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[pct-l] Fire Rehab cost Sisters, Or.



Hi

Thought some of you may be interested in this topic. Discovery Program to day 
had emphasis on the benefits on letting forest burn. Let then come to S. CA. 



Fire Rehabilitation Work Begins on B and B Complex

SISTERS, OREGON, October 2, 2003

Deschutes National Forest employees are implementing a plan an emergency 
response team completed to minimize threats to public safety, property, soil 
productivity and water quality caused by the B and B Complex Fire.

A Burned Area Emergency Response, (BAER), team consisting of hydrologists, 
archaeologists, geologists, botanists, engineers and soil scientists began 
making damage assessments September 5 on the 91,915-acre blaze that burned on 
private, state, federal and Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs land. 

Forest Service officials in Washington, D.C., approved the $1,545,015 
emergency stabilization funds and associated treatments, which will be implemented 
primarily before fall precipitation arrives. The funds cannot be used for the 
preparation, contracting or administration of timber sales. 

Smokejumpers and professional timber fallers have started the work by 
dropping an estimated 950 fire-killed hazard trees along Forest Service Roads 1280, 
1210, 1200 and 1230 so personnel could safely perform survey and rehabilitation 
work

The BAER treatments will now focus on high and moderate burn severity areas 
where increased runoff might cause damage to homes, businesses, campgrounds, 
roads and Highway 20. They will also prevent water and soil degradation in the 
Metolius River watershed.

High and moderate burn severity occurred in the First, Abott, Canyon and 
Brush Creek watersheds, increasing the risk of debris slides onto roads and 
recreation sites near the areas. 

Much of the treatment will improve drainage on roads and stream crossings so 
these structures can accommodate anticipated increases in stream flow and 
surface runoff. The measures will reduce the possibility of roads failing and 
sediment flowing into the Metolius River, critical habitat for threatened bull 
trout.

Fire rehabilitation workers will replace several small culverts with larger 
ones and construct concrete culverts at two Abbott Creek crossings on Forest 
Service Roads 12 and 1289. They will also remove all woody debris within 20 feet 
of Link, First, Davis, Jack, Brush, Bear Valley and Abbot Creek culverts to 
prevent them from plugging and washing out.

Engineers will complete a slope stability assessment next year along Highway 
20 to further assess the risk of debris slides where the fire burned intensely 
near Suttle Lake.

Crews will also improve drainage on 33 miles of the Pacific Crest National 
Scenic Trail and trails leading to it to reduce surface erosion and downstream 
effects to other recreation sites. Initially, they will replace bridges and 
clear trails so workers can complete trail improvements where the fire burned.

Trailhead work will include installing 40 signs, warning visitors of 
post-fire hazards. 

Fifty known noxious weed sites, encompassing 305 acres, are within the fire 
area. Deschutes National Forest botanists learned from previous fires that 
noxious weed infestations increased by 60 percent, one to two years following 
blazes.

The botanists will implement a program to limit the spread of noxious weeds 
from roads, trailheads and staging areas where firefighting equipment often 
congregated and deposited seeds during suppression efforts.

They expect perennial grasses and herbaceous shrubs to return throughout 
burned areas during the next few years, based upon their experience with the 2002 
Cache Mountain and Eyerly Fires.

Archaeologists know of numerous cultural sites within the B and B Complex and 
are concerned the blaze might have impacted them. An archaeologist will 
inspect road and trail treatments intended to reduce erosion and protect sites, 
then determine if additional treatments are necessary to protect cultural sites. 








Media Contacts:


Roland Giller, Office of Communications, 541/383-5653 
Louis Wasniewski, Deschutes N.F. hydrologist, 541/383-5566  

    <A HREF="http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/centraloregon/news/2003/index.shtml";>2003</A>

<A HREF="http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/centraloregon/news/2002/index.shtml";>2002</A>

2001