Applegate Fire Plan: Fuel Reduction Methods

Methods	Objectives	Slope	Riparian Zone	Near Home	Other Treatment Required?	Contract Cost/Acre
Manual/Mechanical
Thinning	vertical or horizontal fuel separation	all	maybe*	OK	usually	$230-850	Pros & Cons
Slashbuster: Thinning	vertical or horizontal fuel separation	< 35%*	no**	no**	maybe	$200-500	Pros & Cons
Pruning	limb up trees to reduce ladder fuels	all	yes	OK	usually	$50-250	Pros & Cons
Slashing	remove a veg type or size	all	maybe*	yes	usually	$230-850	Pros & Cons
Slashbuster: Slashing	remove one veg type or size	< 35%*	no**	no**	maybe	$200-500	Pros & Cons
Lopping & Scattering	modify downed wood concentration	all	OK	yes	maybe	$25-45	Pros & Cons
Fuel Pullback	reduce fuel around protected items	all	yes	OK	usually	$1.50-2.00/tree	Pros & Cons
Crushing - dozer	reduce depth of fuel bed to slow fire behavior	< 35%	no	no	usually	$50-68/hr	Pros & Cons
Slashbuster: Chipping	reduce amount of downed wood	< 35%*	no**	no**	maybe	$575-1600	Pros & Cons
Hand Piling	pile dead and small material	all	maybe*	no	usually	$250-1300	Pros & Cons
Burn Hand piles	consume piled slash	all	no**	yes	usually	$25-140	Pros & Cons
Machine Piling	pile small fuel to reduce spread of fire	< 35%	no	no	usually	$200-400	Pros & Cons
Machine Pile - Burn	consume piled slash	all	no**	yes	usually	$25-140	Pros & Cons
Raking	reduce material under protected items	all	yes	OK	usually	$40-120	Pros & Cons
Prescribed Fire
Underburn - Broadcast burn	reduce/kill small diameter & ground vegetation	all	no**	no	usually	$60-400	Pros & Cons
Fireline Construction	create 1-3 ft. ground fuel break	all*	no**	OK	usually	$50/hr	Pros & Cons
Other
Grazing	reduce small ground fuel by grazing animals	< 60%	no**	yes	usually	varies by job: fencing, water, access, etc.	Pros & Cons
Lomakatsi Natural Treatments	analysis of area prior to treatment, considering all of the ecosystem before and after treatments	all	yes	yes	no	$500-1600	Pros & Cons
Beyond the first 50 ft., either side of a stream or river *See ' Living in a Biocracy ' guidelines of the Fire Plan; there is not a simple yes or no.

Methods	Pros	Pros	Cons	Cons	Cons
Manual/Mechanical
Thinning	attractive, park-like	low risk	labor intensive	small diameter only	slash left to treat
Slashbuster: Thinning	cost-effective	perform multiple tasks at one time; no slash	for use on gentle slope only	can disturb soils	can damage leave trees/spread noxious weeds
Pruning	attractive landscape	effective	very labor intensive	creates slash
Slashing	easy to describe		labor intensive	could end up a clear-cut
Slashbuster: Slashing	cost effective	perform multiple tasks at one time; no slash	for use on gentle slope only	can disturb soils; spread noxious weeds	can damage leave trees
Lopping & Scattering	low cost	few impacts on lands	labor intensive	not all fuel removed	small diameter only
Fuel Pullback	low cost	effective	labor intensive	larger slash = many cuts
Crushing - dozer	easy & inexpensive	possibly reduces fire intensity	does not prevent fires	possible soil compaction	not for use on large or green material
Slashbuster: Chipping	cost-effective	perform multiple tasks at one time; no slash	for use on gentle slope only	can disturb soils; spread noxious weeds	can damage leave trees
Hand Piling	easy to do	few impacts on lands	slow work	time consuming
Burn Hand piles	easy to implement		labor intensive	leaves big black spots on ground
Machine Piling	fast	inexpensive	possible soil compaction	topsoil can be moved; spread noxious weeds	not attactive
Machine Pile - Burn	easy to implement		labor intensive	leaves big black spots on ground
Raking	can significantly protect large trees		very labor intensive
Prescribed Fire
Underburn - Broadcast burn	accomplishes multiple tasks	can mimic a natural regime	risks if fire gets away from operator	requires experienced personnel	leave trees can be damaged
Fireline Construction	provides ground barrier to fire		labor intensive	requires maintenance	not completely effective
Other
Grazing	can be low-cost	minimal labor if water & fencing in place	may compact soils	affects small diameter material only; < 3"	fencing & water needed
Lomakatsi Natural Treatments	attractive, park-like	site-specific consultations prior to treatments; protects resources	labor intensive	can be slow process