Forest Service predicted devastation of Sierra’s Creek Fire — but solution came too late
California’s largest single-incident wildfire sparked to life in an area that federal land managers already knew was particularly susceptible to the devastating effects of an uncontrolled blaze.
But two months after officials signed off on a sweeping plan to improve forest conditions in the San Joaquin River drainage northeast of Fresno by removing dead trees and overgrown brush, the Creek Fire fulfilled those fears.
“The most important objective to me is to reduce the risk of uncharacteristically high intensity wildfire, thus protecting human life and property and important natural and cultural resources, while improving forest health and resilience over the long-term,” Sierra National Forest Supervisor Dean Gould wrote in an 11-page decision notice approving the Musick Fuels Reduction and Landscape Restoration Project.
“The risk of large, high intensity wildfire has become painfully apparent over the past few years.”
Gould’s signature is dated July 7, 2020. On Sept. 4, the Creek Fire broke out in a remote section of Big Creek Canyon. By the time the U.S. Forest Service declared the blaze 100% contained — on Christmas Eve — it had consumed nearly 380,000 acres and destroyed 853 structures, including more than 600 single-family homes.
While the fire’s cause remains under investigation, the warning signs were previously known to and, evidently, heeded by federal land managers — just not in time to avoid the exact sort of catastrophe the extensive fuels reduction project was intended to prevent.
“Removal of dead trees and fuel loads that pose a hazard in areas of high exposure is needed to ensure safety of the public, nearby communities, firefighters, Forest Service personnel, and contractors, and to provide for strategic fire protection,” reads a statement from the initial scoping document.
Big Creek Canyon slated for intensive treatment
Introduced at a public meeting in September 2018, the Musick Fuels Reduction and Landscape Restoration Project covers 33,000 acres of the 1.3 million acre Sierra National Forest. Spread throughout those 33,000 acres are nine “strategically placed area treatment” zones that encompass some 12,000 acres. In those areas, all dead and weakened trees within 200 yards of roadways and recreational facilities were to be removed.
The portion of Big Creek Canyon where the Creek Fire ignited, north of Camp Sierra along Balsam Creek, lies within one one of the nine zones slated to receive the most extensive treatment. Ninety percent of trees killed by the combined effects of drought and bark beetles would be removed, “leaving scattered pockets of snags in areas that would not compromise safety,” according to the scoping document. Plans also called for two fuel breaks, each 400 feet wide, in the immediate vicinity.
Treatment methods were to include mastication (in which trees are chopped into small pieces); thinning and machine piling for disposal (burning, deck sales for firewood or chips); thinning, lopping and scattering cut debris; tilling to chop up low vegetation; chainsaw cutting; combined chainsaw and hand cutting; and prescribed fire.
To install fuel breaks, crews would employ either hand or mechanical methods to cut down dead trees and clear overgrown brush. Piles would then “be burned or decked in a strategic fashion.”
Olivia Roe, a Sierra National Forest silviculturist, said in an email that fieldwork on the Musick Fuels Reduction and Landscape Restoration Project has yet to begin – including any related prescription burning.
Native tribes to be consulted on burning
Prior to final approval, the project withstood an environmental analysis that found no significant impact and a 30-day comment period. A legal notice formally soliciting specific comments appeared in The Bee on Sept. 12, 2018. Approximately 350 notices were sent to the public, local governments, organizations, agencies and tribes. Public meetings were held in Clovis and Shaver Lake.
By removing dead trees and thinning live ones across some 5,575 acres with less than 40% slope and 1,600 acres on slopes steeper than 40% using tethering logging systems, officials aimed to create resilient conditions within and adjacent to remaining stands. In five areas, prescribed fire would be the primary method of treatment. In eight, mechanical methods and burning would be used together. Approximately 6,400 acres were proposed for prescribed fire.
Any restoration treatments would be designed to retain California spotted owl home range core areas and activity centers while reducing fire risk, the document states. Limited operating periods designed to protect Pacific fisher den site buffers from disturbance were also included.
In his decision notice, Gould addressed a public comment from a member of the Cold Springs Rancheria who expressed the strong ties Native Amercians have with black oaks and voiced a desire for their groves to be retained.
Gould indicated that re-introduction of fire as a treatment method “will incorporate traditional ecological knowledge and cultural burning on a localized scale” in consultation with tribal communities.
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 11:18 AM.
