Report studies Pole Creek Fire air, forest impacts

In the summer of 2012, the Pole Creek Fire impaired air quality in Central Oregon and caused extensive forest damage. Residents of Sisters and nearby communities endured thick smoke for weeks, and sensitive forest and stream habitats were destroyed.

The Oregon Health Authority and Department of Forestry detailed the fire’s effects in a report presented Tuesday to two legislative committees.

The 2013 Legislature, through House Bill 3109, directed the agencies to study the public health and forest effects of the 26,000-acre blaze in the Deschutes National Forest.

Rep. Gene Whisnant (R-Sunriver) said, “The air quality reports from the Pole Creek fire resulted in a public health concern, which caused me to introduce HB 3109 with Rep. Brad Witt (D-Clatskanie) during the 2013 session.

“We’re optimistic that the report from the Department of Forestry and the Oregon Health Authority will help increase public awareness of the impacts of forest wildfires on public health and on wildlife, fish and aquatic habitat.”

In addition to citing the long period of unhealthy air quality, the agencies’ report notes general, forest-related effects including:

– Destruction of normally fire-resistant tree stands.
– Changes that will benefit some wildlife species over time.

The report goes into additional detail about public health and forest effects:

Impacts on human health:
– While direct injuries from burns and inhalation of hot gases were not noted, some communities were affected by smoke containing fine particles.
– High levels of fine particles in the air have been associated with increases in heart-related and respiratory-related health problems in people with pre-existing heart and lung disease.
– Two smoke-related motor vehicle crashes with no reported injuries occurred during the wildfire.
– There was no increase in hospitalizations related to heart and respiratory health problems during or immediately following the wildfire.

Impacts on fish, wildlife and aquatic habitat:
– Entire forest stands burned across 40 percent of the fire area, with impacts more moderate on the remainder.
– This was not an isolated event. Since 1990, 25 large wildfires have occurred in the watershed. Reduced timber harvests and ongoing fire suppression on these federally managed lands have contributed to the buildup of fuels, increasing the severity of fires.
– Other impacts detrimental to fish, wildlife and aquatic habitat included: loss of interior older forest habitat and connectivity between older habitats; loss of headwater streamside habitats; abrupt changes in forest vegetation composition; potential for earlier snowpack melt with loss of forest canopies and soil cover.
– Some impacts are potentially beneficial, such as an increase in open-canopy forest habitats for big game species.

State, congressional and community representatives are working to address the policies and conditions that have led to unusually severe fires on federal forestlands across large portions of the state’s drier regions.

In these regions, local collaborative groups, representing multiple interests, have worked with the U.S. Forest Service on thinning and other projects to restore the forests’ health and fire resiliency.

The state’s forestry and public health agencies presented the Pole Creek report to the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the Senate Committee on Rural Communities and Economic Development.

The report can be viewed on the Department of Forestry website, www.oregon.gov/odf, under the heading “Report on the Pole Creek Fire.” The Oregon Health Authority site, http://healthoregon.org, has a link to the report as well.