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Rock Canyon 2 Thinning Panorama > Thinning Cost Effective
Hiring private contractors as part of a non-commercial thinning project, is one way to reduce fuel loads and is less expensive that fighting a wildland fire.
Hiring private contractors as part of a non-commercial thinning project, is one way to reduce fuel loads and is less expensive that fighting a wildland fire.		 Thinning Cost Effective

Fighting fires is expensive! Fire fighting costs alone for the 2002 Sanford Fire exceeded $6 million, and that doesn’t include the rehab efforts that will be conducted later. At times, situations like the Sanford cannot be avoided; however, less expensive pre-measures exist to make an area less likely to succumb to wildfire. Prescribed burning and thinning are both ways to reduce fuels, maintain scenic and wildlife values and leave the forest ecologically functioning and intact. As an example, During 1977 to 1992, national large fire costs averaged $570.98/acre *(USFS, 1995) and an estimate of a 600 acre fire that was of low intensity and “behaved like a prescribed fire” was estimated to cost around $12.50/acre, and again, forest ecosystems were left intact **(Lynch, 2001). Thinning, especially in an area where mistletoe has invaded, can reduce the potential for a crown fire, and also is an economic venture, as costs and profits are secured through a private contractor.

*USDA Forest Service. 1995. U.S. Forest Service fire suppression costs on large fires. Chiefs Office, Washington, D.C.

**Lynch, D.L. 2001. Financial Results of Ponderosa Pine Forest Restoration in Southwestern Colorado. pp 141-148. (In: USDAFS. 2001. Ponderosa Pine Ecosystems Restoration and Conservation: Steps Toward Stewardship. Conference Proceedings: Flagstaff, AZ, April 25-27, 2000. Proceedings RMRS-P-22.

Thinned areas are less likely to succumb to a wildfire.
Thinned areas are less likely to succumb to a wildfire.