| After
the burn
Ron Stone was one of the local landowners that was a victim of the 18,889 acre Fisher fire, a part of the wild fire called Municipal Complex. The fire was located five miles north of Craigmont, Idaho in a rugged canyon where few roads exist to help with suppression efforts. After the fire, the landowners have begun the task of salvaging their burnt timber while it is still useful by our local mills. Charlie Poxleitner had the job of salvaging as much burnt timber out of Ron Stone’s family woodlot as was possible with the equipment he had. The timber industry in Idaho is regulated by the Idaho Forest Practices Act and landowners need to be in compliance with its rules and regulations. One of the primary concerns of the Act is to protect water quality. One of the ways to comply is to install cross-ditches (water bars) that will divert water from a road surface to help control gully erosion. Another way is to crown road surfaces and remove outside berms that keep runoff confined to a road. 
Jeremiah Miller the Craig Mountain fire warden, Ron Stone the landowner, and Mack the dog inspect a stream crossing that has been rehabilitated. Because the fire removed the entire organic horizon covering the soil, this application of straw mulch will do a lot to control erosion at this ford. Other acceptable methods could have involved the installation of a permanent culvert, a temporary crossing with logs, or the installation of rock to surface this portion of the road. The forest practices act remains flexible in its application so that the most appropriate method of protecting water quality may be utilized in treating lots of different situations. 
Amber Reaves the NRCS District Conservationist inspects a Class II creek. Note that road surface, in the foreground, has all of the outside berms removed to provide for drainage. Most of the rules and regulations are a question of common sense and when the rules and regulations are followed all the forests natural resources are protected and continue to provide for sustainable use. 
This close up shows how quickly nature can cover up the bare ground created by a fire with a pine straw erosion control blanket. Above photos by Clark Christianson. |
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