Klamath Falls Record of Decision: Fire/Fuels Management

Fire/Fuels Management

Objectives

Provide appropriate fire suppression responses to wildfires that will help meet resource management objectives and minimize the risk of large-scale, high intensity wildfires.

Use prescribed fire to meet resource management objectives. This will include but not be limited to fuels management for wildfire hazard reduction, restoration of desired vegetation conditions, management of habitat, management of fire dependent/adapted species, and silvicultural treatments.

Adhere to smoke management/air quality standards of the Clean Air Act and State Implementation Plan for prescribed burning.

Land Use Allocations

None specifically for fire/fuels management.

Management Actions/Direction

General

Apply the management actions/direction in the Special Status and Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement Special Attention Species section.

Address fire/fuels management for all land use allocations as part of watershed analysis and project planning. This will include determinations of the role of fire and the risk of large-scale, high intensity wildfires at the landscape level.

Describe the need to use prescribed fire or other fuel management treatments to reduce fuel hazards and the risk of large-scale, high intensity fire, while maintaining coarse woody debris, down logs, green tree retention, and snags, consistent with the natural role of fire and protection standards for each land allocation unit.

Coordinate fire management activities in rural interface areas with local governments, agencies, and landowners. During watershed analysis, identify additional factors which may affect hazard reduction goals. Minimize the impacts of wildfire suppression actions.

Following election by the interdisciplinary team, prescribed burning will be conducted using management ignition to reduce wildfire hazards in locations adjacent to rural interface areas.

The management of wildland fire will be conducted following the processes and guidelines within the Klamath Falls Resource Area Fire Management Environmental Assessment (Environmental Assessment OR-014-94-09, Finding of No Significant Impacts, May 1994 and Decision Record, June 1994. The Fire Environmental Assessment assessed/assesses the impacts of wildfire as a historic natural process, current wildfire suppression methods, and how prescribed fire mimicking a natural function, is to be conducted on areas selected by random process for ecosystem management, utilizing both management ignition and/or prescribed natural fire (see Table 1 in Appendix B and Table 19).

All Land Use Allocations

Wildfire Suppression

Minimize the direct negative impacts of wildfire suppression on ecosystem management objectives.

Respond to all wildfires by taking appropriate suppression actions. In most cases, responses will consist of aggressive initial attack to extinguish fires at the smallest size possible.

For wildfires that escape initial attack, perform a Wildfire Situation Analysis to develop a suppression strategy to evaluate the damage induced by suppression activities compared to expected wildfire damage. Suppression tactics will consider:

public and firefighting personnel safety;
protection of specific attributes of each land use allocation;
coordination of wildfire suppression activities to avoid causing adverse impacts on federal and nonfederal lands;
appropriate use of suppression tools such as aircraft, dozers, pumps and other mechanized equipment, and clear definitions of any restrictions relating to their use;
the potential adverse affects on meeting ecosystem management objectives; and
protection of structural components such as snags, duff, and coarse woody debris to the extent possible.

Fuels Management (including Hazard Reduction) Using Prescribed Fire

Modify fuel profiles in order to lower the potential of fire ignition and rate of spread; protect and support land use allocation objectives by lowering the risk of high intensity, stand-replacing wildfires; and, adhere to smoke management and air quality standards.

Reduce hazards through methods such as prescribed burning, mechanical or manual manipulation of forest vegetation and debris, removal of forest vegetation and debris, and combinations of these methods. Hazard reduction plans will be developed through an interdisciplinary team approach and will consider the following:

safety of fire fighting personnel;
identification of levels of coarse woody debris and snags of adequate size and in sufficient quantities to meet habitat requirements of species of concern;
consumption of litter and coarse woody debris that are in excess of historic fuel levels that existed prior to attempted fire suppression;
developing a fuel profile that supports land allocation objectives; and seeking a balance between reducing the risk of wildfire and the cost efficiency consistent with meeting land allocation objectives;
interagency cooperation to assure cost effective fuel hazard reduction across the landscape;
adherence to smoke management and air quality standards;
consistency with objectives for land use allocations;
maintenance or restoration of ecosystem processes or structure; and
the natural role of fire in specific landscapes, current ecosystem needs, and wildfire hazard analysis included in the fire management plan.

