2016 was another productive year for the our Puget Sound ecological fire partnership. Early drought, followed by a mild summer provided a longer than normal burn season. An expansion of available JBLM burning resources often allowed us to run two burn teams and take full advantage of the our burn window. As a result, fire remains a vital component of the collective conservation strategies that are being used regionally to support rare species recovery and restoration of our imperiled native habitats.
The attached report provides an updated description of our collaborative burn program and describes our 2016 activities.
Some 2016 milestones include:
- We have successfully completed more than 500 burns since 2008!
- We conducted a total of 91 burns (a new record) totaling 1717 acres on eleven different properties in south Puget Sound.
- We conducted our first ever burn at Mazama Meadows – CNLM’s recently acquired preserve.
- Supported emerging burn programs by providing burn bosses, planning support and burn resources with two new partners from outside Puget Sound: Mt Adams Resource Stewards and Quinault Indian Nation.