Middle Fork Ranger District, Willamette National Forest,Oregon

BACKGROUND:

In October, 1991, the Warner Creek Fire burned across 8,973 acresof a Habitat Conservation Area for the northern spotted owl. InFebruary 1993, a committee of citizen-scientists developed the firstproposal to manage the Warner Burn as a Fire Ecology Research NaturalArea (RNA). The Forest Service's PNW Research Station followed withanother RNA proposal in March 1993. Inspired by these efforts, theOregon Natural Heritage Plan was formally revised to create "FireProcess RNAs" for fire and other dynamic ecosystem disturbanceprocesses.

New, expanded citizen proposals for a Warner Fire Process RNA weresubmitted to the Willamette National Forest and Regional Office inJune 1996, and September 1997. These proposals utilized landscapeecology principles to link together a cluster of five InventoriedRoadless Areas into a large-scale Fire Process RNA that would beadjacent to two designated Wilderness Areas that have approved plansfor Prescribed Natural Fires. In July 1998, the Willamette NationalForest offered its own proposal for a 4,400 acre RNA that wouldprotect the interior of the Warner Burn.

In April 1999, the Forest Service's PNW Research Station hosted agathering of scientists to gather more information on the concept ofFire Process RNAs. The assembled scientists from Oregon, Washington,and British Columbia agreed that Fire Process RNAs had considerablescientific and ecological merit. They recommended that Fire ProcessRNAs be relatively large in size (e.g. 10-30,000 acres in size),include adjacent unburned acreage, and be managed for future fireevents as well as post-fire successional patterns and processes.

The citizen's RNA proposal continues to evolve as new G.I.S. basedmaps and data are being generated, and new knowledge gaps areidentified. The most current version (March 2000) proposes a 31,000acre RNA that includes portion of four Inventoried Roadless Areas.Proponents are currently pursuing funding for the necessary environmental analysis through the 2001 Congressional Appropriationsprocess.

DESCRIPTION:

The core of the citizen's Warner RNA proposal includes the entireWarner Burn. This is one of the rarest landscapes in the westside Oregon Cascades: a roadless, mid-elevation, relatively unmanaged, recently burned forest containing both young natural stands andhigh-mortality old-growth stands. A wide range of disturbance intensities, plant associations, and stand conditions currently exist. Early and late seral stages following large-scale firedisturbances are not adequately represented within existing RNAs. TheWarner Burn thus presents a unique opportunity to study not onlysingle elements or communities encompassed within it, but also the complex array of fire intensities and communities, their arrangement, connections, and inter-relationships through time. The relativelylarge area and diversity of topography, vegetation, microclimates, habitats, and fire effects make the Warner Creek Fire area well suited for a broad range of research and educational uses. Four clustered Inventoried Roadless Areas, and the adjacent Waldo and Three Sisters Wilderness Areas, comprise a landscape-scale area approximately 318,000 acres in size suitable for research and restoration of long-interval, large-scale fire ecology processes typical of the westside Oregon Cascades.

RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Research and educational uses of the Warner Creek Fire area have been ongoing for the past six years, and a large databank has already been assembled. Over 100 permanent research plots have been established by the Forest Service's PNW Research Station, scientists and students from Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, the Cascade Science School, and the Northwest Youth Corps working with the Western Fire Ecology Center. The Cascadia Fire Ecology Education Project has hosted annual field conferences featuring local scientists giving field seminars in the Warner Burn. Numerous fieldtrips by local schools, outdoor clubs, conservation groups, and thegeneral public have also regularly occurred. What is urgently needednow is formal protection as an RNA, and a comprehensive managementplan for research, restoration, and education of fire ecologyprocesses into the 21st century and beyond.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

 Endorsements from interested individuals and organizationsare needed to help convince members of Congress, the ClintonAdministration, and the Forest Service that the Warner Fire ProcessRNA is needed as an important management area for research andrestoration of natural fire ecology processes.

 Additionally, other candidate sites need to be identifiedand proposed for Fire Process RNAs in other regions of the West.

 For more information, to submit endorsements, or to get help proposing new Fire Process RNAs, contact:

Timothy Ingalsbee, Ph.D.

Director, Western Fire Ecology Center

P.O.B. 51026, Eugene, OR 97405

(541) 302-6218 or fire@efn.org