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by Nancy Neyenhouse, Community Grants Committee Chair
What images come to mind when Leavenworth, WA is mentioned? Bavarian village? Christmas lights? Wine tasting? After my extremely informative visit with Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition Director, Annie Schmidt, I will always conjure up images of bushwhacking up a hillside in the Chumstick watershed and learning the ins and outs of stand examination and forest fuels reduction! In 2009, the Mountaineers
Director Annie Schmidt, Nancy Neyenhouse, Volunteer Steve Raymond
It was a mere 97 degrees as I met Director Annie Schmidt in the parking lot of the fire station on the outskirts of Leavenworth. I had in tow my daughter, Jill, and friend, Jan. We all piled into Annie’s 4-wheel drive vehicle and headed up the road, into the hills. The 4-wheel drive was a good thing because we kept going up, up, and up. Finally, when the paved road ran out and the dirt road began, we stopped and met up with uber-volunteer, Steve Raymond. Steve drives a wood/gas hybrid jeep (that’s a whole new story!) and appropriately, is also the chair of the Coalition’s Woody Biomass Utilization Committee. And we still continued UP the road!
As we drove, Annie stopped the car and pointed out different stands and what makes one stand of trees
Various tools purchased through Mountaineers Foundation grant
We stopped near a steep hillside, rubbed lavender oil, which we were told is a natural insect repellant, all over ourselves and headed up through the brush. Plots have been determined throughout the project area and we were to collect data on this particular one. Through Foundation support, the Coalition was able to purchase necessary data-collection equipment and those items were put to good us this day. Did you know that with a diameter tape one can measure the circumference of a tree and the diameter is automatically calculated? The snazzy GPS the Foundation purchased allowed pin point accuracy in finding the plot, and, more importantly, the car when we were finished! I proudly, and with great effort, used the increment bore to determine one of the plot trees to be a very healthy, 46-years old. Jill tramped 75 feel up slope, and using another instrument, determined my tree to be 78 feet tall. As this data, plus more, is collected throughout the project area, the forest service is able to calculate stand type and health, which trees to take down and which to leave.
The Coalition has begun a new program, Private Land Cost-Share which brings private landowners together with fire professionals to develop a plan for conducting fuels reduction activities on their land. Land owners submit an application that is reviewed and ranked by Coalition partners. Ranking includes strategic location in the watershed, fire equipment access, water availability, and more. Once an application is approved,
Counting rings in bore sampling to determine age of tree
The Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition is a collaborative partnership involving many organizations, including local landowners and residents, local fire district members, industry representatives, County Commissioners, as well as the United States Forest Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, The Wilderness Society, Conservation Northwest. Their mission is to protect lives, property and infrastructure in the Chumstick watershed from wildfire. The Coalition works closely with public entities, to ensure that complementary fuels reduction work occurs on private and public lands in the area. For more information, please visit their website at ChumstickCoalition.org.
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