No, this is not a misspelling and no there aren’t additional four-legged brown balls of fur or naked men wandering about the Sanford Burn. But, there are Burn Area Emergency Rehab (BAER) teams running around to assess conditions after a fire.
Professional hydrologists, soil scientists, biologists, engineers, silviculturists, range conservationists, archaeologists, and others are called upon to quickly staff a BAER team and to:
- 1) Determine if an emergency condition exists after the fire
2) Alleviate emergency conditions to help stabilize soils; control water, sediment and debris movement; prevent impairment of ecosystems, mitigate significant threat to health, safety, life, property and downstream values at risk.
3) Monitor the implementation and effectiveness of emergency treatments *(BAER Rehab on Western Forests, 2001).
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U.S. Forest Service Soil and Water Program Manager Rich Jaros lead up the Sanford BAER team, and after consulting with fellow team members, they determined that there were only a couple of areas in need of emergency rehab efforts. A contractor was hired to knock down some standing timber in the Deep Creek drainage and soil erosion barriers were placed throughout the area to help stabilize soils. In addition, 500 acres of severely burned pinyon-juniper sites will be reseeded to help decrease erosion and invasion of cheat grass (Need cite for BAER report).
According to the U.S. Forest Service, BAER expenses normally average only 5% of the total cost of fire suppression, but can reap long-term rewards for the watershed *(BAER Rehab on Western Forests, 2001).
*USDA, Forest Service Update. 2001. Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation on Western Forests.
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