Fire and Flood

by Patrick White

We sure have seen some swings in the weather lately. We went from a three-month drought to a whole lot of rain in just a few weeks. With the Butternut fire that burned over 1,300 acres, the rain seemed to many an answer from the heavens.

I had an opportunity to attend the last Agriculture and Forestry Commission meeting, where guests from the state, including our local Dept. of Conservation and Recreation forester Tom Ryan, were in attendance. We asked what we could do to mitigate the impact of forest fires, and they responded with a simple solution: keep trails clear of debris during dry spells.

They explained that even a four- or five-foot wide trail can serve as a fire break. These trails double as open space within a forest and can keep fires contained and from spreading. To work effectively, trails must be kept clear of leaf clutter during the fall and downed limbs or trunks all year long.

As we manage our towns’ forests and work with our nonprofit partners who manage many of the Berkshires’ most iconic preserves, stepping up proactive trail management is a practical and effective way to minimize the potential loss of forest due to forest fires. Now is the time to think strategically about fire containment, and ensure we have the budgets and/or volunteers in place to ensure our trails can do double duty as fire breaks.