Mild fire or wild fire? Controlled fire helps prevent wildfires.

The Sinlahekin Prescribed burn, October 15, 2005, about 1 mile north of Fish Lake.

Kah Tai Prairie Preserve blooms profusely after controlled burn

Here is an article by Jeff Chew of the Peninsula Daily news about the benefits of controlled burning to native plants.
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100428/news/304289977

Notable Quotable: “The results of that burn have reached their glory this year.” – Botanist Fred Weinmann

See the link above for the full article text.

Click here to view interactive maps of yearly controlled fires on the Methow and Tonasket Ranger Districts. Great resource!

There will be a field tour, Fires on the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve, Wed., May 12th, 2010 9AM-3PM

The tour starts at Horn Rapids County Park

The day’s facilitators include:

-Heidi Newsome and Mike Gregg, US Fish & Wildlife Service
-Matt Davies and Eva Dettweiler-Robinson University of Washington
-Jim Evans, The Nature Conservancy

Please RSVP if possible by May 7th to Julie Conley, SCW Shrubsteppe/ Rangeland Partnership,
Julie.conley@icisrvcs.com (509)248-2238. This event is free, but plan to bring water and your own sack lunch.

In 2000 and 2007 thousands of acres of native shrub and grasslands burned in large fires on the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve of Hanford Reach National Monument. The tour will explore the Reserve’s unique landscape and wildflowers and highlight on-going research. This includes work to understand how the fires have impacted these valuable habitats and what restoration techniques can be used to restore native vegetation and control invasive species.

In February, Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark wrote a letter of support from Washington’s Department of Natural Resources for the formation of a prescribed fire council in North-Central Washington.

The Commissioner designated Mark Gray as DNR’s primary contact for the North Central Washington Prescribed Fire Council. Gray is the Assistant Resource Protection Division Manager for Fire Prevention and Community Assistance.

This support follows on the 2009 recommendations of the Forest Fire Prevention and Protection Workgroup identified a desired role for prescribed fire as well as barriers to realizing that role.

Ecological Effects of Prescribed Fire Season: A Literature Review and Synthesis for Managers

by Eric E. Knapp, Becky L. Estes, and Carl N. Skinner
USDA-Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station
General Technical Report PSW-GTR-224, September 2009

From the abstract: Most species in ecosystems that evolved with fire appear to be resilient to one or few out-of-season prescribed burn(s). However, a variable fire regime including prescribed burns at different times of the year may alleviate the potential for undesired changes and maximize biodiversity.

Researchers find that chemicals in smoke called karrikins trigger plant genes associated with light sensitivity. The findings demonstrate a need for more controlled fire.

Link to the Los Angeles Times article by Amina Khan