FIRE | Partnerships Prevail in Planning Prevention
By Nicole Lane Erceg
From the greatest single-year drought in 2011, to record precipitation in 2015 and 2016, recent Texas weather patterns have been anything but normal. These drastic fluctuations have taken their toll on rangeland, mainly in the form of wildfire. In 2011, wildfire resulted in property and economic losses of more than $340 million. After the heavy rainfalls of 2015 resulted in growing fire fuel, more than 65,000 acres of grazing land in just 8 counties in west central Texas were negatively affected by wildfire.
With 2016 spring rains that resulted in large volumes of fine fuels and no end in sight to dynamic weather changes, private landowners’ wildfire risk seems to only be growing. To help arm the agricultural producer with the tools to mitigate fire risk and preserve valuable private lands, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) seeks to help find answers.
Kristy Oates, the state resource conservationist with the NRCS, says local NRCS offices can help landowners mitigate fire risks through conservation planning.
“What we offer is a complete look at the ecosystem,” says Oates. “We will look at all of the resources, the land, water and potential wildlife. Then we share our information and technical resources to give guidance on how to complete conservation practices that will help carry out a system to benefit the landowner long-term.”
One of the best tools Oates references for managing rangeland resources is prescribed burning. The tallgrass prairies of Texas developed under a cycle that included regular fire. When that natural cycle was interrupted by human land development, it created issues, including the build up of vegetation that serves as excellent wildfire fuel. Prescribed burning helps reduce fuel loading and is one of many conservation techniques with which local NRCS offices are prepared to assist. NRCS staff can help write burn prescriptions, provide technical assistance or even help train others to work a prescribed fire.
Helping people help the land
However, the NRCS is interested in more than just helping with prescribed fires. Oates describes their relationships with landowners as more of a partnership, focused on doing what is best for the landowner and the ecosystem to preserve the longevity of the land and the goals of the agricultural enterprise.
“When you walk the place with a landowner and get an outside view from a technical background, it can bring up other things that a landowner may have never considered before,” says Oates. “This partnership often leads to more beneficial impact on conservation activities that relate to the goals and objectives of their operation.”
One of the many goals of agricultural landowners is to maintain the profitability of their ranches. Conservation practices, while beneficial for fire prevention and resource longevity, may sometimes look like a cost that ranchers just cannot afford.
The NRCS has programs to help with that, too. Providing financial assistance available through 2014 Farm Bill programs is one of the many ways for cattle producers to make fire mitigation and conservation practices possible. One of the most popular programs that helps agricultural producers secure financial assistance for firebreaks, prescribed burning and wildfire prevention projects, is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
EQIP encourages producers to address resource concerns by improving, maintaining and managing conservation activities — prescribed burning and wildfire mitigation included. To be eligible for EQIP or other financial assistance programs available through NRCS, records must be maintained with the local Farm Service Agency. From there, producer and land eligibility can be determined with the help of a local NRCS office.
Oates says beginning the relationship with the local NRCS office is the first step. According to Oates, ranchers often come into the office looking for a particular program or service, but after working with local staff, they determine the perfect combination of programs and technical assistance that will work best for their operation.
More than technical assistance
“It’s a relationship,” says Oates. “We are a people organization so it’s all about communication, working with one another and developing those long-term relationships.”
After a program for financial assistance is determined and an application is submitted, a local NRCS specialist will go out to the property and look at the resources, assess the current situation and risks, and determine alternatives for the landowner to select which match his or her future goals.
Then an actual conservation plan for the selected practices, such as a prescribed burn, is written. As a non-regulatory federal agency, NRCS works with landowners as a partner and resource to help with the planning and implementation of conservation practices. To complete this goal, they have offices in almost every county to provide local assistance.
“We know the passion and desire of landowners who want to do the right thing and we are here to just lend a hand in being part of the process,” says Oates.
One of the ways Texas NRCS recently helped lend a hand was by developing the Texas NRCS Wildfire Mitigation Targeted Effort. Realizing the disastrous effect wildfires continue to have on Texas rangelands, State Conservationist Salvador Salinas and a state technical advisory committee took action to mitigate the threat of wildfire caused by the 2015 and 2016 spring rainfall. This strategic plan targeted 26 Texas counties that had increased amounts of volatile fuels and the capacity to implement mitigation practices.
“We took steps to address the fire risk and implement any conservation practices that would benefit the targeted area,” Oates said. “We’ll take what worked and didn’t work from this program and carry that forward into 2017.”
By recognizing the risks and ways to minimize the hazards, NRCS is working to find solutions before the problem grows worse. Rangeland and pasture acres with high fuel loads are highly susceptible to wildfire and could mean disastrous losses for landowners.
“We are trying to be proactive instead of reactive,” says Oates. “If we can take a progressive approach to these types of situations, then that’s what we want to do.”
Neighbors helping neighbors
Farmers and ranchers also have the opportunity to be proactive in limiting their possibility for fire danger. Simply looking for potential fire dangers currently on a ranch property is a good place to start. Oates recommends looking beyond the fenceline for potential problems.
“The barbed wire doesn’t really mean anything,” she says. “Look at the bigger picture when considering the risk of wildfire.”
Other things Oates recommends looking for are vegetation type and possible road hazards, such as the ability for a cigarette, tire blowout or other situation to start a fire. She emphasizes the importance of looking at the land from a different perspective and seeking outside assistance to get that insight. While NRCS staff can provide assistance, neighbors and other ranchers in the community can also help when working to eliminate fire hazards. Oates shares that in several communities across Texas, ranchers work together to implement conservation practices like prescribed burns.
“It’s a good opportunity to schedule multiple burns to be carried out in a timely fashion when conditions are right,” says Oates. “Because getting conditions right is critical.”
In more urban areas, neighbors may not be able to help with mitigation practices like prescribed burns, but they still should be considered part of the process. For example, when performing a prescribed burn, it is important to keep neighbors and community fire departments informed; otherwise, problems such as unnecessary 9-1-1 calls or smoke complaints can complicate the process.
Oates says that involving neighbors and community members is also a way to educate others about the danger of wildfire, as well as fire mitigation and conservation practices that can benefit both parties.
Action needed now
As more Texas rangeland is lost to urban sprawl and weather patterns that can bring floods and drought in what seems like the same season, Oates impresses that it is more important than ever to consider reducing wildfire risks.
“We don’t know what tomorrow holds so you have to plan for the prevention of wildfire and you have to prepare for the unknown,” says Oates.
With the resources available through neighbors, NRCS and local fire officials, it is also easier than ever to implement practices that lower the chance of loss from wildfire.
“We are the local technical experts who have built our legacy on conservation planning and truly helping people help the land,” says Oates. “It’s our goal to work with landowners to help with their resource needs.”
The risk of wildfire is imminent, but Texas landowners are not alone in the battle to diminish the potential danger their lands face. Through partnerships and programs, NRCS is working to meet the needs of ranchers and rangeland managers to prevent wildfire from becoming a personal disaster. It is impossible to know for sure when the next radical temperature change or storm will roll through, but with partnerships and prevention, it’s possible to be prepared.
“The FIRE Series” is excerpted each month from The Cattleman magazine.