Featured Image: Jade Ujcic-Ashcroft, a Bureau of Environmental Services wildlife biologist, conducting a bird survey. Photo credit to Greg Gilson.
The Forest Park Wildfire Risk Mitigation Project is a joint effort between Portland Parks and Recreation (PP&R), Portland Fire & Rescue, and Forest Park Conservancy, made possible by funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Part of these funds are being utilized to conduct land management in and around Forest Park to reduce the risk and impact of wildfires. Fuel reduction work is more than simply removing fuel from the forest floor. This work also includes taking important precautions to protect native plants and animals. To learn more about what these precautions include, we spoke with PP&R’s Natural Resource Ecologist, Marshall Johnson.
Nesting Bird Season
Currently, the Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) wildlife biologist staff are supporting this project by conducting surveys to find bird nests in and around Forest Park. By knowing where bird nests are located, crews can ensure they are not harmed or disturbed by fuel reduction work.
Fuel reduction is a vegetation treatment wherein non-native plants that can pose a high fire risk are removed. This includes removing ivy vines from trees, removing invasive trees like holly and laurel, and also blackberry removal. Fuel reduction is important to limit the chances of fire being able to spread through the forest floor or up into the tree canopy.
Between April 15th and August 1st is “prime bird nesting season” so crews will take a break from vegetation disturbance during that period. If work is identified in high-priority areas, such as near homes, a wildlife biologist from the Bureau of Environmental Services will be brought in to identify and report on the location of any bird activity so that those areas can be avoided.
This work shows that protecting and avoiding impacts on native wildlife in Forest Park and citywide is a priority.
Some nests of species that are being identified include band-tailed pigeons, which are a Species of Greatest Conservation Need, as well as bald eagles. Wildfire Risk Reduction crews are making buffer zones around active nests to identify zones where work will not be conducted so that nests are not disturbed.
Photo Description: A pair of band-tailed pigeons, a species that nests within Forest Park. Photo credit to Greg Gilson.
Reducing Flammable, Non-native Fuels
Fuel reduction is key to protecting both Forest Park and nearby communities. There are two types of concerns with fires: potential ignition sources, such as campfires or lit cigarettes, and “present conditions”, which include high wind speeds, slopes of the hillside, and seasonal temperature or the presence of flammable fuels.
Forest Park “has some lower risk factors like the forest’s tree composition being mixed [with deciduous and conifer canopy trees], as deciduous trees are less flammable”, which Johnson explains “can help to reduce the chance of a sustained canopy fire across large areas”.
Hot, dry conditions like we’ve experienced in the Portland Metro region over the last couple of years, and the drought of the preceding decade, can make the mixed composition forest susceptible to burning. Fuel reduction can help alleviate these present conditions to mitigate wildfire risks.
With the last decade of warm temperatures in mind, Johnson noted that fuel removal prevents fires from spreading. “The fuels that are particularly problematic are near a potential ignition source and can transfer it from the ground, such as a campfire or lit cigarette, which can worst-case scenario take it into the treetops, resulting in a canopy fire. That’s the scenario we hope to avoid. The fuels we’re working on are our mostly invasives like ivy, blackberry, invasive trees near the ground, and we’re also trying to avoid the ladder fuel connection of things like vines going up trees.”
Fires of any kind are not allowed in Forest Park. If you see one, we ask that you call 911, no matter the fire’s size.
Protecting Native Plants
One potential downside to this work is the reduction of structural complexity in the park, as wood and vines, which are fire risks, can also be habitats for woodland species. This is why PP&R is using fuel reduction strategies, particularly in high-risk buffer zones around structures.
“The best strategy I have come across so far is to focus on establishing defensible space around homes and structures. That way, if a fire were to happen the risk that it could reach homes and communities is decreased. So, we’re focusing on the wildlife-urban interface buffer where we might reduce fuels more to achieve this goal.”
Johnson also explained that this work does not entail cutting down native living vegetation or trees. The exception to this is that trees will sometimes be removed if designated as a hazard, such as if it’s at risk of falling, which could cause injury to people. Limbing of trees is also pretty rare and only conducted if it significantly reduces wildfire risk within 200ft of a home. All of this work is permitted through a Programmatic Permit that PP&R holds from the Urban Forestry Division.
Non-native weeds are by far the most common fuel source within the wild-urban interface.
“We can cover a lot of ground without having to impact any native plants. That makes it easy for us to handle these two seemingly opposed goals, habitat restoration, and lower wildfire risk”, Johnson explains.
More Than Just Birds
Under the FEMA grant, PP&R also addressed requirements of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). That involves assessing whether work would be a concern to species in the area before it begins. The NEPA Review looks at aquatic species, mammals, and anything else important that lives in the project area to ensure the work will not have a negative impact on native species.
For example, with aquatic species, crews create a buffer zone that is 25 ft from streams and drainage areas. Invasive plants within a stream buffer are removed manually, without herbicide.
Protect Birds Nesting Near You
If you’re planning to do some invasive species removal or other work on the vegetation on your property, please review the best management practices in The City of Portland’s Protecting Nesting Birds: Best Management Practices for Vegetation and Construction Projects to help protect birds on your property.
Remember in the City of Portland any pruning or tree removal must be permitted through the City of Portland’s Urban Forestry. If you have questions about tree removal and pruning, please call 503-823-TREE.To learn more about the Wildfire Risk Reduction Project in Forest Park, click here.