We crave summer after long winters in Northwest Montana, and when it finally arrives, we celebrate. Beards are shaved, sunglasses are donned, and legitimate traffic is encountered. The two seasons most of us talk about in Montana are winter and road construction. Sadly, a third season is creeping in, gaining notoriety: fire season. By mid-July, I, like most of you, start wondering when “it” is going hit; will we be graced with a smoke-free August, or will a month-long plume weigh heavy on the Flathead Valley? While fires may not be occurring more frequently, the severity of the fires in Montana certainly seems to have increased.
The cause of increased fire severity is much debated. My Forest Service-employed family members ardently believe “this is what 100 years of fire suppression policy gets you.” Some folks are convinced the severity is entirely weather pattern based, whether by natural climate change or man-created global warming. The answer is likely a mix of all of these opinions. But the answer doesn’t help us much with the solution. Prescribed burns make sense biologically, but can only be utilized when the weather is favorable and that window of opportunity seems to be getting shorter and shorter. Thinning projects to reduce available fuel also make sense. The economics of thinning projects for loggers vary with market timber prices, and relying on Forest Service sawyers to perform the bulk of the thinning projects on a limited budget isn’t a winning proposition. We can reduce our reliance on pollutants that have a clear cause and effect relationship to weather patterns, however, the definition of “clear” remains debated. Acceptance of naturally occurring climate change when our local economy relies heavily upon tourism doesn’t sit well with most of us and feels like defeat. As with most important issues, resolving the cause will take a multi-faceted approach. Montana is certainly at critical mass with respect to the need for resolution; fighting fires is a state budget buster, and losing tourists during times of critical economic need is devastating for service-based employers and employees.
The effects on the ground of congressional resource management policymaking aren’t readily apparent to the average Jane. Conversely, glaringly apparent is increased structural damage, ill health effects from smoke, and greater risk to our fire crews. While all of us will keep praying for our heroes on the fire line, and for rain, the time is now for our congressional leaders to implement common sense resource management policies that limit the severity of fire season. We don’t need a third season in Montana; we need robust tourism and, more importantly, forest fuel reduction to reduce risk to our fire crews.
Tammi Fisher is an attorney and former mayor of Kalispell.