire events. The full report graphical locations, and both public ly with the first panel on resiliency. from the Summit is available at and private ownership interests. They Panels were asked to discuss and then www.forestry.oregonstate.edu/. It was came from five states and British ultimately prepare policy recommen- intended to provide elected officials Columbia, and represented six univer- dations building upon the foundation and policy administrators with recom- sities; seven federal land management of work documented in the Western mended actions that, if taken, would agency offices, departments, or Governors’ Association (WGA) Phase III meaningfully contribute to addressing research units; four private forestland Western Regional Science-Based Risk the increasing challenges facing our management entities; and two city Analysis Report (2012) and the Western fire-prone western forest landscapes. governments. Governors’ National Forest and Rangeland Management Initiative (2017). 503-684-8168 The panels met in person during Day 1-800-783-6818 One the Summit for nine hours of alter- 11825 SW Greenburg Road, Suite 200 nating concurrent and plenary sessions Tigard, OR 97223 designed to frame and finalize recom- www.nwforestryservices.com mendations for the next day. Then, on Day Two, approximately 150 people were convened to hear experts summa- K Professional Forest Management K Appraisals rize the work of each panel, and then participate in extensive, unscripted dis- K Timber Inventories and Cruising K Mapping and GIS cussions with a group of university, state, federal, and private forest policy individuals. The day began with open- ing remarks by Oregon State Senator Western Forester Herman Baertschiger, Jr. (Chair, Fire Society of American Foresters Caucus of the Oregon Legislature) and 4033 S.W. Canyon Rd. • Portland, OR 97221 • 503-224-8046 • Fax 503-226-2515 closed with an address and call to action www.nwoffice.forestry.org/northwest-office/western-forester-archive from Oregon’s Governor, Kate Brown. Editor: Lori Rasor, [email protected] Represented on stage throughout Western Forester is published four times a year by the Oregon, Washington State, the Day Two sessions were forest policy Inland Empire, and Alaska Societies’ SAF Northwest Office executives from the Oregon Depart- ment of Forestry; Montana Department State Society Chairs Northwest SAF Board Members of Natural Resources and Conservation; Oregon: Fran Cafferata Coe, 503-680-7939, District 1: Tom Hanson, Forestry and and Office of Washington State [email protected] Arboriculture Consultant, ArborInfo LLC, Commissioner of Public Lands. They 206-300-9711, [email protected]; Washington State: were joined by leaders of forest policy Paul Wagner, www.ArborInfo.com 360-436-0089, [email protected] programs of the Universities of District 2: Mike Cloughesy, Oregon Forest Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Inland Empire: Phil Aune, 509-464-1409, Resources Institute, 503-329-1014, [email protected] Oregon State, along with a representa- [email protected] tive of private commercial forestlands. Alaska: Jeremy Douse, CF, 907-452-8251, [email protected] These nine were joined by two distin- guished leaders of the U.S. Forest Please send change of address to: Service: Vicki Christiansen, Acting Chief Society of American Foresters, 10100 Laureate Way, Bethesda, MD 20814 of the U.S. Forest Service (who, at the [email protected] time, was Deputy Chief, State and Anyone is at liberty to make fair use of the material in this publication. To reprint or make multiple reproduc- Private Forestry), and James Peña, tions, permission must be obtained from the editor. Proper notice of copyright and credit to the Western Regional Forester, Pacific Northwest Forester must appear on all copies made. Permission is granted to quote from the Western Forester if the customary acknowledgement accompanies the quote. Region, Region 6 (before announcing Other than general editing, the articles appearing in this publication have not been peer reviewed for techni- cal accuracy. The individual authors are primarily responsible for the content and opinions expressed herein. his retirement). Next Issue: Silviculture 2 WESTERN FORESTER N APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2018 The collective remarks of the pan- ters, and participants agreed that suc- sustainable conditions into the future. elists and speakers offered a big-pic- cessful strategies must include ways to Summit panels uniformly noted that ture perspective of the remarkable and manage people as well as trees. If additional investment in risk assess- intertwined context for viewing fire in resourced and provided better access to ments that articulate the unique risk of the West, from the variety of jurisdic- best-in-class data and modeling, there both fire and resulting smoke to the tions, landscapes and vegetation types, is virtual consensus that stakeholders in landscape and populations in each and cultural experiences and expecta- a given locality have the expertise and region is needed. Summit panels also tions. The individuals and entities rep- working relationships to evaluate trade- addressed the need for pre-fire strate- resented there collectively agreed we offs, reach compromises, and make gies that specifically address home (or must do a better job incorporating the strategic and effective wildfire manage- “structure”) ignitions during extreme full range of existing science and local ment decisions that make sense locally wildfire conditions, since these igni- land management expertise into our and across the landscape. Establishing tions are principally driven by ignition policies and decisions. “Fire Adapted Community Coordinator” factors (vulnerabilities) of a home in positions to support planning, imple- relation to its immediate surround- Specific Recommendations from mentation, and resourcing of such ings—the “home ignition zone.” Summit Panels efforts at a relevant, local scale could 4. Address Inequities Associated 1. Expand Strategic Use of serve as a major step in this direction.