The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
GMUG holding off
by Katherine Nettles
After another week of warm, dry, windy weather the Gunnison County Sheriff Department has decided to enter all of Gunnison County into Stage 1 fire restrictions on Thursday morning along with surrounding counties and most other public lands. Ryan White, Gunnison County deputy emergency services manager, confirmed that White River National Forest, Bureau of Land Management Gunnison Field Office and the Black Canyon/Curecanti National Park are also going into Stage 1 this week, however the Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest (GMUG) has opted not to do so.
Stage 1 fire restrictions take effect at 12:01 a.m. on June 18. Under these restrictions, fires are allowed only in permanently constructed devices on private property and in developed recreational sites such as campgrounds or picnic areas. Fires not contained in permanently constructed devices are prohibited, and fires in portable devices such as tiki torches or fire pits are allowed only on private property. Personal fireworks are prohibited, as are explosive targets and agricultural burns.
A full list of restrictions can be found at gunnisoncounty.org/1121/Current-Fire-Restrictions.
Gunnison County sheriff Adam Murdie noted that folks should still pay attention to red flag days as well. “This also does not negate red flag days which mean no burning of any kind. I’m sure there will be days of both stage 1 and red flag restrictions,” he said. Red flag warnings are issued by the National Weather Service when critical fire weather conditions exist or are expected. They prohibit all open burning, regardless of whether county fire restrictions are currently in place.
County officials met Tuesday with state and federal agency partners to review four primary factors involved in the decision to enact fire restrictions, and the Gunnison Basin Wildfire Council met on Wednesday morning to confirm their collective decisions. As Murdie stated, “GMUG did not change, they are not going into restrictions but everyone else is.”
The Crested Butte News reached out to GMUG leadership regarding their decision to hold off on fire restrictions, however had not heard back as of press time.
As the county’s emergency services department has stated, fire restrictions are not based on a single factor. “Gunnison County follows a science-based process that evaluates multiple indicators of wildfire risk and relies heavily on coordination with local, state, and federal partners,” wrote White.
The board of county commissioners ultimately has the authority to enact fire restrictions, and has delegated that authority to Sheriff Murdie. This allows the sheriff to implement restrictionsquickly when conditions warrant immediate action rather than waiting for a formal board meeting. The commissioners subsequently ratify the decision through a formal resolution.
The four primary factors used in deciding on fire restrictions are:
• Energy Release Component (ERC), a nationally recognized measure of how dry and available fuels are to burn.
• Human-Caused Fire Risk, which assesses the likelihood of human activity leading to an ignition, including holiday weekends, special events, and periods of high visitation (most fires are caused by lightning strikes, over which agencies have no control).
• Live Fuel Moisture: the amount of moisture present in living vegetation such as grasses, shrubs, and trees. Drier vegetation is more susceptible to ignition and rapid fire spread.
• Weather Forecasts are also considered.
As White shared, these factors are evaluated together rather than individually. When all four indicators reach established thresholds, Stage I fire restrictions may be implemented. If conditions continue to deteriorate and ERC values reach even higher levels, stage II fire restrictions may be considered. When only some criteria are present, fire managers use professional judgment.
Last week, authorities determined that only two of the four conditions were met, resulting in no fire restrictions. “However, this week we did see Red Flag Warnings almost every day,” noted White.
