2009 FEDERAL DUCK STAMP CONTEST Phone: 763-389-3323 |
Hazardous Fuel Reduction / Firebreak Construction Project at Sherburne NWR
Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, Zimmerman, MN, will be removing hazardous fuel accumulations and constructing new firebreaks with funds received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
Within one mile of Sherburne Refuge there are over 2,600 occupied residences. Reducing hazardous fuel accumulations will aid fire suppression efforts and help to protect these homes in the event of a wildland fire. This project will provide thirteen new firebreaks covering over eight miles and reduce hazardous brush and woody fuel accumulations on over 1,000 acres along the refuge boundary. Approximately 40,000 to 50,000 tons of hazardous fuels will be cut and converted to wood chips for utilization as a renewable energy source, mulch, and other products. The project should be completed by the end of 2010. For a map of the areas involved, see the 2009 ARRA Mechanical Treatments map created in PDF format.
Much of the dead, hazardous fuel is a result of oak wilt, a tree disease caused by a fungus that affects members of the oak family, with red oaks being most susceptible. Oak wilt is spread by spores carried by Nitidulid beetles and also through root grafting. Selectively thinning healthy stands of trees and removal of the dead oaks will help prevent the spread of oak wilt onto or from refuge lands.
This hazardous fuel reduction project will also help in the restoration of oak savanna habitat on the refuge. Oak savanna is typically a habitat of scattered oaks with an understory of native grasses and wildflowers. With only .02 percent of original oak savanna habitat remaining in the Midwest, The Nature Conservancy has listed it as a "…globally endangered ecosystem.” A Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for Sherburne Refuge, approved in 2005, directs the refuge to restore and maintain native oak savanna habitat to pre-settlement conditions.
According to Russ Langford, Fire Management Officer, ARRA funds will enable the refuge to hire two foresters from the local area for approximately eight months. The funds will also support local industries by contracting them to remove woody material and then utilize it for products such as bio-fuel, mulch, and animal bedding. “In addition to our prescribed burning program, reducing fuels through cutting, chipping, and removal from the refuge will benefit wildlife and minimize the threat that a wildland fire may have to the surrounding public,” says Langford.
For questions concerning the Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project, call the refuge office at (763) 389-3323. TTY users may reach the refuge through the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.
More information see web page for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act at http://tinyurl.com/n5wa9k
