August Complex-North Post-Fire BAER 2500-8 Assessment Report Released

The Shasta-Trinity and Klamath National Forests recently received funding for emergency stabilization measures on Forest Service System lands burned by the August Complex Fire.  The emergency treatments and activities are designed to decreased possible impacts to values-at-risk from the northern portion of the August Complex burned area such as: life and safety, property, critical natural resources and cultural resources.  NOTE: Attached below as “Related Information” is a PDF document called “August Cx-North BAER 2500-8 Interim 2”.

BURNED AREA EMERGENCY RESPONSE (BAER) TEAM BOTANISTS REVIEW FIRE IMPACTS ON VEGETATION IN THE AUGUST COMPLEX-NORTH BURNED AREA

When a forest fire burns, the most obvious vegetation or plants to be impacted are the trees. However, many other plants are also present in the forests, growing under and around the trees. Some of these are plants growing in special habitats or limited areas. In addition to assessing potential threats to life and safety, property, and cultural resources during rain events following burned fire areas, the Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) program also assesses potential threats to natural resources, which includes an assessment of native plant communities to facilitate early detection and rapid response to prevent the spread of invasive species.

Forest Service BAER Team botanists John McRae and Lusetta Sims have been traveling around the August Complex-North fire area, looking for these rare plant conservation areas in high severity burned areas, noxious weed populations, and suppression impacts on these sites. They are looking to see how the plants fared during the fire, whether they are likely to be further harmed by after-effects of the fire and suppression activities, and what types of land treatments they can propose in their BAER assessment reports to protect the plants from further post-fire impacts.

Carrying maps showing the reported locations of special plants, mobile tablets and a camera, the botanists drive along Forest Service roads in the burned area. Where the maps indicate these plants should be, the botanists stop and search, hoping to find them. Armed with detailed knowledge of the plant structure and preferred habitat, some are identified by little more than a tiny stem, a few dried leaves and, if they're lucky, the seed head.

The botanists also map the locations of noxious weeds such as diffuse knapweed, star thistle, and Scotch broom. Fire reduces native plants populations and can create areas with exposed soils and increased sunlight especially in new dozer lines built to fight the fire. Botanists are concerned about noxious weeds colonizing these burned areas, rapidly spreading throughout large areas and crowding out native plant communities. These invasive plants can be poisonous to people or animals and can change the soil chemistry making it more difficult for native plant communities to grow back. From an ecological perspective, the spread of invasive plants compromises the native plant community and all that it supports—from fish, to mammals, to the life support of the fungal network underground to trees, shrubs, and herbs.

Combined with an air reconnaissance flight over the burned areas, these documented assessments will give the botanists an idea of fire-related damage to rare plant habitats and ideas of where problems are likely to develop in the future.

August Complex-South Post-Fire BAER 2500-8 Assessment Report Released

The Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests recently received funding for emergency stabilization measures on Forest Service System lands burned by the August Complex Fire.  The emergency treatments and activities are designed to decreased possible impacts to values-at-risk from the southern portion of the August Complex burned area such as: life and safety, property, critical natural resources and cultural resources.  NOTE: Attached below as “Related Information” is a PDF document called “August Cx-South BAER 2500-8 Report-Phase I_PUBLIC”.

August Complex-North Post-Fire BAER Soil Burn Severity Map Released

Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists recently completed their data gathering and verification field work of the August Complex-North burn area.  The Soil Burn Severity map has been finalized.  Soil Burn Severity levels are Unburned/Very Low, Low, Moderate, and High.

The map shows that in the August Complex-North fire area, approximately 61% of the 551,493 acres analyzed by the BAER team is either unburned/very low (32%) or low (29%) soil burn severity, while 31% sustained a moderate soil burn severity, and only 8% burned at high soil burn severity.

The BAER post-fire assessment team uses soil burn severity data to identify areas where increased soil erosion, accelerated surface water run-off, and debris flows have the potential to impact human life/safety, property, and critical natural and cultural resources from storm events. The Forest Service BAER team scientists and specialists are planning emergency treatments for those critical resources on National Forest System lands.  The BAER team shares their analysis and findings and coordinates with local, county, state, and other federal agencies who are preparing their responses and working with private land and business owners to help them prepare for upcoming rain events.

