Interagency team assessing watershed impacts from Mendocino Complex fires
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UKIAH, Calif. – An Interagency Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team from the Department of the Interior is assessing the impacts of the Mendocino Complex wildfires on the public land watershed managed by the Bureau of Land Management’s Ukiah Field Office.
The team will be evaluating post-fire threats to human safety, infrastructure, sensitive species and important natural and cultural resources.
Using a combination of satellite imagery, watershed models and on the ground reconnaissance, team members will determine the potential for accelerated erosion, flooding and debris flows across the landscape and identify other public safety concerns such as fire-damaged trees. The team’s BAER plan will identify measures to mitigate hazards and reduce further resource damage. Fire crews have already begun rehabilitating the fire lines and eliminating hazard trees.
The BAER team includes specialists in hydrology, soil science, archeology, wildlife biology, forestry, and botany. Team members are from the BLM, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, and US Forest Service.
Coordination efforts among emergency response agencies continue. These agencies include CAL FIRE, the BLM Ukiah Field Office, Federal Emergency Management Agency, California Office of Emergency Services, Mendocino National Forest and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Additional BAER Program information is available at https://www.nifc.gov/BAER/.
Additional wildfire information is available at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6073/.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.