| Few animals lost to Biscuit
flames
(Note: Please read this carefully and see how this Dept. of Interior, USFWS 'expert,' Randy Miller, crafts language deception and seeks to make the reader believe that there should be no 'prescribed fires.' The reporter just laps up the Aesopian language. They both seem to be of the 'Don't confuse me with the facts' line of 'thinking.' From what 'black hole' did they pluck the 'few animals were lost' malarkey?) February 1, 2003 By Bill Lundquist Pilot Staff Writer The Curry Pilot Brookings, Oregon To submit a Letter to the Editor: mail@currypilot.com Some wildlife species were winners in the Biscuit Fire, and some were losers, according to Randy Miller, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service. Miller was one of the forest service experts on hand to answer questions at the Biscuit Post-Fire Assessment report open houses held in Brookings and Gold Beach this week. He said the losing species will be victims of a loss of habitat. Few birds or animals were lost to flames. Miller said most wildlife was able to move out of the way of the fire, except maybe on one of the worst days, when 60 square miles were consumed. "That's a lot of fire to run from," he said. Some species lost their homes, not their lives. About 80,000 acres of habitat suitable for northern spotted owls was lost in the Biscuit Fire, or about 60 percent of once-suitable habitat within the fire boundary. Miller is trying to obtain funding to study what the owls are doing with what is left. He said past studies concluded spotted owls need 70 percent forest canopy closure for suitable habitat. He said the studies may have settled on that number because that's where most of the owl nests were found. He wondered, in the case of the Biscuit Fire, if the owls could survive with less canopy, now that they'll have to. The forest service's strategy for wildlife, said Miller, will be to maintain the surviving patches of forest within the burned area, and try to reforest connecting corridors between them. Miller said the "loser" species would be those that can't travel far. Their offspring will be trapped in isolated surviving islands in the burned area. The marbled murrelet was impacted far less than the spotted owl, said Miller. He said murrelet habitat does not extend much beyond the "fog zone." He was pretty sure the fire would be stopped when it reached that moist territory, and it was. Bald eagles also seemed to have suffered no adverse effects from the fire. As was the case in Yellowstone National Park, grazing animals will be the "winners" in the Biscuit Fire as forests are replaced by new sprouts and meadows. Miller said some elk may have to be transplanted to take advantage of the new habitats, but the lost owl habitat should now be great for deer. He said it will be important to protect the surviving islands from future "crown" fires. That could mean salvage logging to remove large fallen trees and prescribed burns to reduce the fuel buildup from brush. Miller said removing burned snags would also make it safer for firefighters to go in and make direct attacks on future fires. "Until we have a proactive fuels management plan," he said, "we can't safely let fire burn. We will always choose human safety over ecological need." Miller said nature designed Northwest forests to be cleared every couple of decades by low intensity wildfires that take the brush but leave the trees. People moved close to the forests and into them, resulting in a fire suppression policy that has allowed forest fuels to build up to record levels. Now, wildfires become monster blazes that consume everything, including old growth trees. Miller said that may mean less old growth trees in the next 50 years. He said the forest service is now trapped in an escalating cycle where it must protect human life and property by putting out fires before they can threaten communities. Quelling those fires, however, contributes to more fuel buildup, until numerous huge fires overwhelm the nation's firefighting resources. Miller would like to see more prescribed burns, but said it would be a monumental and expensive task, given the present need in forests in the Western United States. He also said it only takes one or two prescribed fires getting out of control before politics ban them. Since the forest service can't control the weather, said Miller, prescribed fires will occasionally get out of control. As for the Biscuit Fire, he said, firefighters were always "a day late and a dollar short" in the opening days of the fire. With more hand crews, said Miller, a line could have been completed that would have stopped the original fire on Florence Creek. Those crews were off fighting mammoth blazes in the Southwest, however. The assessment report also included a summary of recommended actions. It said the rehabilitation of land impacted by fire suppression activities was not completed in the fall, and should be competed as soon as possible. It suggested timber salvage be considered area by area according to "need for action." It said, "significant road maintenance work is needed to repair fire damage and bring roads into a condition that they can handle increased runoff resulting from the fire." The report recommended an off-highway vehicle plan be developed to protect areas that could be damaged. It recommended another plan to control noxious and invasive weeds that will enter the burned areas. It said a plan should be developed to control the spread of Port Orford Cedar Root Disease when commercial mushroom harvesting begins in the spring. It recommended all washing stations from the fire be mapped so it can be determined whether or not they should be made permanent. The report also contained recommendations for visitor safety, and for the removal or restoration of damaged recreation facilities. |