Page 21 - WCA December Ketch Pen 2020

A few weeks later we organized another meeting of cattle producers, ranchers and others. This time we heard from Hilary Franz, DNR Commissioner of Public Lands and Kelly Susewind, Director of Department of Fish and Wildlife. Both gave their assurances of helping to rebuild and move forward with plans to protect public lands from future devastating fires. While a windstorm and dry conditions contributed to this fire, we all know that grazing and better land management practices can help control wildland fires.
Aerial footage of the Whitney fire near Davenport
There was excellent dialogue during the almost two- hour meeting. Tough questions were asked about habitat management, plans around opening more public land to grazing leases and how state agencies are coordinating with federal landowners in Washington State. Questions were asked about cattle grazing in areas where wolves were present. While all the questions don’t have answers yet, there was a sense that they were listening and willing to work with cattlemen and ranchers to make better plans for their operations in coming seasons.
The general consensus seemed to be that DNR and the local fire districts worked better to coordinate resources this year than has been the case in past “fire years”. We also heard of the need for more volunteer firefighters. Several voiced
praise for the “prison crews” who help with DNR fire teams. Commissioner Franz also shared that the “prison camp crews” help during the off season with DNR forest management by clearing undergrowth and thinning operations.
Judy’s final statement – “I was so impressed by the willingness of neighbors, people from Washington’s West Side and even government agencies to come together to help those who suffered great losses during the fires with donations of feed and hay, equipment and cash. “Neighbor helping neighbor” is a phrase often used in times of tragedy – I was a witness to the truly inspiring efforts from all involved to help those in need.”
Burned outbuildings near Okanogan on the Pearl Springs
Tom’s final statement- “to totally prevent wildfires is unrealistic, but we can mitigate the severity of the fire. It is not a secret what creates a fire. Fuel, oxygen and an ignition source. A catastrophic wildfire needs excessive fuel, oxygen and an ignition source. While we can’t totally control or eliminate these factors, we can reduce the fuel loads and educate the people on the ignition sources. And thank you to all who rallied around to help their friends, neighbors, and in many cases people they didn’t even know. With all that seems to be wrong in our world, this outpouring of support tells me that there is still much right!”
Ketch Pen www.washingtoncattlemen.org
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December 2020