Protecting Pine Haven

Pine Haven sits in a beautiful wooded area in a horseshoe of land on the south shore of Keyhole State Park and Reservoir and because of the town’s location; wild fires are always a very real concern. While the first responders are valiant in their defense of the town and surrounding area, the Pine Haven Volunteer Fire Department is not equipped with the manpower to manage a catastrophic possibility so they tend to implement preventive methods of protection as much as possible.

Several years ago, then fire chief Dave Hull considered bringing crews into the area around town to clear the “ladder fuels” like saplings and bushes that increase the chances of fire reaching town and the intensity of the blaze.

When Hull stepped down and became the assistant chief, this idea was not forgotten and, with retired US Forest serviceman and volunteer fireman Don Lancaster coordinating, has been initiated this week. “I saw the potential for a major catastrophic fire so I spoke with Bob [Rudichar] and we decided to put something together. I contacted the Bureau of Reclamation and the state [parks] and we got the project off the ground.” Rudichar is the current chief or the Pine Haven Fire Department.

The Bureau of Reclamation, Keyhole State Park, Wyoming State Forestry, Montana Conservation Corp (MCC) and Pine Haven Volunteer Fire Department joined forces in this fire mitigation project to create a buffer zone between the forest and the town.

The crews cleared a space of approximately 250 feet wide and almost a mile along the eastern boundary of the town so if a fire does come from the area near the lake, said Lancaster, “We can get it stopped before it gets into town”.

The work started on the park at the east end of Hays Boulevard on Monday morning, but was not necessarily obvious to onlookers. “Looking at it, it probably won’t be that visible,” Will Donagall, from the Bureau of Reclamation, assured the public. “We’re cutting a lot of the eight foot tall and shorter trees and all of the juniper that is on the ground so, in general, you’re not going to be able to notice. We’re not clearing everything out, we’re significantly reducing the ladder fuels and ground vegetation that would make a fire worse or spread more readily.”

Donagall also discussed one of the reasons for the phasing of the mitigation, “The Northern Long Eared Bat (that makes this area of Wyoming its home) is a threatened species so there are certain environmental protections that regulate when we can disturb their habitat or how we can disturb their habitat.” He noted that during the bats’ maternity season, the crews are only cutting terrain features that are not being used at this time. Later in the year, when those regulations are not in place, “we can come in and do other types of fire mitigation”.

Bureau of Reclamation’s Cindy Larom noted that there had been a buffer created at some point in the past by the state park that simply had not been maintained, “We are cleaning that up too and then extending it a little farther.” She said that Keyhole State Park Superintendent Terry Lee and assistant superintendent Guthrey Etherton have been very helpful with the project, lending the group equipment and allowing the crews to camp in the park.

The Montana Conservation Corp, who are the main labor force for this phase of the project, is a branch of AmeriCorp and the two crews of adults and youths who participated in clearing the buffer zone are based in the Bozeman/Helena area. The MCC was paid by the Bureau with no subsequent cost to the town.

Donagall anticipated completion of this first phase of the project by the end of the week.