25,000 acres of forest could see wildfire-risk reduction near Island Park: here’s what that means

ISLAND PARK, Idaho (KIFI) — The U.S. Forest Service is developing a plan to reduce wildfire risk across roughly 25,000 acres of National Forest land near Island Park — but the proposal is still in its early stages.

Before any work begins, the Forest Service will conduct an environmental review and public-involvement process designed to identify potential impacts, concerns, and alternatives.

So, what is a fuels-reduction project?

“Fuels” are vegetation and other forest material that can feed a wildfire.

That can include dead trees, fallen branches, thick brush, smaller trees and dense vegetation. When those materials accumulate, they can provide a continuous path for fire to spread and potentially allow flames to move from the forest floor into the tree canopy.

The Forest Service's Island Park proposal is designed to reduce that fuel and change how a future wildfire could behave.

The project framework focuses on about 25,000 acres along the U.S. Highway 20 corridor in the Ashton/Island Park Ranger District. Areas near communities such as Mack's Inn and Stonegate, powerlines and substations, and important evacuation routes are among the priorities identified by the Forest Service.

Potential treatments could include thinning dense stands of trees, removing hazardous vegetation, creating fuel breaks and other vegetation-management techniques.

The goal is not to simply remove as many trees as possible.

Instead, the Forest Service says treatments would be strategically placed to reduce potential wildfire intensity, protect critical infrastructure and give firefighters safer opportunities to respond to a fire.

The Forest Service has identified Island Park as a High-Risk Fireshed under the agency's Wildfire Crisis Strategy.

A fireshed is a large landscape where a wildfire could significantly affect communities and important resources.

The Forest Service says dense vegetation and high fuel loads in the Island Park area could contribute to high or extreme fire behavior under the right weather and fuel conditions.

Officials are particularly focused on protecting homes, communities, power infrastructure and evacuation routes.

Preparing for Reduction

The 25,000-acre proposal is not yet a construction project, and residents should not expect crews to begin cutting trees immediately.

The Forest Service is currently developing the proposal and identifying potential concerns that will need to be addressed through the environmental review process. The agency plans to use an Emergency Action Determination authority as it moves through that process, which is intended to provide an expedited path while still including environmental analysis and public involvement.

The next step will be giving the public and stakeholders a closer look at the draft proposal.

Public input begins with the proposal

The Forest Service plans to present its draft proposal to the Targhee Forest Collaborative on September 2 at the Island Park EMS Building.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m., followed by an afternoon field trip to areas being considered for treatment.

The collaborative includes people and organizations with different interests in management of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest.

That meeting is part of the early collaborative process. The Forest Service says a formal public comment period will come later, after the proposal has been developed further and potential concerns have been identified.

Public input can help the agency identify issues it may not otherwise see — including concerns involving environmental resources, access, wildlife, recreation, private property and how proposed treatments could affect individual communities.

The Forest Service's own project framework describes public input as an important part of refining the broad proposal into a final proposed action.

The Forest Service estimates full implementation could be two to three years away.

For now, the Forest Service is encouraging residents to learn about the proposal and participate as the project develops. Click here to learn more at the U.S. Forest Service's website.