BAER Team Leader Brad Rust said, “The map shows that the fires within the August Complex burned the majority of the landscape in a mosaic pattern, but there are areas of concentrated moderate and high soil burn severity. Low and very low soil burn severity areas are expected to recover naturally within 2 to 3 years. However, with 39% of the burned area in the moderate or high soil burn severity category, we expect erosion and run-off within the August Complex-North fire area to moderately increase. In these areas, there is concern for increased post-fire run-off from steep hillslopes, resulting in increased post-fire soil erosion and flood risk.”

The August Complex-North soil burn severity BAER map can be downloaded at the interagency “August Complex Post-Fire BAER” InciWeb site (https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7228) as a JPEG or PDF version under the “maps” tab.

A "Field Guide for Mapping Post-Fire Soil Burn Severity" can help with interpreting the map and can be found online at http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr243.pdf.

SAFETY MESSAGE: Everyone near and downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains over the burn areas. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events—be prepared to take action! Current weather and emergency notifications can be found on National Weather Service websites: www.weather.gov/sto/, and www.weather.gov/eka/.

Map Released Showing BAER Assessment Area for August Complex-North

Recently, the Shasta-Trinity, Six Rivers, and Mendocino national forests determined the assessment area for the August Complex-North BAER Team to be approximately 490,000 acres. See map (JPG & PDF) posted under Maps Tab.

AUGUST COMPLEX-SOUTH BAER SOIL BURN SEVERITY MAP RELEASED

Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists recently completed their data gathering and verification field work of the August Complex-South burn area.  The Soil Burn Severity map has been finalized.  Soil Burn Severity levels are Unburned/Very Low, Low, Moderate, and High.

The map shows that in the August Complex-South fire area, approximately 52% of the 521,256 acres analyzed by the BAER team is either unburned/very low (9%) or low (43%) soil burn severity, while 44% sustained a moderate soil burn severity, and only 4% burned at high soil burn severity.

The BAER post-fire assessment team uses soil burn severity data to identify if there are areas of concern where increased soil erosion, accelerated surface water run-off, and debris flows have the potential to impact human life/safety, property, and critical natural and cultural resources from storm events. The BAER team consists of Forest Service scientists and specialists that are considering emergency stabilization options for those critical resources on National Forest System lands.  The BAER team shares their analysis and findings with interagency cooperators who work with private land and business owners to help them prepare for upcoming rain events.

BAER Team Leaders Luke Rutten and Kendal Young said, “The BAER team expects erosion and run-off within the August Complex-South fire area to moderately increase as a result of the fire because 48% of the burned area experienced moderate or high soil burn severity.”  In specific areas that experienced moderate to high soil burn severity, there is concern for increased post-fire run-off from steep hillslopes and resultant increases in post-fire soil erosion and debris flows.

The August Complex-South soil burn severity BAER map can be downloaded at the interagency “August Complex Post-Fire BAER” InciWeb site (https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7228) as a JPEG or PDF version under the “maps” tab.

A "Field Guide for Mapping Post-Fire Soil Burn Severity" can help with interpreting the map and can be found online at http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr243.pdf.

SAFETY MESSAGE: Everyone near and downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains over the burn scars. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events-be prepared to take action. Current weather and emergency notifications can be found at the National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov/sto/, and https://www.weather.gov/eka/.

BAER completes field work for a portion of the

August Complex South Zone

WILLOWS, Calif. — Oct. 7, 2020 — Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists from the U.S. Forest Service recently completed their data gathering and field work of the August Complex Fire burn area.  Their focus was to verify and finalize the soil burn severity map. Soil burn severity is classified into levels between unburned and high.

Due to the size of the fire, its activity, and the team’s inability to visit the northern portion of the fire, the BAER team assessed the southern portion of the fire, an area 521,000 acres in size. The northern portion will be evaluated at a future date once activity drops and the specialists are allowed into the burned area.

