Living with risk: Homeowners face the responsibility and challenge of developing defenses against wildfires
Sacramento Bee
July 1, 2007
By Craig Thomas - Special to The Bee
Lake Tahoe, the crown jewel of the Sierra Nevada, is a sensitive natural area that has generated competing concerns for maintaining its world famous air, water and scenic qualities. Intensive development around the lake, and the natural propensity of the region’s forests to burn with regularity, have made management of Lake Tahoe’s forests more challenging than anywhere else in California.
While the tragic losses from the Angora fire are still being calculated, the finger pointing has begun. Angry, frustrated residents understandably want answers, but some citizens may choose to use this tragic event as an excuse to call for overriding environmental protections to expedite logging at inappropriate levels. I have lived in the woods of the Sierra Nevada for 30 years, and I have also experienced wildfires. Our own home narrowly escaped the 1994 Kelsey fire, but defensible space saved it.
I understand the shock and pain people are feeling who lost their homes, and I also understand the desire for privacy, shade and seclusion when you live in the woods. For those of us who live in high-risk areas, the challenge is how to best manage the risks of wildfire where we live.
All fires are different, depending upon the landscape, the weather and fuels such as small trees, brush and grass. The first two factors are beyond human control, and in the case of the Angora fire, nothing could be done to battle the high winds and drought conditions that caused the fire to rage out of control. But steps can be taken to reduce fuels -- and risk -- in forested areas, where increased development in the wildland-urban interface has made the Tahoe Basin and communities in other forested areas vulnerable to severe wildfire.
Forest managers and scientists agree that the most hazardous fuels in the forest are dry grass, pine needles, tree limbs and brush, and eliminating them should be the first priority. The focus of a good fuels management plan must be on reducing those fuels that ignite and spread wildfire, while keeping the large, older trees that are resistant to fire. Those big trees provide shade, keep the forest floor moist and the wind speed down. Because fire behavior is contingent upon local conditions, a "one-size-fits-all" prescription is not the answer.
Indiscriminate logging is not a viable solution to reducing wildfire risk. Logging can actually increase fire danger by leaving flammable debris on the forest floor. Loss of tree canopy lets the sun in, encouraging the growth of brush, increases wind speed and air temperature, and decreases the humidity in the forest, making fire conditions even worse.
Decades of fire suppression, grazing and logging have changed the condition of Sierra Nevada forests -- including those around Lake Tahoe -- causing large wildfires to occur more frequently, burn hotter and spread farther and faster than they would naturally. Years of fire suppression have changed the way fire naturally clears a forest of brush and other fuels, leaving Sierra forests primed for severe wildfires. The U.S. Forest Service and other land managers now understand that the careful, managed use of fire is a necessary part of the mix to keep California landscapes fire-resilient.
The goal of fuel reduction should not be to fireproof forests; that is not realistic. The area where the Angora fire did some its worst damage was thinned 10 years ago. Efforts must be ongoing to thin the small fuels that have accumulated over time. We also need to make smart decisions about where we build homes and make sure they are in defensible areas, where fire trucks can get in and residents can get out.
When homes are built in places vulnerable to fire, with materials that are easily consumed, homeowners need to shoulder more of the responsibility for making their property and homes defensible. And in terms of forest management, the goal should be to target the most dangerous fuels in the forest, and protect people and their homes.
The various jurisdictions in the Tahoe Basin -- the Forest Service, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board -- must collaborate to accomplish the much needed fuels reduction work and set aside the politics that are inherent to inter-agency collaborations.
The Forest Service manages more than 80 percent of the land in the basin. It is its job to find the resources to manage environmentally sensitive areas in a balanced way.
The current drafts of fuel reduction plans by TRPA and the Forest Service both need to focus on the real problem, which is surface fuels, brush and trees smaller than 16 inches in diameter, as stated by the Forest Service. There is broad consensus on this point.
In California, current fire codes require defensible space around a home in fire prone areas. But, the defensible space regulations in urban areas of the Lake Tahoe basin are not being adequately implemented. One homeowner's non-compliance can quickly become their neighbor's fire hazard. However, making homes more safe from fire will not be achieved with a heavy-handed approach. We need to all come together in a positive atmosphere and address the politically difficult issues of enforcing fire code compliance. We also need to focus on helping homeowners with permits for clearing, addressing development in fire prone areas, promoting fire-safe building materials and increasing multi-agency collaboration.
The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board has the responsibility to protect the pristine waters of the Lake Tahoe basin under California's Clean Water Act. There is no place in California where that mandate is more relevant.
Finally, state and federal governments must prioritize fire management dollars for the wildland-urban interface where people live, and not in remote areas where there is no threat to private property. Implementation of the landmark 2001 Sierra Nevada Framework management plan would be a good first step. More than 10 years in the making by the Forest Service, scientists, community leaders, business owners and conservationists, the original 2001 Framework had overwhelming scientific and public support for striking the right balance between fuels reduction and conservation goals.
It is possible for community protection and environmental safeguards to coexist -- any land manager will tell you that, and scientific research backs it up. Now, more than ever, it is time for all the stakeholders in the Tahoe basin to work together to find balanced, practical solutions and accomplish the fuels reduction work that we all agree needs to be done.
The Sierra Forest Legacy is working with the Forest Service and community partners to support several small-scale biomass efforts, including converting South Lake Tahoe High School's gas furnace to biomass fuel, which will help reduce the forest fuels problem in the basin while providing a reliable market for the small wood and brush that stoke wildfires. Our Firewise Communities program encourages local partnerships with state and federal firefighting agencies to increase a homeowner's ability to help their house -- and their neighbor's -- survive a fire. These collaborative processes prove that diverse interests can work together toward a unified goal. There is no time left to play the blame game. Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work.