Livestock Weekly

June 2, 2011

Prescribed Fire Expert Pushes For Policy Change Toward Fire

By Colleen Schreiber

            SONORA — For well over a generation now the state of Texas and the nation as a whole have lived in an anti-fire culture, a culture which largely holds that all fire is bad. That culture has led to a suppression mentality as opposed to maintenance or management of fuel loads, a reactive versus a proactive policy.

            Consequently, the number of large, devastating wildfires has increased significantly over the years in terms of lives and structures lost and acres burned.

            Since fire season started November 15, 2010, the Texas Forest Service and area fire departments have responded to 8787 fires that have charred 2.72 million acres and destroyed 1116 structures and untold miles of fences. According to Don Galloway, planning and policy analyst for the Texas Forest Service, TFS’s FY 2011 budget is about $65 million; the $40 million set aside in this year’s budget for the fire emergency response program has long been depleted, and the fire season is far from over. According to Galloway, by early May the wildfire season had already cost the state in the neighborhood of $76 million. Of that total, about $63 million was spent on federal resources brought in, such as aircraft and additional firefighting personnel.

            The last really bad fire year was in 2005-06. That year more than two million acres burned and property loss was estimated to top $600 million. Fire suppression alone cost the state $80 million, and 20 people lost their lives to wildfire that year.

            “It’s one thing to lose property, but 20 people lost their lives. That should have never happened,” insists Dr. Charles “Butch” Taylor. “It looks like we would have learned something from that, but based on what’s happened this year, I think one could conclude we haven’t learned a thing.”

            Taylor has spent his career researching prescribed fire on the Sonora Experiment Station, but he hasn’t stopped there. In an effort to further promote the use of prescribed fire, to get it on the ground, he’s taken what he’s learned to the landowners. Most recently he’s focused on educating them on the art of prescribed fire through the establishment of prescribed burning associations, a concept that Taylor is perhaps best known for throughout the state.

In 1997 he helped create the Edwards Plateau Prescribed Burn Association. Since then the concept has flourished, growing from 30 members in that one burn association to 860 members in 10 burn associations encompassing 105 counties. Taylor’s goal is to have a burn association in every county in the state. His message has reached other parts of the country as well. Already there are some 30 to 40 burn associations throughout the Great Plains, many of which are patterned after EPBA.

            Despite his efforts, Taylor is frustrated because his efforts to increase the amount of prescribed burning used throughout the state has been much slower than he’d like, and he blames it in part on some of the policies that are in place in the state.

            “We can be proactive or we can be reactive,” Taylor reiterates. “Right now we’re just being reactive, and we end up spending millions of dollars on fire suppression. If we were proactive, we would manage the fuels with prescribed burning so that the fires that break out are easier to control and therefore less costly.”

            In theory, managing fuel loads sounds like a valid principle, socially and economically, and yet Taylor acknowledges it’s not always as simple as it sounds. He points out that for well over a century ranchers ran large numbers of livestock on their range. That heavy livestock grazing and browsing fireproofed the landscape, and consequently wildfires weren’t a great concern.

            Stocking rates have gradually changed over the years as the traditional livestock operator learned that moderate stocking, rotation and rest was a more effective management practice. Additionally, in the last decade or two there has been a major change in land ownership and land use from traditional livestock operations to more recreation and wildlife oriented operations.

That’s not a bad thing, Taylor notes, but often the first recommendation made is to remove all livestock grazing, at least for a while, if not permanently. There is no management of these fuel loads and in years such as this that increases the risk and incidence of wildfires.

            Another challenge, Taylor notes, is that as the population in the state swells, the suburban fringe expands further out into the countryside. Others looking to escape the often frantic pace of the cities or those looking to retire may decide to buy 10 acres in the hill country, for example, where they build their dream home amongst the cedar-infested limestone hills. Again, fuel loads build up, and having all these small ranchettes scattered throughout the hills makes suppression all the more difficult.

            A wildfire, reportedly started by a homeless man, broke out in Oak Hills in southwest Austin a month or so ago. Luckily, only 100 acres burned, but according to an AP report, eight homes were destroyed and 10 others were damaged, and it could have been much, much worse.

            “Had the winds been just a little higher, that fire might have burned all the way to Kerrville,” remarks Taylor. “Sadly, that may be what it takes to wake people up.”

            Education is severely lacking, he says, in that people don’t understand how critically important it is to firescape their homes and other structures.

            “It’s unrealistic to expect the Forest Service and the volunteer fire departments to come save your house every time there is a wildfire,” Taylor comments. “The same goes for those who live in rural communities. We need to educate and encourage local citizens to take the initiative themselves to protect their property from wildfire, and again, one simple way to do that is to manage fuel loads around their properties.”

