Crews set Eugene wetlands on fire - on purpose
EUGENE, Ore. - Firefighters set the West Eugene Wetlands on fire this weekend.
The goal: mimic fire's natural role in the ecoystem to help threatened and endangered plant species.
The Eugene wetlands represent 1 percent of 1 percent of the original wetlands in Oregon.
"Without fire it would be a lot more difficult to get these plants to do what they do naturally," said Michael Mascari, public affairs officer with the Bureau of Land Management, "and any type of fire training that we can give our fire staffs is very valuable."
Controlled burns - sometimes called prescribed fires - provide safer environments for firefighter training than actual wildfires.
"It's a very dangerous job and it is very difficult," Mascari said, "but there is no better experience than to actually fight a live fire."
Fires like the one in the West Eugene wetland also help burn up fuels and prevent larger wildfires from happening.
BLM expects to do several more around the area before the end of the year.
I am not opposed to prescribed fire to maintain the ecological systems of our wetlands, after all the feathered/furry/finned creatures that we treasure evolved within wetland ecosystems (which were formed in the presence of prairie fires).Â
In my opinion, the BLM did a terrible job informing the citizens of their intention to burn. One suggestion is that they send out flyers in the mail outlining their targeted burn windows and burn locations, or take out ads in the Register Guard, or buy a commercial spot on television (ODF does it for their "defensible spaces" campaign), or all of the above.Â
I believe that an informed public is more likely to accept hardships associated with prescribed burning. Let's face it, regular fires should be part of existence in Oregon (ecologically speaking) just like rain, the key is to keep people abreast of activities and intentions so that we can be prepared.
Last night I was riding west on the Fernridge bike path and when I reached Bertelsen I could not breath from the smoke and had to turn back. Iâve been coughing since from the damaging effects I suffered. They are not supposed to do these burns on days that the weather conditions brings smoke into city. This is serious business, people can die from sudden asthma attacks with unexpected smoke and in the very least experience lung damage. Who will pay for the medical bills? I highly doubt they will offer to or could afford to. This is plain stupidity and incompetence on the part of BLM people and LRAPA for issuing permits. We need to make sure this doesnât happen again!
Grass seed growers can't burn anymore, why do these guys get to burn. Oh, it's the Government.