by Michael Howell
The Ravalli County Commissioners, who hoped to fast track adoption of a final draft of the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) at a January 2 meeting, instead decided to slow things down a bit to give the Core Team, an advisory committee, and the public time to review the map submitted at the last minute by Bitterroot National Forest District Ranger Steve Brown. The map depicts a modeled projection of fire risks to structures, infrastructure and habitat by fires on the forest that might not be extinguished on initial attack. It shows graduated areas of fire risk in percentages of the chance of ignition due to the spreading of the fire under various weather conditions.
The commissioners found the map to be new information of such significance that, in their opinion, it justified enlarging the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) beyond the limits depicted in the final draft under consideration that day. The commissioners agreed that the draft WUI border should be enlarged to conform to the area of 50% or greater chance of ignition on the new map.
Commissioner Jeff Burrows said that the new information came in at the last minute but that it did make sense to the commissioners to enlarge the WUI boundary to conform more to the map depicting chances of ignition to structures.
“The information was unexpected, and it puts us back into the process,” he said. “We are not ramrodding this through. We will have another meeting and more opportunity for public comment.” He said other changes were also being considered including placing more emphasis on the Home Ignition Zone and removing Lost Horse drainage from the WUI.
Commission Chair Dan Huls said, “It’s the prudent way to proceed, but it will delay our adoption some.”
According to Burrows, it would require getting a new map produced and making some changes to the draft document related to the boundary change, “but not a major re-write.”
One member of the Core Team who was present wondered if the two drafts would be presented as alternatives. He said that he was unable to attend the last meeting and believed that the draft would not be changed substantially at that meeting. He said he was unaware of any precedent of using a model like the one being presented.
“I’m not questioning the validity of the data used or the modeling, but it doesn’t tie into the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA).” He said he believed it probably shouldn’t be presented to the public before the Core Team had a chance to determine that it is a viable approach. Another Core Team member present agreed with him.
Burrows said that he wasn’t opposed to that. He said that he could see how the Core Team might feel undercut by the process and said that he would try to get the map and the revised document to the Core Team for review before making it public.
It was agreed that the public and the Core Team would be presented with the current draft and the new map and a proposed updated document justifying the new boundary and some other changes prior to it being placed on the county’s website and put out for public review.
Burrows said that he was meeting with the consultant on Friday to discuss the cost of making the changes and would get some timeline for the production of a new map and accompanying narrative for the document. Then he would arrange a meeting of the Core Team to review the materials and then put it out for public review.
No date was set for any decision due to all those variables. Commission Chair Huls said people should keep their eyes open for an announcement of the meeting date once they determine a feasible date. Burrows said that those already involved in the public discussions might receive individual notification once the schedule was set.
Helen Sabin says
No amount of planning or Mum’s will do any good unless the firefighters can control the wind. We were burned out in the 2012 Waldo canyon Fires despite the efforts of everyone on my “canyon” who removed trees, brush, etc. The fire was shifted and did not blow through as the experts told us it would. Instead, the wind shifted and the fire came from the West -NW and flowed south then turned east and moved in toward Colorado Springs. Fires create their own cyclones and it doesn’t matter if there is a one hundred ft break between properties and trees – the wind will determine where the firebrands go and where they land. I do applaud the thinking of the 100 barrier as in a normal fire I have seen a house stay perfectly fine when surrounded by trees that were ablaze. BUT…let the wind come up and all the tanning int he world won’t stop a fire that looks like a speeding train when blown by the wind.