1979 Barker Lakes Fire Facts Source: Montana Standard Article (August 8, 2004)

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2 1979 Barker Lakes Fire Facts Source: Montana Standard Article (August 8, 2004) Fire started on August 4, 1979 (confirmed at 1312 hours) August 4, 1979 Fire Facts & Progression of Events (Day 1) 90 +degree o F temperatures & RH was 10% or lower; At 1630 hours a retardant plane made its first drop & a MT State Prison Crew (Deer Lodge, MT) was ordered; At 1800 hours a Class II Fire overhead team was requested; At 1840 hours 160 acres were ablaze & flames were spreading rapidly; At 1900 hours two bulldozers from the Anaconda Smelter arrived to build fire lines; 100 flame lengths were igniting spot fires being fanned by mph winds.

3 1979 Barker Lakes Fire Facts Source: Montana Standard Article (August 8, 2004) August 5, 1979 Facts & Progression of Events (Day 2) At 0300 hours the state upgraded the fire to Class I status because of terrain complexity & the threat to area homes; The fire ran to within six miles of Anaconda, threatened 50 families (with evacuations being served), & the state became eligible for federal disaster funds; 800 fire fighters arrived from across the NW, including National Guardsman; A spot fire triggered the evacuation of homes in the Yankee Flats area; Six air tankers were constantly circling & working the fire; The MT State Prison crew got the field kitchen The Ball & Chain Café up and running.

4 1979 Barker Lakes Fire Facts Source: Montana Standard Article (August 8, 2004) August 6, 1979 Facts & Progression of Events (Day 3) The fire reached 3,000 acres by late afternoon. August 7, 1979 Facts & Progression of Events (Day 4) Tactics: fire lines were widened & encircled the east side, interior flare-ups were dampened, & spots outside the fire perimeter were extinguished; A CA firefighter was taken to the Anaconda hospital, via helicopter, for heat exhaustion; Out-of-state crews were really suffering due to the high elevations; Helicopters started bucket work from nearby high-elevation mountain lakes.

5 1979 Barker Lakes Fire Facts Source: Montana Standard Article (August 8, 2004) August 8, 1979 Facts & Progression of Events (Day 5) The crews intentionally set fires at the south end of W. Barker Creek Canyon (to speed up the burn w/in the box canyon & to consume unburned heavy fuels); A helicopter with a drip-torch spread alumigel & gas along the upwind side of the 25-acre canyon. August 9, 1979 Facts & Progression of Events (Day 6) The fire was deemed controlled & the demobilization process began; 80 people remained on the fire to mop up; Jim Greene (State Forester) noted, At the time, it was the number one fire. ; 3,300 total acres burnt with an estimated suppression cost of $800,000 ($242.42/acre).

6 1979 Barker Lakes Fire Facts Source: Montana Standard Article (August 8, 2004) Miscellaneous Fire Facts This area was covered by a fire-protection agreement with the DNRC, Division of Forestry; The Anaconda Co. paid a tax of 14 cents/acre for the above coverage; The Anaconda Reduction Department (Smelter) billed the State of Montana roughly $22,000 for the use of equipment & manpower on the Barker Lakes Fire; The cause of fire: a dry lightening strike ignited tree stumps.

7 1979 Barker Lakes Fire Facts Source: Montana Standard Article (August 8, 2004) Forest Rehabilitation Efforts A watershed cooperative committee was formed in the weeks following the fire (this area was critical to Smelter operations as downstream of the fire were Warm Springs Creek & Meyers Dam); Fire lines dug by heavy equipment needed to be reinforced to prevent erosion & to stop silt from destroying the streams; Roads built or modified needed to be improved to reduce sedimentation; Slash & debris created by the dozers needed to be removed; On January 30, 1980 Dillon Flying Service dropped 450 lbs. of wheatgrass & LP seed over 50 acres of burned land; The Anaconda Co. did most of the rehabilitation efforts.

