EDITORIAL: Reducing fire risk on Tubbs Hill a must

Leave Tubbs Hill alone.

Sounds like a reasonable request which some have suggested. After all, Tubbs is 165 acres of trees, brush, trails and wildlife right on the doorstep of downtown Coeur d'Alene. Some argue that trying to improve it by smoothing out the rough spots to make hiking easier, or removing snags and dead branches to make it safer, is at the same time taking away from the natural state that makes Tubbs the unique place it is today.

But not taking some measures for its own benefit would be a mistake.

The fuel mitigation work that began Thursday on Tubbs and is expected to take around six weeks to complete is necessary and we support this project being funded by a $240,000 federal grant. It will not only help reduce the risk of fire in this treasured natural area but also improve forest health.

It could be more important than ever due lack of rain, only 8.5 inches this year instead of the usual 14 or so in Coeur d'Alene, the dry conditions in our forests, the rising temperatures sure to come this summer and the fireworks that are part of the Fourth of July.

According to the latest forecast from the Predictive Services Office at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, June through September shows a higher potential for significant wildfire developing in North Idaho.

And what that means, as explained by Rebecca Paterson with the Bureau of Land Management in an Idaho Capital Sun report, is this: "If an accidental ignition occurs or a lightning ignition occurs, there is going to be a greater potential for those ignitions to develop into serious incidents that get large enough to affect people or pose a risk to life or property."

Which is exactly what officials are trying to avoid by clearing and thinning dead branches and brush, considered ladder fuels for forest fires. Some dead trees and snags will also come off Tubbs Hill.

A grant goal is to remove fuels adjacent to abutting properties like McEuen Park and near high-use trails to create fire breaks. It has been referred to as "the largest-scale project" carried out on Tubbs.

It is necessary.

While we want Tubbs to maintain its natural state as much as possible, it must be managed to protect the hill itself and for the protection of surrounding properties.

In the coming weeks, should you venture on to Tubbs Hill, you may run into crews carrying out this fuel mitigation project. If you do, don't get upset that a community treasure if being abused. Instead, be appreciative that it — and this community — is being protected.