by Amanda Malachesky, with Tracy Katelman
May 31, 2002

"She's hot!" says Jim Danisch. Oma Chase burns slash on Cook Ridge. Photo: Jim Danisch

Many Mattole residents feel uneasiness each year in the dry season. As late afternoon winds arise, and the dry, yellow grass waves wildly, a question on your or your neighbor’s mind might be: will this be the year a wildfire races through our valley? Will we be able to control it? How much will be lost? How can we prevent it?

Historically, the native Mattole people used periodic planned burning to enhance useful plant and animal species, such as using fire to improve the yield and quality of the tanoak acorn crop, and to clear brush. The frequent burning left less fuel standing, and there was consequently a much smaller risk of a fire getting out of control. The white settlers utilized controlled burns to improve pasture and keep the prairies clear of brush and fir trees. However, once Douglas fir became a marketable timber species, and in response to a series of destructive wildfires started by controlled burns in the Mattole in 1964, people were less and less willing to ignite controlled burns. In addition, CDF was less and less willing to facilitate controlled burns. Due to this shift, controlled and prescribed burning has decreased to almost nothing, and dangerous levels of fuel have accumulated throughout the entire watershed.

An abundance of fuel increases the likelihood of a fire traveling into the canopy, or crown, of the forest, which makes it highly unmanageable and damaging to property and forests. While fire is now understood to be an essential part of many plant lifecycles and can enhance certain ecosystems, wildfires of this type are very destructive as they quickly become very hot and kill most plants in their paths. Therefore, it is essential that we find ways to reduce the fuel load in our forests so when a wildfire does come, it can move through the environment with less speed and heat, and perhaps even be productive.

As a response to this reality, residents of the Mattole have begun taking a proactive approach to fire safety and planning with the formation of the Lower Mattole Fire-Safe Council. Similar Councils already exist in Trinity County, Del Norte County, and Siskiyou County, as well as the entire state of California. With US Forest Service funding, administrative and fundraising support from the Mattole Restoration Council, and coordination by Tracy Katelman and Ian Sigman, eight neighborhood public meetings between Wilder Ridge and the coast took place between January and March to discuss the most pressing fire threats.

A neighborhood representative volunteered from each of these areas: Prosper Ridge, Wilder Ridge, Panther Gap, Lighthouse Road, Honeydew, Petrolia proper, Conklin Creek, Green Fir, Windy Nip/Doreen Drive and the Lower North Fork. These ten community members, along with representatives of the Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, California State Parks, Honeydew Volunteer Fire Company, and the Petrolia Volunteer Fire Department, will make up the Lower Mattole Fire Safe Council. The Fire Safe Council will meet two to four times per year to collaborate on neighborhood-specific projects. Their first meeting is Tuesday, June 25, 2002 at the Mattole Grange from 6:30 to 9:00 PM. This is a public meeting open to the entire community.

A draft of the fire-safe report, which is being compiled from community input from the neighborhood meetings, will be presented at the June 25 meeting for community review and input. If you are unable to attend this meeting, and would like to review the draft document, please contact Tracy Katelman at 629-3599 or fire@mattole.org, to receive a copy.

After public comment is received, a final document will be produced later in the summer. This final draft will provide a list of prioritized projects and potential funding sources that the new Fire Safe Council will then be able to carry out.

In spite of varying degrees of fire-readiness throughout the valley, all meetings provided an abundance of ideas for additional ways to fire-safe our community. As would be expected, everyone had an idea or two for neighborhood projects. Some suggestions included:
· Creating a volunteer fire company on Prosper Ridge
· Installing fire-specific water tanks in all neighborhoods
· Creating shaded fuel-breaks on well traveled roads and between some key public/private land interfaces (a shaded fuel break is a fuel break utilizing shading from trees above to keep brush from growing back into the site.)
· Developing evacuation plans for densely populated areas such as Doreen Drive in Honeydew and Prosper Ridge
· Placing fire risk signs on Mattole Rd., BLM land, and campgrounds
· Assisting elderly and disabled residents in fire-safing their homes
· Buying a community chipper for use in disposing of cleared brush
· Creating a Neighborhood Emergency Service Team (NEST) list for the Honeydew area
· Providing fire safe education in the Mattole Valley public schools
· Improving fire truck access to all locations to the extent possible

The priorities for projects are focused on those that cross several ownerships, trying to achieve the greatest benefit for the least amount of input.

In addition, BLM representatives announced at the neighborhood meetings that they are increasing their fire prevention efforts this year. BLM will not only be posting fire closure signs throughout highly trafficked areas and on their web site, they will also have a full-time ranger patrolling the Lost Coast trail this summer. In addition, BLM firefighters will respond to all fires in undeveloped areas – even campfires – after the fire closure goes into effect, and put them out as if they were a wildland fire, billing those responsible for the fire when possible.

Thanks to our new Fire Safe Council, and especially all the people who have volunteered to serve as charter members, we will be able to address these community concerns and organize comprehensive efforts to provide safety for all in the event of a fire. To find out more about the Lower Mattole Fire Safe Council, contact Ian Sigman at 629-3445 or firesafe@mattole.org.



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Table of Contents for Mattole Restoration Newsletter, Issue 18 - Summer/Fall 2002