March 29, 2013 - Colorado Springs Military Newspaper Group

18 MOUNTAINEER — March 29, 2013
DPW
improves
forest
health,
safety
“This program is a
very effective tool
to hold and control
a wildfire from
becoming large
and catastrophic.”
— Glen Silloway, Fort Carson fire chief
For more information, call the DPW Environmental
Division Forestry Section at 526-1692.
By Dawn Beall and
Leonard Cook
Directorate of Public Works
Environmental Division
Massive pine beetle outbreaks and
larger than normal wildland fires are
all too common and widespread issues
severely impacting Colorado’s forests
and altering the mountain landscapes.
Many factors have contributed to
the dilemma of declining forest health.
Decades of a fire suppression policy
have created overcrowded forests and
an increase of fire fuel in the forest.
Natural fires, a significant component
of the forest’s natural life cycle, have
been altered to such an extent that
today’s forests are overstocked and in
poor health. Shifting climate conditions
and an ongoing drought have created
a perfect storm for insect infestation
and catastrophic fire potential.
Additional factors, such as the
lack of a forest industry for using
wood products and the introduction of
many homes into the wildland urban
interface have further exacerbated
these forest issues.
Colorado Springs residents
learned just how close to home the
potential for a major wildland fire is
from last year’s Waldo Canyon Fire.
The fire was the most destructive
and expensive in Colorado history,
consuming more than 18,000 acres,
destroying 346 homes, causing the
evacuation of 32,000 residents and
claiming two lives.
Since the fire, mitigation measures
have been implemented by property
owners and city, county, state and federal
agencies. The thinning and removal
of trees close to structures and creating
or improving existing fire barriers
have been the most effective means
to control this hazardous situation.
Fort Carson has been a proactive
member in the community for years
with its forest management and
prescribed fire programs, completing
many acres of forest thinning
designed to improve forest health
and reduce the wildfire threat.
In 2012, the Directorate of Public
Works Forestry Section developed a
Leonard Cook, Directorate of Public of Works Wildland Fire Team member, conducts
controlled prescribed burn operations to eliminate potential wildland fire fuel.
plan and carried out additional forest
thinning along the western boundary
of Fort Carson along Highway 115.
“We support the project,” said
Mike Camp, Fort Caron Directorate
of Plans, Training, Mobilization and
Security range operations officer.
“It is important to keep fires on Fort
Carson and keep them from moving
off the installation to the west — it
also reduces the chance of the fire
moving from the ground into the
canopy and moving from tree to tree,
which is not safe for firefighters.”
The primary goals of the project,
funded by the Army and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture Forest
Service, were to improve overall
forest health and reduce the fuel
load to aid in fire suppression.
The main forestry management
objective is to achieve the correct
forest density that is sustainable with
existing environmental conditions.
Starting well before the Waldo
Canyon Fire, specific areas on Fort
Carson were identified for treatment,
based on the high concentration of
trees, forest health and the presence
of forest insects and diseases, all of
which creates intense inter-tree
competition for growing space, water
and nutrients. The result is a high
level of stress among all living trees,
which increases their susceptibility to
many other environmental conditions,
such as insects.
Of particular concern is the pin
engraver beetle. This beetle is a small
insect — smaller than a grain of rice
— that attacks weakened and stressed
trees in large numbers, consuming
and continuing their life cycle by
feeding and laying eggs in the tree.
The warming temperatures, below
normal precipitation for many years
and higher concentrations of these
insects are all contributing to
a visible decline of forests.
Insect infestation alone has
decimated vast acreages throughout
the southwest and is quickly spreading
on Fort Carson from the south to
the north. The benefit of select tree
thinning will be stronger trees that
can capture more resources and better
Photo by Danny Gray
withstand insect infestation. Thinning
also stimulates understory plant growth
and improves wildlife habitat.
Fire management is also
improved by aggressive thinning in
several key ways. Accessibility is
improved for firefighters. Better
defined fuel breaks provide defensible
space to prevent spread beyond that
point. Additionally, the firebreak is
easier to maintain using smaller and
more manageable prescribed burns.
“This program is a very
effective tool to hold and control a
wildfire from becoming large and
catastrophic,” said Glen Silloway,
Fort Carson fire chief. “In the event
of an approaching fire, this area
along the west boundary will provide
a much safer area for firefighters to
aggressively contain the spread.”
Unlike previous thinning projects,
the slash, tops and small branches of
removed trees, are being placed in
piles and then burned. This is critical
from the fire fuel perspective. The
lower limbs will be removed on trees
to limit the possibility of ground fires
spreading into the canopy of the trees.
All wood four riverbed inches in
diameter and larger that is cut is used
to support the Fort Carson Firewood
Program, which has benefited many
active duty and civilian families in
the community.
Fort Carson Fire Department
officials have obtained the necessary
permits to burn more than 300
slash piles.
In February, members of Station
34 and the DPW Wildland Fire Team
started prescribed burn operations,
which will continue into the spring.
The fire prescription for the operation
was specific in addressing smoke
dispersal, exact weather conditions,
fire behavior and resources on scene.
The DPW Forestry Section will
continue to manage the forest by thinning,
clearing the understory vegetation
and removing fire fuels. These
proactive measures will benefit the
forest by safeguarding valuable natural
resources, reducing the fire danger
and contribute to the safety of Fort
Carson’s neighbors and firefighters.