A fire balloon or sky lantern as seen in a testosterone commercial
Another advertiser on television for some unfathomable reason is using imagery of a fire balloon or sky lantern in a commercial. This time it is a company selling AndroGel, which is testosterone. In November it was Mercedes.
These incendiary devices use burning material such as rubbing alcohol or a candle to heat the air in a bag made of tissue paper or very thin plastic. The heat makes the device lighter than air causing it to rise into the sky, staying aloft for 10 minutes to 2 hours. They can be very pretty to watch especially when they are released dozens or hundreds at a time such as at a wedding or some other celebration. The problem is they are uncontrollable and sometimes start wildfires or structure fires.
As we told you on February 27, 2013, a bill has been introduced in the Oregon legislature, HB 3199, that would prohibit the use of sky lanterns (or fire balloons), as well as exploding targets, and tracer ammunition on land within the boundaries of a forest protection district. The bill can be tracked at http://gov.oregonlive.com. As this is written it is in the Agriculture and Natural Resources committee. (UPDATE: the bill was signed by the Governor and will take effect January 1, 2014.)
On February 22 the the Secretary of Interior sent a letter to all DOI employees warning them of possible furloughs without pay if the sequester budget cut went into effect. The letter was similar to the one sent February 11 by the Secretary of Agriculture with similar bad news for the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies.
As we first wrote on October 13, the Budget Control Act of 2001 which is usually referred to as the fiscal cliff or sequester, will require federal wildland fire programs to be cut by at least $218 million, or 8.2 percent. The provisions of the act took effect on Friday, March 1. There is a chance that our elected politicians will introduce and pass legislation modifying or reversing some portions of the act, but so far both political parties seem very satisfied with what they have done, allowing the sequester to begin.
There are four agencies within the DOI that employ large numbers of wildland firefighters: National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Fish and Wildlife Service.
The scariest part of both letters was the warning of possible furloughs, which is basically being told to not come to work. Furloughed firefighters will receive no pay and will not be able to take paid leave, such as annual or sick leave. DOI employees were warned of furloughs of up to 22 work days, over a month without pay. The DOA letter did not specify how many days of furlough may be forced upon their employees.
Below are some key quotes from the DOI letter:
“…we expect that thousands of permanent employees will be furloughed for periods of time up to 22 work days…”
“… all affected employees will be provided at least 30 days notice prior to executing a furlough…”
“Many seasonal employees will be furloughed, have delayed starts, shortened employment periods, or will not be hired at all.”
“Middle-class Americans who expected to spend their summer vacations at our 398 national parks, 561 refuges, and over 258 public land units will encounter reduced hours and services or even closures.”
CAL FIRE expects to fully contain the River Fire on Thursday which has burned 407 acres east of Lone Pine, California. Thick brush and winds measured at 25 mph challenged the 500 firefighters that initially fought the blaze after it started on Sunday. Remaining on the fire Wednesday morning are 234 personnel, 11 engines, 6 crews, and 2 water tenders. CAL FIRE is calling it 85 percent contained.
Oregon may regulate exploding targets and sky lanterns
A bill has been introduced in the Oregon legislature, HB 3199, that would prohibit the use of sky lanterns (or fire balloons), exploding targets, and tracer ammunition on land within the boundaries of a forest protection district. (UPDATE: the bill was signed by the Governor and will take effect January 1, 2014.)
“Concealed carry is a right, target shooting is not”
Those were the words of Utah state senator Margaret Dayton who resurrected her bill that would give the state forester the authority to ban target shooting on state lands during periods of enhanced wildfire danger. Earlier she withdrew the bill after it received criticism from some shooting enthusiasts. The bill passed the Senate this week along with another that would allow firefighters to access water on privately owned land to aid them in fire suppression efforts.
A bill is speeding through the Colorado Senate that would add safeguards to prescribed fires conducted in the state. Senate Bill 13-083 would:
Establish control over prescribed burning within the Division of Fire Prevention and Control in the Department of Public Safety;
“Prescribed Burn Managers” must be certified by the Division for prescribed fires occurring on state lands or conducted by state agencies on private lands. This does not apply to “burning conducted by an agency of the federal government”;
A Prescribed Burn Manager must be on site during a prescribed burn “until the fire is adequately confined to reasonably prevent escape”;
Allows the Division to collect fees for providing training and certifications.
Getting manufactured crisis fatigue?
While the people we send to Washington to conduct the nation’s business have not passed a federal budget in four years, and they propel us from one manufactured crisis to another, some of us may tire of the hype as we reel from one ridiculous deadline to another. Unfortunately the impacts on the land management agencies from the budget cuts required by the sequester will be significant unless they are reversed within the next few weeks.
On October 13, we first wrote about the sequester, which will require federal wildland fire programs to be cut by at least $218 million, or 8.2 percent.
