By
Rebecca Missel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Controlled fires prevent future problems on Mount Graham, official says
Two internationally-owned telescopes that the UA helps operate are not at risk during a prescribed burn on Mount Graham, even after a prescribed burn in New Mexico this summer raged out of control, Steward Observatory officials said yesterday.
"The wildfires were bad this year," said Richard Streeper, district fire management officer for the U.S. Forest Service in Safford. "We've suppressed wildfires over the last 100 years and that's interfered with the natural fire currents."
To prevent a similar incident to Los Alamos, New Mexico, the Forest Service will cut away existing "dead and down" trees. Broadcast burn or less-controlled burn areas will be limited to 450 of the 1,100 total acres that will be thinned.
"It's fair to say the federal government learned from that (Los Alamos) problem," said Buddy Powell, associate director at the Mount Graham International Observatory and at the Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona.
"I have every confidence in the U.S. Forest Service," he said. "What they're doing is a good thing to improve the long-term health of the forest."
To protect the telescopes in case a fire breaks out, the university has a water tank on site that holds up to 50,000 gallons of water.
"We just try to follow the Forest Services' recommendations and advice," Powell said.
Many Mount Graham red squirrels live in the area and that is the principle reason for not doing a full broadcast burn, Streeper said.
"The threatened and endangered species collects cones in trees and their food cache would be damaged or destroyed if we burned everything," he said.
Mount Graham's last major fire was in April 1996 on Clark Peak. The fire burned 6,700 acres and came within 200 yards of the telescopes.
"The Forest Service learned from Clark Peak," Powell said. "If this experience is successful then they might plan to expand the program."
Just last year there were 23 lightning ignitions, the largest of which burned 130 acres. Streeper also said that more helicopters and air tankers were used this year than in any other recent year.
"We've been apprehensive because of draughts - we have the potential for a catastrophic situation," he said.
The prescribed burn will cost $790,000 during the next six years, but Streeper said Congress has increased funding for preventative measures overall.
"It's not a question of if but when and there is an ever increasing fuel loading," he said. "When fires occur we'll have a greater probability of success in managing these fires without burning large portions of the mountain."
By introducing the prescribed burns in the winter when snow is on the ground or during summer monsoons the practice is safer, Streeper said.
"There's always a risk when you introduce fire to a landscape," he said.