Prescribed Fire Use for Ecosystem Maintenance and Restoration

The use of prescribed fire will be based on the risk of high intensity wildfire and the associated cost and environmental impacts of using prescribed underburning to meet protection, restoration, and maintenance of critical stands that are current susceptible to large-scale catastrophic wildfire.

Introduce prescribed fire across large areas over a period of time to create a mosaic of vegetation conditions. Treatments should be site-specific treatments because some species with limited distributions are fire intolerant. The use prescribed burning will be based on an interdisciplinary evaluation. Funding authority, therefore, must reflect the range of objectives identified for using fire under ecosystem management.

Use prescribed fire to manage seral stage diversity through the development of fire resistant vegetation mosaics by timing the application of fire (for example, every five to ten years).

Riparian Reserves

Design fuel treatment and fire suppression strategies, practices, and activities to meet Aquatic Conservation Strategy objectives, and to minimize disturbance of riparian ground cover and vegetation. Strategies will recognize the role of fire in ecosystem function and identify those instances where fire suppression or fuel management activities could be damaging to long-term ecosystem function.

Locate incident bases, camps, helibases, staging areas, helispots and other centers for incident activities outside of Riparian Reserves. If the only suitable location for such activities is within the Riparian Reserve, an exemption may be granted following a review and recommendation by a resource advisor. The advisor will prescribe the location, use conditions, and rehabilitation requirements. Use an interdisciplinary team to predetermine suitable incident base and helibase locations.

Minimize delivery of chemical retardant, foam, or other additives to surface waters. An exception may be warranted in situations where overriding immediate safety imperatives exist, or, following a review and recommendation by a resource advisor, when an escape would cause more long-term damage.

Design prescribed burn projects and prescriptions to contribute to attainment of Aquatic Conservation Strategy objectives.

Establish an emergency team to develop a rehabilitation treatment plan needed to attain Aquatic Conservation Strategy objectives whenever Riparian Reserves are significantly damaged by a wildfire or a prescribed fire burning outside prescribed parameters.

Limit the size of all wildfires to the extent practicable.

Allow some natural fires to burn under prescribed conditions. This decision will be based on additional analysis and planning. In Riparian Reserves, the goal of wildfire suppression is to limit the size of all fires. When watershed and/or landscape analysis, or province-level plans are completed and approved, some natural fires may be allowed to burn under prescribed conditions.

Consider rapidly extinguishing smoldering coarse woody debris and duff to preserve these ecosystem elements.

Locate and manage water drafting sites (for example, sites where water is pumped to control or suppress fires) to minimize adverse effects on riparian-wetland habitat and water quality as consistent with Aquatic Conservation Strategy objectives.

Late-Successional/District Designated Reserves

Emphasize maintaining late-successional habitat in wildfire suppression plans.

Use minimum impact suppression methods for fuels management in accordance with guidelines for reducing risks of large-scale disturbances.

During fire suppression activities, consult with an interdisciplinary team to assure that habitat damage is minimized.

Until a fire management plan is completed for a Late-Successional/District Designated Reserve or group of reserves, suppress wildfire to avoid loss of habitat and to maintain future management options. Then some natural fires may be allowed to burn under prescribed conditions.

Prepare a specific fire management plan prior to any habitat manipulation activities in Late-Successional Reserves. Specify how hazard reduction and other prescribed fire applications meet the objectives of the Late-Successional/District Designated Reserve. Until the plan is approved, proposed activities will be subject to review by the Regional Ecosystem Office.

Apply prescribed fire in a manner which retains the amount of coarse woody debris determined through watershed analysis.

Consider rapidly extinguishing smoldering coarse woody debris and duff.

Matrix (General Forest Management Area) - West and East Sides

Plan and implement prescribed fire treatments to minimize:

Intensive burning, unless appropriate for certain specific habitats, communities, or stand conditions;
consumption of litter and coarse woody debris that are in excess of historic fuel levels that existed prior to attempted fire suppression; and
disturbance of soil and litter that may occur as a result of heavy equipment operation.

Identify levels of coarse woody debris and snags of adequate size and in sufficient quantities to meet habitat requirements of species of concern.