8 Pre-Thinning Pictures Over-topped WBP; 4 tall (25 years old) LP; 6 dbh & 30 tall (25 years old)

9 Pre-Thinning Pictures SAF (12 tall) WBP (1.5 tall)

10 Walking into Barker Lakes (looking South) Subalpine Larch (Larix lyallii)

11 Silvicultural Summary Rx. Exhibit J.3 Stand Description SILVICULTURAL SUMMARY PRESCRIPTION Tree Thinning Forest: Beaverhead-Deerlodge District: Pintler Sub-item No.: 1 Acres: 75 Unit Name: Barker Lake Tree Thinning Stand No.: Location/legal description: PMM, MT. T4N, R12W, Section 8 Elevation Range: 7,100-8,000 Avg. Slope: 20% Avg. Stand Age: Avg. Aspect: N-NE Avg. Tree Height: 12 ; 3-30 (Range) Avg. TPA (existing): 4,500; 2,000-8,000 (Range); 75-85% LP; 10-20% WBP; <5% ES/SAF Silvicultural Goal and Desired Condition This project is designed to reduce stand densities in an old burn area (i.e Barker Lake fire) to improve the forest health conditions for whitebark pine, a uniquely important and valuable species for wildlife. In addition, this area will be monitored, long-term, for growth response in whitebark pine, as the thinning will be performed in a fashion that lends itself to varying thinning densities across the treatment acreage. This type of stand density reduction in whitebark pine has not been done before in the greater southwestern Montana area, and the results will provide important data for future thinning projects with whitebark pine. Pre-plots in this area were installed in the summer of 2009, with whitebark pine restoration program dollars, and this proposal implements the needed thinning to then conduct future monitoring on growth responses. This is a unique old burn area that has a great variety of tree species, with whitebark pine being present and wellestablished after the 1979 fire. The goal is to prolong the period when whitebark pine are present by reducing competition with other conifer species these other species are beginning to outcompete whitebark pine in portions of this area. In addition, there is mountain pine beetle (MPB) pressure in the area that is expected to continue over the next three to four years; thinning would increase vigor and subsequently reduce the susceptibility of the retained PIAL trees to the MPB activity. The final objective is to monitor the growth response, with varying thinning densities, to determine how best to manage young stands for future forest health and wildlife needs.

12 Silvicultural Summary Rx. The average spacing for leave trees is 12 X 12 (spacing my be varied by 50% to select the best leave tree(s) based on the Rx. & characteristics of desirable trees); Acceptable stocking density: TPA; Leave all aspen & whitebark pine; Species removal preference: leave ES first, then LP, followed by SAF; Minimum tree height to cut is 1 ; Maximum cut diameter is 6.5 dbh; Maximum stump height is 4.0 ; All slash will be cut to within 24 of the forest floor, & the bole length will be no longer than 24 (to encourage drying & act as a deterrent for Ips. Beetles); Some internal controls or no treatment areas are present within the treatment acreage.

13 Map of 75-acre Barker Lake Thinning Unit

14 Work in Progress; First Morning (09/10/12) Over story WBP snags Untreated (seed wall) Treated

15 Work in Progress Continued Mount Haggin

16 Comparison (Before & After Photos) Before After

17 Comparison (Before & After Photos) Before After

18 Comparison (Before & After Photos) Before After

19 Comparison (Before & After Photos) Before After 80% LP/SAF; 20% WBP 80% WBP; 20% LP/SAF;

20 Comparison Continued Treated Untreated

21 Comparison from Northern Unit Boundary Treatment Boundary >4,000 TPA; >80% LP Approx. 600 TPA; >80% WBP

22 Thinning Development (20 minutes elapsed)

23 Monitoring Plots (Photo Points) Plot #001 Plot #002 Before After

24 1979 Barker Lakes Fire (Fire Scar) 34 year-old fire scar

25 Finished Product Pictures Looking North from the Unit into Olsen Gulch

26 Finished Product Pictures

27 Finished Product Pictures

28 Finished Product Pictures

29 Finished Product Pictures

30 Finished Product Pictures

31 Finished Product Pictures Untreated adjacent stand Treated stand

32 Finished Product Pictures WBP Aspen

33 Finished Product Pictures

34 Finished Product Pictures

35 Pre & Post Stand Structure Pre-treatment Stand Conditions Average Tree Height: 12 ; 3-30 Range Average TPA: 4,500; 2,000-8,000 Range Spp. Composition: 75-85% LP; 10-20% WBP; <5% ES/SAF Post-treatment Stand Conditions Average Tree Height: 8 ; 3-30 Range Average TPA: 600; Range Spp. Composition: 80-90% WBP; 10-20% LP; <5% ES/SAF Estimated Canopy Cover: 26-40% Estimated Canopy Cover: 10-25% Average Diameter: 3-4 dbh Average Diameter:.5-2 dbh

36 THE END!!!