Ochoco WFU News Release for Aug 15, 2008
Incident: Ochoco Prescribed Fire
Released: 8/15/2008
Northwest Fire Use Management Team
Matt Reidy, Incident Commander
OCHOCO WILDLAND FIRE USE COMPLEX
August 15, 2008
For further information call 541-416-6503
The Northwest Fire Use Management Team is managing four small fires in three wildernesses on the Ochoco National Forest northeast and east of Prineville, Oregon. These fires are one acre to about 75 acres in size and are burning in three wildernesses: Mill Creek, Bridge Creek and Black Canyon.
These lightning fires provide the opportunity to use Wildland Fire Use to achieve resource management objectives, including allow fire to play its natural role in these ecosystems, where private property and social values can be protected.
The Northwest Fire Use Management Team specializes in management of Wildland Fire Use. While this is only the 3rd year for the team, individual members have decades of fire experience in eastern Oregon. The team is led by Matt Reidy and has members from throughout the Pacific Northwest. Presently the team has 35 people working on the four fires on the Ochoco National Forest. This includes a specially trained 10-member "Fire Use Module" that actively monitors the fires in the forests and takes management action when needed to meet objectives.
Wildland Fire Use Management Teams bring unique tools and skills needed to measure risk assessment and fire growth projections. Working hand-in-hand with local managers they manage the fire given objectives provided by local decision-makers and provide the information needed for those decisions. The Northwest Fire Use Management Team is familiar with conditions in the Blue Mountains of Oregon and has considerable experience managing wildland fire use in this geographical area. They have expertise with technical considerations such as fire frequency, fuel types, terrain and historical weather patterns. They become familiar with local fire and other land management history. They provide information to affected or concerned local publics.
The Northwest Fire Use Management Team will help introduce Wildland Fire Use to Central Oregon. While "Prescribed Natural Fire" has been used in the past, such as in 1995 in the Mill Creek Wilderness, Wildland Fire Use is a broader tool permitting more active management under the direction of a local Wildland Fire Use Plan or Guide, and is not limited to wilderness or unroaded areas on the Ochoco National Forest.
The guiding document for these four fires is the 2008 Ochoco National Forest Wildland Fire Use Guide. The Guide assists decision-makers from the initial "Go/No Go" decision through a broad spectrum of complexities related to managing a Wildland Fire Use. The Guide is consistent with the Ochoco National Forest's Land and Resource Management Plan and federal wildland fire policy.
A web site with more information:http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/centraloregon/ (see right column).
