The prescribed burn at Billy Cr, completed March 17 proved to be a documented success! Idaho Department of Lands coordinated efforts and was the leading agency for conducting the burn. To help complete the project, Idaho Fish and Game worked with Bureau of Land Management staff and University of Idaho SAFE Club students to manage the burn. The goal is to test our ability to coordinate, collaborate and work together as cooperating agencies to achieve several common goals.
Our hope with spring burns is to remove fine, flashy fuels to act as a “catcher’s mitt” to help manage a wildfire as it moves through the landscape. By reducing these fuels, firefighters have a chance at stopping the fire sooner. In addition to aid in fire suppression activities during the summer months, this burn also provided many learning opportunities. The University of Idaho Fire Science Program students installed and monitored pre and post burn fuels.
Fire crews perform a test burn to see how the burn will respond to weather and vegetation conditions
Crew member patrols the upper line of the fire to monitor how the fire is behaving.
View looking across Snake River of the lower edge of burn zone
Idaho Department of Fish and Game will use this monitoring to aid in increasing herbicide efficacy post fire and to better understand fire behavior. In short, when using prescribed fire it opens a window to get herbicide on the ground to be more effective at controlling noxious weeds such as cheatgrass and starthistle. The test to ensure we can meet the goals in a spring burn will lead to much larger burns in Hells Canyon in the future. Contact Craig Mountain WMA manager, Andrew Mackey for more information (208) 799-5010.