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900 W. Main St.,
PO Box 690 Grangeville, ID 83530
Phone: 208.983.1200 |
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| Stewardship helps Chapmans rebuild from 2007 fire |
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 | | Contributed photo/Clark Christiansen, IDL | | Pictured this past Labor Day (L-R) are Clark Christiansen of Idaho Department of Lands, Clarence Chapman and Ann Chapman being awarded their IDL certificate of participation and Stewardship Forest sign. This photo was taken in the exact spot where Clarence survived the crown fire burn on July 20, 2007. |
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WHITE BIRD -- Rebuilding from the ashes, Clarence and Ann Chapman are focusing on reestablishing a healthy forest after their woodlands were destroyed by last year's Poe Cabin Fire.
The Chapmans are working with the Natural Resource Conservation Service office out of Grangeville and will be receiving cost shares from the federal government through the Stewardship program to help them reforest their ownership.
This is a federally sponsored forest management program that addresses forest management on private lands in the areas of soils, water, range, aesthetics, recreation, timber, water, fish, wildlife, forest health and archeological sites. Landowners sign a pledge to provide good stewardship and are given the Stewardship sign to display on their ownership.
The 2007 Poe Cabin Fire west of White Bird resulted from a lightning strike and burned a total 58,520 acres. Total suppression cost was $13,141,500.03. In less than 10 minutes after spotting the fire it had blocked the Chapmans' road access, according to Free Press coverage, and their home was threatened by the surrounding blaze for an approximate four-hour period. Approximately 51 acres of their timber ground was burned.
Following the fire the Chapmans hired a logger and contracted with Bennett Forest Industries to sell all their burnt timber that still had merchantable sawlogs in it.
A common misconception is that when a wildfire runs through a property that all the timber is immediately destroyed. The truth is that immediately following a fire much of the timber resource is suitable for salvage. The stumpage or value to the landowner is drastically reduced, due to the need to rapidly salvage the timber and have it sawed as soon as possible to avoid the imminent and real damage from the insects and disease that always follow a fire.
The Chapmans were able to salvage 198 thousand board feet of timber from their property -- enough wood to build approximately 20 new homes.
The approximately 25 percent of the revenue they received from the logging has been reinvested in their land as reforestation expense. The remainder of the income they received will be used to pay for reconstruction of fire-destroyed fences.
The Chapmans planned to complete the fence work this spring to protect their little trees from livestock grazing for the next couple of years. After they get their ground cover reestablished they intend on renting out pasture and implementing a rest rotation grazing plan.
Cost shares are available to landowners to address resource concerns and improve their operations through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. EQIP is open to all agricultural producers regardless of size and eligibility is determined by the Farm Service Agency.
For information on programs, contact the NRCS office in Grangeville at 983-1050.
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