BAER specialists will now use the soil burn severity data to identify if there are areas or features of concern where increased soil erosion, accelerated surface water run-off, and debris flows have the potential to impact human life and safety, property, and critical natural and cultural resources from rain events. 

For more incident information please see InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6983/   For BAER information see: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7228/

WILLOWS, Calif. – Oct. 3, 2020 – A Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team was established by the Mendocino National Forest to begin burned area assessments of the August Complex South Zone. The BAER team is being led by Forest Service Hydrologist Luke Rutten, Natural Resource and Planning Staff Officer Kendal Young, and Fishery Biologist Dan Teater. Another Forest Service BAER team is tentatively scheduled to begin its assessment of the North Zone of the August Complex in a couple of weeks. Both teams will coordinate with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), National Weather Service (NWS), US Geological Survey (USGS), Mendocino, Glenn, Tehama, Trinity, and Lake Counties and other federal, state and local agencies as they assess potential post-fire impacts to the burned watersheds.

BAER surveys are rapid assessments that evaluate the burned area to identify watersheds having increased potential for post-fire flooding, sediment flows and rock slides. Since the BAER survey is a rapid assessment to assist land managers prepare the burned area for rainstorms, the team focuses on potential emergency impacts to life, and safety on National Forest System (NFS) land and share the team’s findings with the responsible downstream agencies.
BAER teams may consist of scientists and specialists including hydrologists, geologists, soil scientists, road engineers, botanists, wildlife biologists, recreation specialists, archeologists and geographic information specialists. BAER teams collect data during their burned area surveys to analyze through GIS and computer models and presents their findings along with recommended BAER emergency response actions in a BAER assessment report.

BAER teams utilize satellite imagery and specialist data to analyze and produce a map that shows the levels of burn severity on the watersheds. This is the first step in assessing potential watershed impacts from wildfires to any NFS values that may be at-risk from potential increased flooding, sedimentation, debris flows and rock slides. BAER teams produce a report that describes threats associated with the burned area’s post-fire conditions along with recommended emergency stabilization measures and actions. BAER emergency response efforts are focused on the protection of human life, safety and property, as well as critical cultural and natural resource values such as the water quality of streams and wetlands on NFS lands.

BAER reports are shared with interagency cooperators who work with downstream private home and land owners to prepare for potential post-fire flooding and debris flow impacts. Homes or businesses that could be impacted by flooding from federal land that resulted from wildfires may be eligible for flood insurance coverage from the at https://www.floodsmart.gov/. 

downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains over the burn scars. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events-be prepared to take action. Current weather and emergency notifications can be found at the National Weather Service websites: www.weather.gov/sto/ and www.weather.gov/eka/.

August Complex Post-Fire BAER Assessment information is available at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7228/

Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Limitations
 
 

While many wildfires cause minimal damage to the land and pose few threats to the land or people downstream, some fires result in damage that requires special efforts to reduce impacts afterwards. Loss of vegetation exposes soil to erosion; water run-off may increase and cause flooding, soil and rock may move downstream and damage property or fill reservoirs putting community water supplies and endangered species at-risk.

The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) program is designed to identify and manage potential risks to resources on National Forest System lands and reduce these threats through appropriate emergency measures to protect human life and safety, property, and critical natural or cultural resources. BAER is an emergency program for stabilization work that involves time-critical activities to be completed before the first damaging storm event to meet program objectives.

BAER Objectives:

• Determine whether imminent post-wildfire threats to human life and safety, property, and critical natural or cultural resources on National Forest System lands exist and take immediate actions, as appropriate, to manage the unacceptable risks.
• If emergency conditions are identified, mitigate significant threats to human life and safety, Forest Service property and other critical natural and cultural resource values.
• Prescribe emergency response actions to stabilize and prevent unacceptable degradation to natural and cultural resources, to minimize threats to life or property resulting from the effects of a fire, or to repair/replace/construct physical improvements necessary to prevent degradation of land or resources.
• Implement emergency response actions to help stabilize soil; control water, sediment and debris movement and potentially reduce threats to the BAER critical values identified above when an analysis shows that planned actions are likely to reduce risks substantially within the first year following containment of the fire.
• Monitor the implementation and effectiveness of emergency treatments that were applied on National Forest System lands.

