Single Publication

FOREST SERVICE BAER SPECIALISTS ASSESS BLACK BURNED AREA

While many wildfires cause little damage to the land and pose few threats to natural resources and people downstream, some fires create situations that require special efforts to prevent additional damage after wildfires. Loss of vegetation exposes soil to erosion; water runoff may increase and cause flooding, sediments may move downstream and damage property or fill reservoirs and put endangered species and community water supplies at-risk.

The Forest Service (USFS) Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) program works on USFS lands with the goal of keeping National Forest (NF) visitors and employees safe while recreating and working. BAER team assessments focus on emergency actions that are necessary to protect human life and safety, property, critical cultural resources, and critical natural resources such as soil productivity, hydrologic function, and water quality. Emergency actions are intended to minimize any further damage during rainstorm events.

BAER scientists and specialists are currently assessing multiple soil properties that changed during the Black Fire. These properties include soil cover, changes in soil aggregate strength, rooting mortality and water repellency. These properties affect soil recovery and water runoff.

In the 1st photo below, BAER Specialist Carolyn Koury (Gila NF Watershed & Air Program Manager) captures moderate soil burn severity data in the Turkey Run drainage area using Survey 123 data collection program in the Black Fire:

In this photo below, BAER Specialist Carolyn Koury is using Survey123 data collection program to document moderate soil burn severity characteristics in the Turkey Run drainage area of the Black Fire:

In this photo, BAER Specialist Dio Silva (Gila NF Natural Resource Specialist) is in the Turkey Run drainage digging a soil pit to assess for hydrophobicity in a high soil burn severity area of the Black Fire

The next photo shows BAER Specialist Dio Silva in the Turkey Run drainage assessing hydrophobicity in a moderate soil burn severity area of the Black Fire:

In this photo below, BAER Specialist Dio Silva in the Turkey Run drainage assessing hydrophobicity in a moderate soil burn severity area of the Black Fire:

And this last photo shows BAER Specialist Dio Silva in the Turkey Run drainage scraping litter away to assess for hydrophobicity in a moderate soil burn severity area of the Black Fire: