State works to reduce wildland fire fuels

By STEVE KADEL Western News Reporter

Smoke and a chain saw's whine rose Tuesday from five acres of state land near Flower Creek.

There were burn piles under the pines, one of them still smoldering and another with leaping flames. State Department of Natural Resources and Conservation employee Jeb Butler cut a fallen tree into sections while co-worker Michael Landon fed the fire.

The forest floor was so clean that you could look across the parcel to a road and see a thick tangle of brush beyond the road.

This was all a tangle before Butler and Landon arrived a month ago. They've been working daily to reduce fire fuel, their salaries paid by a National Fire Plan grant.

"This is the first time we've been able to get that money for state lands," said Keith Kenelty, fire prevention specialist for DNRC. "Before, it was for private lands."

He hopes the cleaned-up section of state timberland will be an example for homeowners whose land is timbered or brushy.

"We've been preaching to people to do it on their own land, so it's time we did ours," Landon said while taking a break from tossing branches on the fire.

The idea behind clearing brush and small "ladder trees" is to keep any potential fire on the ground, rather than giving it a chance to reach the forest canopy.

"If a fire does come through here it'll probably be no more than 2-foot flames," said Butler. "That's pretty easy to suppress."

When this side of the road is finished, they will tackle the brush on the other side. Eventually they'll carve a firebreak between the state property and adjacent homes.

"It's something we're doing to help the property owners," Kenelty said.

He emphasized that money is available to hire volunteer firefighters across Lincoln County to do similar work on private property.

"Even if you have two or three acres in a housing development, this is something everyone could be doing," Kenelty said.

Owners who are interested in cleaning their land should call DNRC at 293-2711 or Northwest Regional Resource Conservation and Development at 293-8885. Officials from one of those agencies will schedule fire personnel to do the work.

Kenelty has trained them to make home assessments. He's in charge of fuel reduction projects in the Farm-to-Market area and along Thompson Chain of Lakes.

Northwest Montana is extremely dry, the three DNR employees confirmed.

"The moisture content in green trees is low," Landon said, comparing current conditions to those generally found in July. "This may be the year we all go get cameras and have a Kodak moment."

He noted that a lightning strike April 30 set off a grass fire at Thompson Lakes. It was contained quickly, he said, but shows the fire season is ahead of schedule.

"It's shaping up awfully early this year," Butler agreed.

Besides clearing the state land of potential fire fuel, he and Landon also have removed trash such as TV antennas, old lawn furniture, and discarded sewer pipe.

"We spent the good part of a day taking out barbed wire," Butler said.

The brush removal is an alternative to clear-cutting, Kenelty said. The National Fire Plan, which is run through the U.S. Forest Service, originated during the Clinton administration as a more environment-friendly way to reduce fire hazards.

For employees such as Butler and Landon, the grant money has economic benefits as well.

"It's good because it put us to work a couple of months early," Landon said.