BAER Interagency Coordination:

Post-fire emergency response is a shared responsibility. There are several Federal, State and local agencies that have emergency response responsibilities or authorities in the post-fire environment. The BAER team coordinates with these agencies to look at the full scope and scale of the situation to reduce the potential threats to human life and property. It is important that BAER efforts are communicated with all affected and interested cooperating agencies and organizations regarding other post-fire recovery and restoration efforts.

BAER treatments cannot prevent all of the potential flooding or soil erosion impacts, especially after a wildfire-changed landscape. It is important for the public to stay informed and prepared for potentially dramatic increased run-off events.

One of the most effective BAER strategies is interagency coordination to provide post-fire threat information to local cooperators who can assist affected businesses, homes, and landowners to prepare for rain events. For example, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program for post-emergency assistance on private and tribal land, the National Weather Service (NWS) has responsibility for flood warning alerts, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has flood insurance and other responsibilities if the area is a Presidentially-declared emergency, Resource Conservation Districts (RCD) and counties, as well as State and local-highway and emergency services departments, Flood Control authorities, etc. It is important that landowners work directly with NRCS and other agencies to determine appropriate actions needed to protect private structures and other assets.

BAER Process:

BAER assessment teams are staffed by specially trained professionals that may include: hydrologists, soil scientists, engineers, biologists, botanists, archeologists, and others who evaluate the burned area and prescribe temporary emergency stabilization actions on National Forest System lands to protect the land quickly and effectively. BAER assessments usually begin before a wildfire has been fully contained.

A BAER assessment team conducts field surveys and uses science-based models to rapidly evaluate and assess the burned area and prescribe emergency stabilization measures. The team generates a “Soil Burn Severity” map by using satellite imagery which is then validated and adjusted by BAER team field surveys to assess watershed conditions and model potential watershed response from the wildfire. The map identifies areas of soil burn severity by categories of very low/unburned, low, moderate, and high which may correspond to a projected increase in watershed response. The higher the burn severity, the less the soil will be able to absorb water when it rains. Without absorption, there will be increased run-off with the potential of flooding.

The BAER team presents these findings in an assessment report that identifies immediate and emergency actions needed to address post-fire risks to human life and safety, property, cultural and critical natural resources. This includes early detection and rapid response (EDRR) treatments to prevent the spread of noxious weeds into native plant communities. The BAER report describes watershed pre- and post-fire watershed response information, areas of concern for life and property, and recommended short-term emergency stabilization measures for Forest Service lands that burned.

In most cases, only a portion of the burned area is actually treated. Severely burned areas steep slopes, and places where water run-off will be excessive and may impact important resources, are focus areas and described in the BAER assessment report if they affect critical values. Response action timing is essential to ensure the emergency stabilization measures are effective.

There are a variety of emergency stabilization actions that the BAER team can recommend for Forest Service land such as mulching with agricultural straw or chipped wood to protect soil productivity, increasing road drainage to keep roads and bridges from washing-out during post-fire floods, and early detection rapid response invasive plant treatments to prevent spread of weeds into native plant communities. BAER treatments are preventative in nature but cannot prevent all damage, especially debris torrents in areas that are prone to sliding and have lost critical root structure from plants.

