Montrose - Daily Press

Matt Hildner

Daily Press Writer

MONTROSE - Although the spring snows that blanketed the high country this week may have pushed the threat of wildfire to the back of many people’s minds, federal land managers are close to finalizing treatments meant to keep the fires at bay this summer.

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The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest hopes to reduce fuels on more than 9,000 acres using prescribed burns and mechanical treatments.

The Forest Service works, in some instances, with three other agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, through Montrose Interagency Fire Management Office.

“In a nutshell, the reason we really treat our vegetation in the forest service and in the GMUG is for overall forest health,” said Steve Marquardt, the renewable resources staff officer for the GMUG.

One of the prime targets in the Forest Service sets its sights on is limiting fuels in the wildland urban interface or the point where development meets the public lands boundaries.

The interface has grown in importance since a 2001 national planning effort laid out national priorities in fighting fires.

“When we first started the fire plan, our goal was 60 percent WUI and now the agency is pushing for 70 percent,” Marquardt said.

The public lands in the area have yet to see the pressure that some areas on the Front Range face from the encroachment of houses, but it has grown steadily, Marquardt said.

“You see it down there in Montrose next to the BLM, especially,” he said.

One such project pending approval for this summer would treat nearly 150 acres near Log Hill.

When doing prescribed burns near the developed areas, land managers go through extensive checklists. They only start burns under certain weather conditions and each burn has a detailed fire plan developed in advance, along with appropriate smoke permits obtained from state agencies.

Aside from prescribed burns, the agency also uses mechanical treatments such as rollerchopping to reduce fuels.

The agencies can also work their projects to serve more than one master. In some instances reducing the fuel loads in an area can also improve the forage for big game in their winter range. Eliminating fuels can also improve the range where agencies issue grazing permits for cattle.

Marquardt said the GMUG would probably schedule treatments on at least 2,300 acres that would meet multiple goals.

One proposed project that fits such a bill sits on the northwest side of the Uncompahgre Plateau. The Calamity Basin project would treat fuels and improve wildlife habitat.

Given the increase in homes near public lands and the low elevation of winter range for deer and elk habitat, the two are increasingly overlapping.

The Forest Service also looks to dovetail its treatments with other types of development. The power lines for the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and those of the Western Area Power Administration cross over national forest lands on their way to delivering electricity to homeowners and businesses.

Making sure wildfire does not take down the power grid means treating fuel loads at the base of the lines is also a necessity

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