Researchers say Ridge Fire provides experimental opportunities

Stars shine over the Ridge Fire earlier this summer. Chris Peterson photo)

For awhile there, researchers who oversee the Coram Experimental Forest were worried they wouldn’t have a forest left if the Ridge Fire kept growing.

But a break in the weather and an assault on the blaze has it all but under control. The Ridge Fire burned about a tenth of the 7,200 acre Coram forest. The greatest impact was in the 800 acre natural research area, where about half of the acreage was impacted, according to Justin Crotteau, lead scientist in charge of the forest and David Wright, forest manager.

The natural research area is a section of the forest in the southeast corner, where the management philosophy is hands off, so researchers can compare active management, such as thinning, to a plot that hasn’t been touched.

Even with various research plots, much of the forest before the fires was idyllic, with stands of towering western larch, some of which are 300 years old, or older.

Now the forest will present new research opportunities, Wright and Crotteau said in a conference call Monday.

A simple example might be comparing burned areas to non-burned areas. Another would be the efficacy of shaded fuel breaks. Those are fire line breaks where the trees are thinned and the understory is removed but larger trees are left, thus shading the ground. The idea is the fire hits the break, goes to the ground and is easier to fight, and contain.

“There will definitely be research opportunities in the Natural Resource Area,” Crotteau said.

There could also be further research outside the natural area, such as with the potential for salvage logging and the best way to regenerate areas that are now logging decks from suppression efforts. Salvage logging would only occur outside the natural area,

It would also undergo an environmental review, just as it would on other parts of the Flathead National Forest.

Outside of the natural research area, where crews largely used hand tools and non-mechanical methods to control the fire, the remainder was full suppression, so bulldozers and the like were used to stem the fire. Firefighting in the natural research area employed tactics called MIST — minimally invasive treatments, Crotteau noted.

The Experimental Forest was created in 1933 and has seen some intensive studies, particularly during the ‘60s through the ‘80s. There were prescribed burns and various harvest methods used over the years, primarily to study the best way to grow western larch and Douglas fir.

Much of the work was done by renowned researcher Ray Shearer.

Larch and Douglas fir are coveted species and both are fire resistant. The forest is home to many other species as well, including surviving white pine, which have been decimated across the west by blister rust.

In the past couple of decades, however, not as much research has been done on the forest. Crotteau became lead scientists just a couple of years ago. They hope to do more in the coming years and the Ridge Fire will provide opportunities, they note.

“The opportunities are immense,” Wright said. “Limited only by resources and the creativeness of one’s mind.”

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