The Anasazi Heritage Center is in the midst of a snowstorm, perfect conditions for a recent prescribed fire.
The falling snow and little wind allow BLM fire specialists to safely burn debris piles from a thinning project around the museum, a ruin and lookout pavilion.
"It's pretty ideal, and the gray skies mask the smoke so we don't get as many calls from neighbors," said Brad Pietruszka, a BLM fire management specialist.
The thinning was needed, he said, because of the buildup of dense oak, mountain mahogany and pine from McPhee reservoir up to the back of the museum.
If a wildfire did start below the museum, it could have easily moved uphill, feeding on thick vegetation and threatening a shed and parking lot full of cars. A wooden shade structure, trail and ruin also would have been at risk.
"A buffer protects the museum, and for our guests, it improves evacuation routes in an emergency," said museum specialist Dave Kill. "There was quite a buildup of brush."
Beating back a future fire's fuel source creates a defensible space for firefighters. Crews cleared the 10-acre site in 2014, creating 50 piles that were set ablaze last week. Within 20 minutes, 15-foot-high piles are reduced to smoldering ash.
"In the coming days, we'll come back and monitor each burn pile to make sure they are out," Pietruszka said.
A burn pile with a nearby power line needs a special ignition source shot in from a distance. Smoke can cause power lines to arc, triggering downward bolts of electricity. Piles too near a shade structure will be chipped into mulch.
In 2014, the BLM's Southwest district conducted prescribed fires on 1,412 acres, did mechanical treatment such as mowing and mastication on 950 acres, and did thinning on 177 acres.
More forest treatments are planned within wildfire urban interface zones, said Chris Barth, a BLM fire mitigation specialist.
"Prescribed fires reduce risks to communities and restore ecosystem health," Barth said. "If a fire does move through, it will be less intensive, thanks to our previous mitigation efforts."
Prescribed broadcast fires of 300 to 400 acres do the most good with the least amount of costs. The fire-mitigation budget for the BLM's Southwest District is about $800,000.
More fire mitigation is planned for wooded areas near communities, including on the Dolores Rim northeast of Dove Creek, on land east of Egnar, around Summit Lake, and on the outskirts of Bayfield on Rabbit Mountain.
Neighborhoods have been working with the Colorado State Forest Service, Firewise of Montezuma County, the Forest Service and the BLM to develop Community Wildfire Protection Plans.
Montezuma County, Cedar Mesa, and Elk Stream Ranch all have approved CWPPs. East Canyon and Cash Canyon plans are pending. La Plata county has 16 approved CWPPs.
The plans involve fuel-reduction projects, evacuation plans, and landscaping strategies that minimize fire risk around homes.
"Communities are becoming more prepared and adapting to fire risks," Barth said. "With a protection plan in place, grants may be more available for fire mitigation projects. It shows that neighborhoods have come together to prioritize and pinpoint what needs to be done."
jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com
