The Woodsman: AntFarm Crews Help Homeowners Reduce Wildfire Fire Risk

By Steve Wilent

Two years ago this month I wrote about the State of Oregon’s wildfire risk map and draft regulations requiring property owners to take steps to reduce the risk to their homes and businesses, possibly including penalties for not complying. The draft rules would have required, among other things, 10 feet of space between the crowns of all trees and nearby structures — which in many parts of our area could only be accomplished by cutting down many large, mature trees. After a widespread public outcry, the state withdrew the map and set about revising it and the accompanying regulations.
This summer the state began holding public meetings to introduce the new map, which as of this writing was not yet widely available. Among other changes, the state is calling it a hazard map rather than a risk map. I’ll likely write about the new map and regulations in the near future.
In the meantime, the hot weather and wildfires around the state remind us that there is no time like the present to begin preparing our homes for the eventual, inevitable wildfire.
You can do no better than to enlist the help of AntFarm Youth Services, a Sandy-based nonprofit, which, in addition to a variety of services, has a Community Wildfire Defense Program specific to our area. Concerned about your wildfire risk? Sign up for a free assessment and, if need be, free fuel reduction on your property. That’s right — free.
I recently observed, at the invitation of Logan Hancock, AntFarm’s Community Wildfire Defense Program Manager, an AntFarm crew doing just that (fuel reduction) on a Rhododendron property.
Instead of trying to create 10 feet of open space between trees and between tree branches and homes, the AntFarm crews are thinking smaller, but smarter. On this approximately two-acre lot, Hancock and a handful of crewmembers were working to remove small trees and shrubs within 100 feet of the house — “ladder fuels” that, once ignited, could let a small ground fire spread into the tree crowns and become far more destructive. The property owner had already removed some shrubs and other vegetation; Hancock and his crew focused on removing small and medium-size trees.
“Removing the smaller diameter material that can act as ladder fuel is far more important than spacing out tree crowns,” said Hancock. “We try to emphasize to homeowners that ladder fuel removal is the best option, because it reduces the risk of a crown fire occurring near the structure. And if there’s ground fire, the flames will be shorter and the fire won’t be as intense. We’re trying to space out the tree crowns as much as we can, while keeping the property shaded, so we don’t get a ton of regeneration of the understory vegetation.”
Conifer seedlings and saplings, such as Douglas Fir, western red cedar and western hemlock, are far more flammable than deciduous species such as bigleaf maple or vine maple. AntFarm’s crew typically removes tree branches within 15 feet of the ground, sometimes higher, but no more than about one-third of a tree’s total height. Removing more branches from higher up in the tree could affect the tree’s health.
Fifteen feet is within the range of the crew’s pole saws. Some of the crew members are training to become tree climbers who can use specialized equipment and techniques to remove branches above 15 feet and, in some cases, remove entire small and medium-size trees in pieces, from the top down . On the day I visited the crew, assistant crew lead Aidan McNiece was undergoing such training under the supervision of experienced arborist Brad Peterson.
“Being able to climb will help us do removals of smaller trees around homes when there isn’t room to fell them, a situation we run into all the time in residential areas,” said Hancock.
The crew sometimes uses rope and winches to pull a tree in the direction they want it to fall, which lets them direct the tree away from structures and do less damage to trees and plants that the homeowner wants to protect. Such ropes can be attached by climbers who ascend to the near-top of the tree. Alternatively, the “Big Shot” is employed, a giant slingshot used by arborists that propels a weighted bag attached to a lightweight line over tree limbs as high as 100 feet from the ground. The lightweight line is used to pull a heavy-duty rope into the tree to help guide the tree as it falls.
On this property, removing seedlings and saplings improved the view of a more open forest from the house and deck, and a ridge previously hidden by dense canopy was now visible, which pleased the owners.
AntFarm crews also worked on two neighboring properties with similar results.
“Whenever we can, we try to work on neighboring lots, because you have a much bigger impact on reducing fire risk when you’re working on a larger area, rather than a lot here and a lot farther down the road,” said Hancock, who added that homeowners associations and community groups have shown much interest in AntFarm’s program.
The size of the lot has a big impact, of course. Removing ladder fuels from around a house on two or three acres provides good protection.
“But a lot of neighborhoods have small lots and houses are very close together. The area we work in is called the home ignition zone, and it extends out to about 100 feet from the structure,” Hancock said. “So in some neighborhoods it’s common to have overlapping home ignition zones. In that case, what one neighbor does to reduce fire risk is going to impact other neighbors.”
Likewise, landowners with small lots who do not remove fuels may unintentionally increase the risk of a destructive fire for their nearby neighbors. To date, AntFarm’s Community Wildfire Defense crew has worked on numerous properties in our area and is keen to do more.
I was very impressed with the expertise and enthusiasm of Hancock and his crew. If I weren’t a woodsman who can handle his own fuels removal project, I would be happy to have AntFarm work on my property.
For information about AntFarm’s program, or to perhaps donate to it, email Hancock at loganh@antfarmyouthservices.com.
Have a question about reducing wildfire risk? Want to know how much fuel your gutters can hold? Let me know. Email: SWilent@gmail.com.