Orogrande Community Fuels Reduction Project

2019

In the heart of the Red River Ranger District, surrounded by vast tracts of timber and truly wild lands, lies the tiny but tenacious community of Orogrande. While direct translations will suggest the Spanish name means “Big Gold” an old sign in town informs visitors the name means “Coarse Gold” and tells of a history of hearty folk who have passed through the area seeking both material treasures and spiritual places which can’t be found in big cities. Today’s Orogrande residents may indeed be there for the same solace sought by many before them but most know the trade-off comes at a cost. Surrounded by a landscape of rocks, rivers and vegetation molded through the millennia by natural fire, the fact remains that wildfires will burn in the area – whether or not we humans want, or try to stop them.

In order to live with those inevitable fires, Orogrande residents and the Red River Ranger District (RRRD) are taking steps to provide for their safety by thinning the forest around the community and along the main access to it – the twelve-mile long Crooked Creek Road. After a long, and sometimes contentious planning process, a multifaceted implementation plan has begun to accomplish the project objectives of creating a more resilient forest condition and providing safety for the community by reducing potential wildfire intensity around it. First, units to the south and west have recently commercially logged 180 acres to better utilize the larger diameter trees from the area. Prescribed burns were implemented to clean-up logging debris and return fire on a smaller scale to the ecosystem.

Smoke from a prescribed burn rises above the community of Orogrande

A prescribed fire above the community of Orogrande, ID is reducing post logging debris. USFS Photo by Tom McLeod

Second, the Crooked Creek Road has been undergoing hand thinning and mechanical mastication projects. Understory vegetation has been thinned up to 300 feet from the Crooked River Road. Most of the vegetation that was thinned within 100 feet of the road was chipped. The chips were hauled a short distance to be incorporated into the Crooked River Restoration Project designed to improve biomass within the soil. This provided an excellent opportunity to work with both the Nez Perce Tribe and Idaho Fish & Game.

Before on top shows dense forest. After on bottom shows a thinned forest with less burnable fuels.

Notice the Difference

To the average forest visitor, the thinning work along the road may not be immediately noticeable. But residents and fire managers alike are happy with the progress. Assistant Fire Management Officer, Tom McLeod, points out that the stark contrast of the reduced understory and tree spacing in these treatment areas will effectively change any fire behavior adjacent to the road. “We are confident this treatment will provide a good opportunity for fire managers to take a stand along the road against an advancing fire,” said McLeod. “The lower intensity fire may provide either a great anchor point for a fire line or, at least, provide a safer egress from the community.” McLeod further explains that these treatments are not going to stop wildfires from happening. “That can’t be done. The key is to understand that fire is a natural process and that we can live with fire by making the vegetation around our communities more resilient.”

A before and after photo of vegetation that shows high intensity fire versus a low intensity fire.

 

What Are the Future Plans?

Additional treatments are planned within the units along the road to improve overall effectiveness. This includes hazard tree removal, additional thinning and pruning, and prescribed burning. In addition, landscape prescribed burning is planned along the Crooked River drainage to create a more fire resilient forest over a larger area.

The project will continue to be implemented and the treatments will be improved, as funding is available and priorities don’t change.

For questions about any fuels reduction projects on the Red River RD, please call the district office at 208-842-2245 and ask for Tom McLeod.