Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Kenai Refuge Advance Work Saves Houses From Fire

Two fuel breaks created in advance along a Kenai National Wildlife Refuge boundary helped saved thousands of houses and other structures from destruction during last spring's Funny River Fire.

When the fire's path met the fuel breaks, it slowed and bought firefighters valuable time and space to conduct burn-out operations around several subdivisions. No one was injured, and only four seasonal cabins and two outbuildings were lost, all in an area inaccessible by road.

Also known as fuel treatments, the breaks - in which vegetation is cleared or thinned - were constructed with funding from Kenai Refuge's hazardous fuels reduction program.

"We couldn't have done it without the help of our partners, the Alaska Division of Forestry and Cook Inlet Region Inc. (CIRI)," said refuge manager Andy Loranger.

CIRI, an Alaska Native corporation, owns private land adjacent to the refuge. Through a cooperative agreement the Division of Forestry cleared a 200-foot-wide area there. On refuge land, a second stretch of thinned understory 100-150 feet wide was improved by local contractors into a more aesthetic, shaded fuel break.

The Funny River Fire started at the refuge on May 19. That is early in the fire season on the Kenai Peninsula - home to 60,000 year-round residents in subdivisions surrounded by thick spruce forests and the attendant threat of wildfire.

The communities of Soldotna, Funny River, Kasilof and Sterling along the Sterling Highway were in the direct path of the fire, which was pushed by high winds as tourists arrived for Memorial Day weekend. The fire eventually covered 195,858 acres. It was mostly contained on the 2-million-acre refuge, continued to burn and smolder for more than a month, and remains in "monitor" status until first snowfall.

"Without these two fuel treatments, it is highly likely homes would have been lost on the northern flank," said Rob Allen, the fire's incident commander from May 20 to June 6.

In the past 10 years, every $1 spent on the two fuels treatments at or near Kenai Refuge produced about $165 worth of residential, commercial and industrial structures protected, according to fire management specialists. The total investment in fuels reduction on or near the refuge was $1.5 million, which funded 7.5 miles of fuel breaks and protected more than 3,800 structures. These structures were valued at nearly $255 million, according to the latest estimate in Kenai Peninsula Borough's 2004 "All Lands/ All Hands" community action plan (http://bit.ly/1oA7EdJ). The plan, which involves local organizations and local, state and federal government agencies, aims to reduce wildlife threat through fuels reduction.

While the impact of the Funny River Fire on people was lessened by advance work, it's too early to tell how the fire will affect wildlife and refuge habitat.

Assessment of the burned area will begin next year to determine if any rehabilitation is needed on the 10 percent of the refuge touched by the fire. Staff members have been asked often if the fire will result in increased growth of deciduous tree species like willow, birch and aspen to improve habitat for declining moose populations.

"These plants can re-sprout from surviving roots or they can seed into the burn. However, seeds of deciduous species are more likely to germinate on mineral soil, and much of this early-season fire likely burned too lightly to clear duff to bare soil," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Region fire ecologist Lisa Saperstein. "It is too early to tell, but either way, it would take time for the regeneration to have an effect on moose on a population level."

Karen Miranda Gleason is a public affairs specialist in the Refuge System Branch of Fire Management in Boise, ID.