Here are some excerpts from an article at the Union Democrat with examples of impacts on the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service in California:
The Associated Press obtained a Park Service memo Friday that detailed some of the planned Yosemite cuts. Staff reductions would end guided ranger programs at Wawona and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, eliminate a program in which 3,500 volunteers provide 40,000 hours of activities and mean less frequent trash pickup due to loss of campground staff.
Park administrators fear that less frequent trash pickup would potentially attract bears into campgrounds.
Seasonal road closures like that of Tioga Road may be extended later than usual because there will be less staff available to clear snow.
“The reductions would limit the National Park Service’s ability to sustain a full complement of seasonal employees needed for interpretive programs, maintenance, law enforcement and other visitor services as we are preparing for the busy summer season. Local communities and businesses that rely on recreation to support their livelihoods would face a loss of income from reduced visitation to national parks.”
In the Stanislaus National Forest, cuts could reduce funds available for fuels reductions that help prevent catastrophic forest fires. About $134 million in lost wildland fire management funds would lead to as many as 200,000 fewer acres treated nationwide, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wrote in a letter dated Feb. 5 to U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The Forest Service is also prepared to close up to 670 of 19,000 developed recreation sites nationwide, such as campgrounds, picnic areas and trailheads, according to Vilsack.
Webinar today: Debunking Myths in Wildland Fire
Today from 1 until 2 p.m. MT:
Sarah McCaffrey will present findings from recent research on social issues of fire management with particular emphasis on the accuracy of various accepted truths about the public and fire management and the variables that actually are associated with approval of different fire management practices.
The United States government is taking steps leading toward open access to the results of taxpayer-funded scientific research. Too often researchers pay privately owned scientific journals “page charges” to publish their findings, which then are sold back to taxpayers in the form of subscriptions which cost hundreds or thousands of dollars a year or more than $30 to read one paper if you don’t have a subscription.
At least partially in response to an on-line petition at the White House web site which received over 65,000 signatures (including mine), the administration issued a memorandum today that increases access to research. It helps, but is not an ideal solution. The new procedures require agencies that spend more than $100 million annually on research to develop plans to make the results of federally-funded research publically available free of charge within 12 months after original publication. While that is better than keeping it secret or making taxpayers pay twice for the data, 12 months is too long. It should be much shorter, say, 3 or 6 months after appearing in a journal. In addition, ALL research should be available to the public, not just research funded by agencies that spend more than $100 million on R&D.
For the last three years Congress has dithered about the issue, doing little until last week when a bill was introduced, theFair Access to Science and Technology Research Act, which would force the public release of journal articles within six months of publication. It also only applies to agencies that spend more than $100 million a year on R&D.
The for-profit Elsevier corporation headquartered in the Netherlands has published papers on wildland fire research written by government employees, and vehemently opposes the bill, according to an article in the Washington Post. In fact, in 2011 Elsevier backed a bill that would quash open access to scientific articles. The bill died after it encountered serious opposition.
At Wildfire Today we have ranted about this for the last couple of years (tag: open access), and it’s heart-warming to see some progress is being made.
Cottonwood Fire near Crawford, Nebraska, June 18, 2012. Photo by Bill Gabbert
A bill has been introduced in the Nebraska Senate that would enhance wildfire training, preparedness, and suppression capability of firefighters in the State. The proposed legislation would provide two single air tankers in the northwest part of the state and develop a Type 3 incident management team, in addition to other provisions. Senator Al Davis of Hyannis will present the bill, called the Wildfire Control Act of 2013, to the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee on Friday.
Key provisions of the proposed legislation include:
Contract with private aviation companies to place two single engine air tankers during the fire season at airports near Chadron and Valentine. These planes would provide rapid initial attack across a broad area of western Nebraska on both private and public lands, keeping fires small and less destructive.
Thin forests to reduce fuel loads, substantially reducing wildfire risk, intensity, and rate of the spread, and reduce risks to residents, communities and emergency personnel.
Provide expanded training programs for volunteer firefighters, private landowners and communities in order to increase fire suppression effectiveness and safety.
Develop a Nebraska-based Type 3 incident management team that would serve as a comprehensive resource to augment and help manage large wildfire operations.
Expand the federal excess property programs managed by the Nebraska Forest Service to provide volunteer fire districts with fire suppression equipment.
Rehabilitate forest lands that have been destroyed by wildfires.
The bill was introduced by Senator Davis and has eight co-sponsors.
Two bills have been introduced in the Colorado state Senate that could affect fire prevention and the management of prescribed fires. The bills were inspired by recommendations made by the Lower North Fork Wildfire Commission.
SB 13-082, Wildfire Matters Review Committee, establishes a permanent interim committee to study wildfire prevention and mitigation policy. The committee will work with the Department of Public Safety and the State Forest Service, and will be comprised of ten legislators.
SB 13-083, Prescribed Burn Program, requires the Division of Fire Prevention and Control to establish a prescribed burn program. The program must have specific rules and standards, and there must be policy to address an escaped prescribed burn. The rules will specify that a state certified burn manager, or a nationally qualified burn boss, manage any prescribed burn.
