Friday, September 21, 2007

Fire recovery meeting scheduled

Public is invited to Sept. 25 event in Ketchum


By JASON KAUFFMAN
Express Staff Writer

Officials with the Sawtooth National Forest and the federal Burned Area Emergency Response team assigned to assess recovery options for the 48,520-acre Castle Rock Fire burn area have scheduled a public meeting to release the results of their findings.

The meeting will be held at the Hemingway Elementary School gymnasium at 111 Eighth Street West in Ketchum at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 25. During the meeting, members of the BAER team will provide an overview of proposed treatments and the expected timeline for implementation.

The team, comprised of natural resource specialists in various fields, used a combination of aerial reconnaissance and on-the-ground fieldwork to examine the intensity and severity of the fire and its effects on natural resources.

The team presented its preliminary findings to the Blaine County Commission, Ketchum City Council and local emergency management officials last week on Sept. 13, states a press release from the Sawtooth National Forest.

During the meeting, the National Weather Service's Sherrie Hebert reported that two remote automated weather stations with precipitation rain gauges are in the process of being placed in the Warm Springs drainage to provide early flood warnings if flood events are predicted. Hebert said the gauges should be in place and operational by this weekend.

The BAER team also met with Kurt Nelson, the Sawtooth National Forest's Ketchum District ranger, on Monday, Sept. 17, to provide treatment recommendations and their overall findings. The team has recommended a variety of hill slope treatments that include mulching and seeding with native grasses and shrubs.

Additionally, the team has recommended trail and road improvements, noxious weed monitoring and treatments and select road and trail closures until conditions improve and risks to the public are minimized.

Finalized maps of the various treatment recommendations should be available by the middle of next week, officials report.

Sometime today, the BAER team will submit an initial report and funding request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for approval. Authorization for the funding request may be in place as early as Friday, Sept. 28, officials report.

Once the funding is in place, work on the BAER team's recommended treatments will begin. The work will likley commence in late September and be completed by early November, depending upon weather conditions, officials report.

"It is imperative to get soil stabilization treatments and seeding in place this fall to increase the likelihood of success," said BAER team leader John Chatel.

A summary report of the BAER team's findings and recommendations will be available next week at www.fs.fed.us/r4/sawtooth/.




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