The Cans and Cannots of BAER:

What BAER Can Do:

• Install water or erosion control devices
• Seed or mulch for erosion control or stability reasons
• Install erosion control measures at critical cultural sites
• Install temporary barriers to protect treated or recovering areas
• Install warning signs
• Replace minor safety related facilities, like burned guard rails
• Install appropriate-sized drainage features on roads, trails
• Remove critical safety hazards
• Prevent permanent loss of T&E habitat
• Monitor BAER treatments
• Implement EDRR treatments to minimize the spread of noxious weeds into native plant communities

What BAER Cannot Do:

• Prevent all flooding and debris flows
• Replant commercial forests or grass for forage
• Excavate and interpret cultural sites
• Replace burned pasture fences
• Install interpretive signs
• Replace burned buildings, bridges, corrals, etc.
• Repair roads damaged by floods after fire
• Remove all hazard trees
• Replace burned habitat
• Monitor fire effects
• Treat pre-existing noxious weeds

BAER Funding:

Special Emergency Wildfire Suppression funds are authorized for BAER activities and the amount of these expenses varies with the severity of the fire season. Some years see little BAER activity while other years are extremely busy.

Because of the emergency nature of BAER, initial requests for funding of proposed BAER treatments are supposed to be submitted by the Forest Supervisor to the Regional Office within7 days of total containment of the fire. The Regional Forester’s approval authority for individual BAER projects is limited. Approval for BAER projects exceeding this limit is forwarded onto the Washington Office.

SPECIAL NOTE: Everyone near and downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains over the burn scars. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events-be prepared to take action. Current weather and emergency notifications can be found at the National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov/sto/ and www.weather.gov/eka/. 

Key Elements of a BAER Assessment 
                              
Forest Service BAER assessment teams are established by Forest Supervisors before wildfires are fully contained. The teams coordinate and work with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), National Weather Service (NWS), local counties, State Department of Transportation, and other federal, state, and local agencies to strategically assess potential post-fire impacts to the watersheds burned from wildland fires.

• The BAER assessment teams are evaluating watershed conditions to determine the level of potential risks to human life, safety, property, critical natural and cultural-heritage resources, and determine if there are appropriate and effective emergency stabilization measures that can be implemented on federal lands in a timely manner to reduce unacceptable risks from potential flooding and debris flow threats.

• The BAER assessment team conducts field surveys and uses science-based models to rapidly evaluate and assess the burned area.

• BAER assessment teams are staffed by specially trained professionals that may include: hydrologists, soil scientists, engineers, geologists, biologists, botanists, archeologists, geographic information system mapping specialists, recreation and trails specialists, and others who evaluate the burned area and prescribe emergency response actions to protect the land quickly and effectively.

• BAER assessments usually begin before a wildfire has been fully contained.

• The BAER assessment team generates a “Soil Burn Severity” map by using satellite imagery which is then validated and adjusted by BAER team field surveys to assess watershed conditions and watershed response to the wildfire. The map identifies areas of soil burn severity by categories of low/unburned, moderate, and high which corresponds to a projected increase in watershed response.

• The BAER team presents these findings and treatment recommendations to the Forest Supervisor in an assessment report that identifies immediate and emergency stabilization actions needed to address potential post-fire risks to human life and safety, property, cultural-heritage and critical natural resources on National Forest System lands.

• The BAER report describes watershed pre- and post-fire response information, areas of concern for human life, safety and property, and recommended short-term emergency stabilization actions for federal lands that burned.

• In most cases, only a portion of the burned area is actually treated.

• If the BAER assessment team determines there may be potential emergency situations, the short-term goal is to have flood and erosion control protection measures completed before the first large, damaging rain events occur.

• Timely implementation is critical if BAER emergency response actions are to be effective.

• The BAER assessment team coordinates with other federal and local agencies, and counties that assist private landowners in preparing for increased run-off and potential flooding.

• Federal assistance to private landowners regarding post-fire potential impacts is the primary responsibility of the NRCS through the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program (www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/landscape/ewpp/).

• NRCS in coordination with additional state, local and federal agencies conduct damage survey reports for the private land adjacent to and downstream from the burned areas. NRCS uses these reports, along with the BAER team’s assessment report, to develop recommended emergency measures for businesses and private home and landowners to reduce the impacts to their property from potential increased water and debris flows.

  SPECIAL NOTE: Everyone near and downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains over the burn scars. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events-be prepared to take action. Current weather and emergency notifications can be found at the National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov/sto/ and www.weather.gov/eka/.