Wildire “the new norm” says county mitigation specialist

Carey Cooley, Rollins fire chief and Lake County’s fire mitigation coordinator, is passionate about fire – or more specifically, preventing it.

She’s spent the last 18 months bringing together a range of stakeholders to update the county’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan. And now, it’s ready for public input before the county commissioners sign off on the document.

In the wake of four major conflagrations last summer, the plan isn’t an abstraction. Instead, it identifies major risk areas in what’s called the Wildland-Urban Interface while reflecting changes in fire conditions and population growth in Lake County since the plan was first adopted in 2005. Updated property descriptions and changes in land ownership are also part of the document.

To craft the plan, Cooley met with fire chiefs, the Tribes, the county Office of Emergency Management, the commissioners and the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

“We really made an effort to get everybody involved because we're all on the same team,” says Cooley. “We're all fighting the same fight right now.”

They also held two public meetings, one via Zoom and another in person at the Ronan Community Center last November.

Why go to all this work? Without a plan that’s current (i.e., updated within the past 10 years), Cooley can’t access federal funds for wildfire mitigation. With this plan in hand, she’ll be able to apply for a $10 million federal grant next October and other resources.

However, while money is available, the grant process is very competitive “because everybody from Colorado to California realized they need to do this.”

 A lot has changed in the intervening two decades since the old plan was written, says Cooley.

For one thing, the county’s population has climbed from around 28,000 to 32,000. More houses are appearing in the woods, as people build homes adjacent to forested tribal, federal, state and county lands. 

High-risk areas identified by the Wildfire Protection Plan include White Swan and Finley Point on the west and east shores of Flathead Lake, Lake Mary Ronan, the Rollins area, the Mission Mountain front from Polson to St. Ignatius, the Jocko area and Ravalli.

The Mission Mountains, where houses are built to the edge of the wilderness, is considered “highly volatile,” says Cooley. “Any piece of that on the perfect day could start on fire and then move down into the valley and be a problem.”

Two other high priority areas are White Swan Bay, accessed by Rocky Point Road, and Finley Point, which also has one road in and out.

“A lot of this information we got from our local fire chiefs because they know their areas,” Cooley notes. “We said, hey, when you guys get a call, where are you most like, ‘this is going to be a disaster if we get a call here’.”

Although the document is available for review, Cooley says it hasn’t drawn a lot of public attention. “Most of the participation is from folks who either that have been affected by a wildfire in the last two or three years, or agency folks who have to be involved in this stuff.”

However, there are plenty of reasons to pay attention since wildfire is becoming “the new normal,” in large part, Cooley believes, due to lack of forest management and a century-old policy of fire suppression.

“We might argue about what's causing this, but I’m just saying this is where we are and this is how we move forward to be prepared,” she said. “We manage our forests, we treat our property, we harden our homes.”

To review the document and offer input, visit www.lakemt.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=49.

The White Swan Project

Cooley is also working on a unique collaboration with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to mitigate fire hazards in the White Swan area accessed by Rocky Point Road. The agreement, signed last week by the Tribal Council and Lake County Commissioners, is “the first of its kind in the nation,” says Cooley.

The project includes 75 landowners and channels around $1.3 million through the county to remove trees and ladder fuels on private land, while the Tribes have separate funding to treat tribal and trust land. The full amount of $4 million is financed through the Reserve Treaty Rights Lands program, administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

There is no charge to property owners.

To begin the process, a forester looks at two areas – the forest management zone, typically located some distance from the home, and the home ignition zone, or area within a 100-foot perimeter of the house. Mitigation “prescriptions” might include timber thinning, pruning and slash disposal.

While the funding doesn’t cover home improvements, it does offer an opportunity to educate homeowners about how to improve their home’s chances of surviving a major fire.

“Our goal is for a home to survive on its own,” she says. “We want to make it so a fire crew doesn't have to stand there with a hose ready to protect your property.”

Beyond the home ignition zone, foresters consider the density of trees on the property and the amount of ladder fuels – low-lying brush that could encourage the fire to climb from the ground into the canopy.

“Our goal is if fire approaches, when it hits treated stands, it falls to the ground because firefighters can fight fire that's on the ground,” Cooley says. “When it's in the crowns moving, you can't fight it.”

Another plus is that the $1.3 million stays in the community because the county is hiring a local forester and local loggers.

“That's what I love about it – it benefits more than just the landowners that are getting this funding. We're putting to work so many private contractors in this area and supporting the local grocery store and gas station and all of that.”

Cooley says the White Swan project was initiated by a small group of homeowners who approached the Tribes and county for help. “This just snowballed,” she adds. “And because there were people who advocated for this, the state now calls people like that neighborhood ambassadors for this fire mitigation work.”

The project, which could take up to four years to complete, officially begins April 1, preceded by a meeting with landowners March 23.

Finley Point is another major area of concern, and for the same reason – lots of residents and only one escape route (other than the lake), in addition to dense tree stands under attack by disease and insect infestations. Cooley met with landowners there last spring and says it’s “on our radar.”

Meanwhile, the county has been treating its own parcels on Finley Point with help from a $20,000 grant. “For me, the county can't just say, ‘you guys need to start thinking about treatment’ when we haven't done anything.”

Despite the hard work on her horizon, Cooley says she’s available to spread the word about how to prepare homes and communities for the threat of wildfire. To reach her, call 406-872-2335 or email ccooley@lakemt.gov.

Rose, a member of the Polson Boys and Girls Club, uses an increment borer to determine the age of a tree on Finley Point last fall while participating in fire mitigation efforts on a parcel of Lake County land. (Photo by Shawn Morgan, DNRC)

Rose, a member of the Polson Boys and Girls Club, uses an increment borer to determine the age of a tree on Finley Point last fall while participating in fire mitigation efforts on a parcel of Lake County land. (Photo by Shawn Morgan, DNRC)