<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceType"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceName"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="Street"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="address"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p
{mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<p><st1:place w:st="on"><b><font size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:16.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Forest</span></font></b></st1:place><b><font
size=5><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-weight:bold'> Service rehabilitates
land</span> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<span id="ArticleControl1_lblDateAndAuthor">
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>4/12/2007</span>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=22748">http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=22748</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Land
rehabilitation in the areas of the Trinity County Bar Complex and Junction
fires continues after a devastating fire season in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Shasta-Trinity</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">National
Forest</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. <br>
<br>
Rehabilitation efforts are focused on reforestation, fuel reduction, slope and
channel stabilization, road and trail restoration, public safety, invasive
weeds, wildlife and riparian habitats, according to a U.S. Forest Service news
release.<br>
<br>
Of the 3,126 acres burned in the Junction Fire on July 29, 2006, 303 acres were
on National Forest Service System lands. <br>
<br>
“An emergency does not end when a fire is contained,” said Trinity
River Management Unit Ranger Joyce Andersen in the news release. “We have
a lot of post-fire recovery work to do. So far, we have received $66,000 to
begin our burned area emergency response on the Junction Fire.”<br>
<br>
BAER dollars will go toward rehabilitating areas within the Junction Fire area.
The Forest Service will use those dollars to complete numerous projects,
including riparian stabilization in the area above Weaver Creek. <br>
<br>
Additionally, 35 tons of certified weed-free straw will be spread on both sides
of State Highway 299 along the steeper slopes of Oregon Summit to stabilize
soils, minimize deterioration in water quality and reduce sediment and debris
movement.<br>
<br>
This week, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Shasta-Trinity</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">National Forest</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> officials
received $19,000 in national fire rehabilitation funds to reforest areas within
the Junction Fire area.<br>
<br>
The Forest Service is also continuing restoration efforts on the Bar Complex
Fires, which were started by lightning July 23, 2006, and burned slightly more
than 100,000 acres. <br>
<br>
Officials have committed $98,000 to rehabilitate trails in wilderness areas
impacted by the fires.<br>
<br>
While forest visitors will see the Forest Service responding to the needs of
backcountry hikers and trail enthusiasts in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, they
won’t find officials removing fire-killed trees in the wilderness.
Ninety-two percent of the land burned during the Bar Complex Fires is within
congressionally designated wilderness areas. The Wilderness Act protects the
wilderness values and precludes tree removal, unless there is an immediate
danger to life, according to the news release.<br>
<br>
Almost all the remaining land burned is designated as roadless area. To remove
fire-killed trees here requires approval from the state of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> and the chief of the Forest
Service, as well as an environmental impact statement. The Forest Service will
remove hazard trees this summer along the <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address
w:st="on">Manzanita Ridge Road, east</st1:address></st1:Street> of Big Flat
Campground, an area that provides access to a Trinity Alps Wilderness
trailhead. <br>
<br>
The Forest Service has been meeting regularly with the Trinity County Board of
Supervisors to collaboratively work through wildland fire issues.<br>
<br>
“We are working together to identify opportunities to reduce fuels in the
county, including prescribed fire, mechanical fuel reduction treatments and
thinning, which will reduce the impacts of a catastrophic wildfire,”
Andersen said. “One way for the public to reduce the risk from a wildfire
is to create defensible space around their homes.”<br>
<br>
In January 2005, a new state law became effective that extended the defensible
space clearance around homes and structures from 30 feet to 100 feet.<br>
<br>
Research on a 1990 wildland fire that destroyed nearly 500 homes near Santa
Barbara showed 78 percent of the houses with 30 feet of clearance survived,
compared with 38 percent of those without any control. <br>
<br>
Proper clearance to the new 100-foot standard would dramatically increase the
chance of a house surviving a wildfire, according to Forest Service officials.
Firefighters say thinning the brush in the immediate vicinity of a home creates
a “defensible space” where firefighters can make a stand against a
blaze.<br>
<br>
For more information on defensible space and how to prepare for this
year’s fire season, visit the Shasta-Trinity National Forest Web site at <a
href="http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/shastatrinity" target="_Blank">www.fs.fed.us/r5/shastatrinity</a>
or contact the nearest Forest Service ranger station.</span><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>