Endangered species could threaten fire plan The Clinton administration's $1.6billion plan to restore the nation's forests after a summer of recordbreaking fires could run into roadblocks thrown up by the Endangered Species Act. Endorsed by six western governors in September, the plan proposes to prevent catastrophic fire by thinning (logging) trees and burning the understory that has built up during a century of fire suppression. Although this strategy is supported by forest ecologists it could destroy habitats used by endangered species such as the spotted owl and the lynx The administration's restoration plan responds to one of the worst fire seasons in half a century, with more than 6.8 million acres consumed by 80,000 wildfires. Although the plan is welcomed as a needed fix, its implementation could conflict with other environmental concerns such as air quality (see sidebar) and endangered species. The dilemma has already surfaced on the south slopes of volcanic Mount Adams in Washington State, where the suppression of wildfires over the past 90 years has
allowed thick stands of grand and Douglas fir to invade what were previously ponderosa pine forests. This has created new habitat for the endangered spotted owl, according to Dennis Seidman, a natural resource planner with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). To further confound this ecological conundrum, the spruce budworm, a moth caterpillar, finds a comfortable niche there as it defoliates the invasive firs. The dense stands contain a huge volume of dead trees that are now fuel for a catastrophe waiting to happen, Seidman says. To reduce the chance of a large, intense fire, the USFS would like to thin the firs and burn the understory, eventually restoring the forest to fire-tolerant ponderosa pine. But they have put the plans on hold because the pine is not favored by the owls. "The debate is over how much, if any, logging an area can handle without degrading spotted owl habitat" Seidman If the USFS was not still cutting old growth forests on the wet western side of the cascades, which is the original habitat for
Forest fires pollute western air Forest fires are an increasingly important component of air pollution in the West, as high fuel loads from a century of fire suppression combine with the warmer and drier conditions spawned by global climate change, scientists say. Particulate matter (PM) from fires, which lodges in lungs and causes respiratory problems, severely affected air quality in Montana this summer, according to John Coefield, a meteorologist with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Impairing the health of residents in the western part of the state, the smoke was detected as far away as Chicago, says Coefield. In towns adjacent to fires, such as Missoula and Hamilton, levels of PM10 were 5-6 times higher than federal standards, he says. The smoky summer boosted emergency room visits, prescriptions for asthma inhalers and instances of angina and heart attacks, according to Michael Spence, medical officer for the state of Montana. These concerns will limit the number and timing of prescribed burns to reduce levels of forest fuels, Coefield says. Prescribed burns, because they hug the ground and do not disperse smoke high into the air as catastrophic fires do, can generate more local health concerns than large fires, he says. To keep smoke from controlled burns below federal air quality standards, Coefield's office runs a model each day that determines where and how much burning can be done. —J.P.
4 5 4 A • NOVEMBER 1, 2000 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS
This summer's record-breaking wildfires have sparked a debate over how to reduce fire danger without harming endangered species or air quality.
spotted owls, it wouldn't be in this dilemma, charges Joe Scott, conservation director for the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance. In addition to endangered species concerns, the forest restoration plan has sparked a political battle over how to prevent large fires. The timber industry advocates more logging of large-diameter trees, whereas environmentalists claim clear-cut logging causes intense fires. "Large trees need to be thinned because they have grown too densely and can lead to intense fires that kill everything," claims Frank Backus chief forester at SDS Lumber Co. in Bingen WA Scientists say both fire suppression and certain logging practices have led to the fuel buildup in the nation's forests. A century ago, periodic cool ground fires thinned the understory, leaving widely spaced mature trees that could not transfer hot crown fires to each other, explains Nate