            There are plenty of hindrances which make managing fuel loads difficult in the state of Texas. The two biggest, perhaps, are county burn bans and liability.

            In 1999 the state legislature passed a bill which gave landowners the right to burn. That same bill, however, reiterated that the county commissioners have the authority to implement burn bans. Today burn bans are regularly implemented, and Taylor says many counties are keeping these bans in place essentially year-round.

            “We knew well in advance that this was likely going to be a bad fire year. We had above average precipitation across much of the state the previous year. The conditions were right to grow a lot of fuel. Then La Niña set in back in the fall and it held on through the winter, and it’s still holding on,” Taylor reminds. “We know the wind is going to blow in March and April, so all the conditions for a bad wildfire season were in place.

“We should have been using prescribed fire to reduce and manage these fuel loads back in October, but burn bans across much of the state limited the ability to do much prescribed burning.”

            Prescribed burning associations can be exempted during a burn ban, Taylor notes, but only if the county judge or county commissioners agree to an exemption. Unfortunately, too many commissioners choose to restrict even burn associations. Taylor explains that one of the problems has been that some counties have felt the law wasn’t clear enough to allow them to grant exemptions to burn during a burn ban.

            County commissioners and county judges, Taylor opines, need to be better educated on the art of prescribed fire. Some have attended Taylor’s burn schools in the past but not nearly enough, he insists. One success story is Soulie Shanklin, the newly elected judge in Edwards County. Shanklin has a goal to make Edwards County the number one county in the state using prescribed fire. He also has a goal to reduce the woody canopy cover in the county through the use of prescribed fire and other management tools by a defined percentage. Water recharge, he says, is the driving point.

            And Shanklin is putting in practice what he’s preaching. In March the EPBA conducted a prescribed burn on his ranch on the outskirts of Rocksprings. He invited the public to come out and watch the burn, and since then he’s opened his property to those who want to see post-fire responses.

            On other education fronts, Taylor says volunteer fire departments also need to be educated and trained in the use of prescribed fire.

            “We need to educate volunteer fire departments on how to use fire to fight fire,” Taylor insists. “When a wildfire breaks out there are two methods for fighting that fire. One is the direct method — fight from the black — which is most commonly used. The other method is to use a technique known as backfiring, whereby firefighters get out ahead of the fire and burn out an area in an effort to stop it. To me that is a lot safer and more efficient, plus again, these fuels can be managed months ahead of time. It’s not like we don’t know when we’re going to have a bad wildfire season,” he reiterates.

            Some are of the opinion that more of the state money now used for fire suppression should go directly to local and county volunteer fire departments for equipment and training with an emphasis again on management of fuel loads rather than suppression.

According to TFS’s Don Galloway, about $25 million of TFS’s annual budget, a figure which according to Galloway is relatively consistent year in and year out, is used to fund VFD grants for equipment, protective gear, trucks, worker’s comp insurance, and so forth. There are also a couple of specific equipment programs — one federal, the other a state program — whereby TFS obtains excess federal equipment that is then donated to state or local fire departments.

Galloway says the grants are determined on a rating system utilizing factors such as coverage area, population, distance to the nearest fire department, etc.

            TFS also has a mitigation department that is charged with fire prevention and public education, specifically working with homeowners on what they can and should do to protect their homes. Fireproofing one’s home, Taylor says, involves common sense practices such as keeping brush and trees in check around the home and clearing brush piles, in particular, away from homes and outbuildings.

            If homeowners have primarily grass around their homes, then a 100-foot perimeter around the home should be sufficient protection, Taylor says. If cedar trees are part of the landscape, a 500 to 600-foot firescape is recommended.

            As for the house itself, a tin roof is the best; wooden shingles are certainly not recommended, and rock, brick or aluminum siding is recommended in high-risk areas. Finally, double-paned windows are more effective against a fire, Taylor says. Wooden decks can be a problem, he points out, particularly those that butt up against a house, and especially if the wood gets really dry and litter accumulates underneath the deck. Theses kind of guidelines are outlined clearly at www.firewise.org.

            Rural communities, Taylor reiterates, also need to be educated, and they need to have a burn plan for protecting homes and lives. In April USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service issued a press release which outlined how the Dickens County Emergency Management team came together to develop a wildfire mitigation plan to protect surrounding communities.

Working with NRCS, the EM team evaluated fire exposure based on fuel loads in and around the cities of Spur, Dickens and Afton. Part of the solution was simple bladed firebreaks around the community. The team, however, identified some CRP land on the west side in close proximity to the community of Spur. In this situation, the landowner was contacted and mitigation action was granted. A prescribed burn management plan was developed and the burn was then approved and conducted on April 20.

Community support, the release pointed out, was “unwavering. South Plains Electric Cooperative and Caprock Telephone Cooperative granted leave to employees serving as Spur volunteer fire fighters. Traffic control and smoke safety was executed by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Spur Police Department and the Dickens County Sheriff's office.”

            EM Coordinator Wess Abbott concluded that "fire-safe buffers like this one on the west side of Spur is not a cure-all for protection. Conditions have remained so severe that nothing we create will provide absolute protection from fires of nature. This action is simply mitigation against wildfire threats. The only cure from a total threat is rain," he said.

            All communities, Taylor insists, should follow the Dickens County model. However, all too often well-laid plans and intentions go by the wayside when the drouth abates and rains come once again.

            The other issue that has been a thorn in the side of prescribed fire enthusiasts is the liability issue. It may be said that the liability concern is also the reason the state has an anti-fire culture. In an attempt to overcome this, in 1999 the Texas legislature passed HB 2599, creating the Prescribed Burning Board. Housed within the Texas Department of Agriculture, the board sets standards for prescribed burning, develops a comprehensive training curriculum for prescribed burn managers, sets standards for certification, recertification and training of burn managers, establishes minimum education and professional requirements for instructors for the approved curriculum, and sets minimum insurance requirements for prescribed burn managers.

            Taylor was instrumental in the establishment of the burning board and the Certified and Insured Prescribed Burn Manager program. CIPBM requires burn managers to be insured and meet extensive training and education requirements to ensure prescribed burns are conducted in a safe and effective manner.

            “The original intent of the law was to remove the liability from the landowner by having individuals trained to conduct prescribed burns,” he explains. “These certified burn managers are required to carry a $1 million insurance policy. They are not only responsible for conducting the burn, but they’re also liable if the prescribed fire gets away.”

            Currently there are two levels of certification — a certified burn manager who does contract burning, and a private certified prescribed burn manager, who is typically the owner of a property or someone who works for a landowner. The private burn manager is not required to carry insurance but rather is covered under the landowner’s ranch insurance policy.

            The burn board is currently working on approval for a third level of certification, a nonprofit certified prescribed burn manager. As Taylor explains, this is an individual who has the authority to conduct prescribed burns on property owned by, leased by or occupied by members of a landowners’ association in which the nonprofit certified burn manager is also a member. One other requirement is that the landowner association must be a 501 C3 nonprofit organization incorporated by the state.

            Currently there are 36 private certified and insured prescribed burn managers and 26 commercial certified and insured prescribed burn managers. By law, Taylor notes, these certified burn managers are exempt from county burn bans and gubernatorial and presidential emergency or disaster declarations.

            Burn associations are also in the process of forming a landowner alliance with representatives from all burn associations.

            “The hope is that this alliance will be more effective at directing policy within the state,” Taylor explains.

            Another goal is to develop a website so that state associations, and perhaps in time associations across the country, can post information on prescribed fires that have been conducted. Having the ability to accumulate and assimilate this kind of actuarial information, Taylor says, will be a useful tool to prove just how safe and effective prescribed fire is. In turn, the insurance companies then have reliable information from which to establish premium rates.

            Despite these positive efforts, Taylor says so much more needs to be done. Continually asking for emergency management funds in years of crisis, (President Obama recently denied Governor Perry’s request for emergency management funds for those affected by the devastating wildfires) is not the answer. The governor also pledged to increase the penalty for arson. Neither of these actions, Taylor insists, addresses the real problem.

            First and foremost, he stresses, the state needs to work harder at developing a fire culture.

            “If Smokey the Bear was carrying a drip torch instead of a shovel … if we had TV spots with him lighting fire with a drip torch and talking about why fire is necessary, that alone would probably do more good than any other single thing,” remarks Taylor.

            “The Texas Forest Service is charged with protecting property and lives during a wildfire, but I think it’s unrealistic to expect them in a bad fire season to solve all the problems,” he reiterates. “There’s not enough money, plus it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars to focus on suppression, to always be reactive rather than proactive. We need a comprehensive fire management plan which focuses on fuel management, and this management can be done by using a combination of prescribed fire and livestock grazing.”

            Where must the leadership come from?

            “It needs to come from prescribed burning associations, from county government, from the state legislature. All of these entities need to take responsibility for this,” he insists. “Every citizen has a stake in this, and it’s going to take everyone coming together to change the fire culture in the state of Texas.”

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