Fire and Rain: A Race Against Mudslides : Foresters Use Hay to Prevent Costly Erosion Above Lake

LAKE ELSINORE â€”  Four grimy, sweaty men--standing on a fire-blackened mountainside Thursday in the Cleveland National Forest--looked up at the sound of an approaching helicopter and shielded their eyes against the dust that began kicking up.

The helicopter maneuvered above them, then slowly lowered and released its dangling payload: seven bales of hay.

As the aircraft pulled up and away, the men hurried to haul the 80-pound bales into a bone-dry ravine.

The ravine and many others like it won’t be dry for long, however. With Southern California’s rainy season just around the corner, the U.S. Forest Service crews are working at a feverish pace to shore up steep slopes left denuded following a June 27 forest fire.

Racing With the Rains

“The critical part of this phase (of work) is to get it before the rains do,� Ernie Martinsen, Cleveland National Forest resources officer, said as he surveyed the rehabilitation project with a group of reporters.

Although the blaze blackened 8,200 acres of wild lands in Orange and Riverside counties--the majority of it in the Cleveland National Forest--workers are mainly concerned about erosion damage on 1,100 acres of barren hillside overlooking Lake Elsinore in Riverside County. A July 2 Forest Service report categorizes the erosion rate on those slopes as five times greater than it was before the fire.

With an estimated $5 million worth of homes, businesses and roads lying below--and little or no vegetation to hold back any rain-loosened mudslides--the Forest Service is trying to avert a potential disaster. Foresters estimate that 54,000 cubic yards of earth could wash from mountain slopes in the first year alone.

Thus, about 50 forestry workers began a three-week rehabilitation project Thursday intended to temporarily replace the lost vegetation with hay-bale dams and protect the slopes and ravine sides with straw coverings and patches of biodegradable cloth.

The first step of the project involves hauling hay to the slopes and stacking the bales in seven ravines spread over 106 acres just above the Ortega Highway. A landing zone was set up on a bluff above El Cariso Fire Station for two helicopters on contract to the Forest Service. A fuel truck was kept at the ready, as were two fire engines that sprayed water over the area to keep down the dust. Officials in a mobile air-traffic-control center housed in a panel truck directed the helicopter pilots as they carefully swooped down to refuel or pick up bales.

“It’s hazardous, no doubt about it,� said Martinsen, who is supervising the project. “You’ve got helicopters, fuel and a lot of people concentrated in a small area.�

After loading up, the helicopters flew in staggered intervals over a ridge to the drop-off site. Awaiting the payloads were two teams of forestry crews, which would drag off the hay bales and stack them at strategic intervals in the ravines. One member of each crew was responsible for directing the helicopter pilots, using hand signals and two-way radios.

1,000 Bales, Makeshift Dams

Martinsen said the crews will probably finish placing the 1,000 bales by the end of today, then spend a few more days securing their makeshift dams with metal fence posts.

Next, workers will spread sheets of cotton fabric--15 feet wide--down the ravine slopes to add further reinforcement. The fabric will help filter out sediment being swept downstream, he explained.

Mats of straw, anchored by 6-inch staples, will then be spread over a slightly larger 250-acre area.

Martinsen said most of these materials are bio-degradable.

“Hopefully, all that will be left in four to five years are the fence posts,� he said.

The final work calls for the planting of grass seed over the entire 1,100-acre denuded area. Martinsen said a single helicopter will be used to scatter as much as seven pounds of seed--with 500,000 seeds per pound--over each acre. That job should begin in about three weeks.

The cost of the restoration project is expected to cost about $107,500.

But even all this work may not be enough if Mother Nature decides not to cooperate.

“If we have a heavy rain year, all our work will be down the tube,� Martinsen said. “We’re hoping for an average (rain) year.�

Restoration of the charred wild lands has actually been under way since immediately after the summer forest fire was extinguished. Bulldozers moved in, wherever possible, to dig ruts and grooves in the ash-covered terrain to help slow the flow of rainwater, Martinsen said.

Then, teams of forestry crews tackled the dirty job of clearing debris from ravines and gullies, he said. That work was concentrated on the Orange County side of the forest--where the fire started from an as-yet unknown cause--because feeder tributaries to San Juan Creek were clogged, Martinsen said.

“If debris were to build up and then break, it could cause a lot of flood damage,� he said.

Martinsen has called on a variety of Forest Service experts for help.

A hydrologist was consulted from Lake Tahoe, and a soil scientist came from the Angeles National Forest. A helicopter was brought in from the San Bernardino National Forest. Even an archeologist was summoned to examine barren patches of earth for any newly uncovered artifacts. So far, Forest Service archeologist Lee DiGregorio said she had found some rocks containing Indian paintings but little else of significance.

Lining up for some of the hard labor were about two dozen members of El Cariso Hot Shots, an elite team of Forest Service firefighters who are dispatched throughout the West to help tame blazes. Although the Hot Shots were engaged Thursday in the comparatively unglamorous job of forking bales of hay onto a truck, they didn’t complain.

“They’re a good bunch of people, no question about it,� Martinsen said. “They’re eager to do a good job, no matter how menial the job is.�

Along on Thursday’s press tour was Kimberly Brandel, new ranger of the forest’s Trabuco district, which covers parts of Orange and Riverside counties.

Earlier in the morning, Brandel and an aide had been approached at El Cariso Fire Station by a local resident anxiously requesting grass seed that was not yet available. Mike Palmer, a retired firefighter living in the tiny mountain community of Decker, told the forestry officials that he wanted to put down anything he could to reduce erosion from this winter’s rains.

“We’re going to have a real bad year,� Palmer said.

Though bad for humankind, fires such as this summer’s blaze can be beneficial to the local wildlife population of mule deer, mountain lion, bobcat and smaller animals. It can clear out old brush, allowing new, more succulent plants to grow. Already, patches of yellow mustard grass and green ceanothus can be seen sprouting from the ash-covered ground.

All 30 species of burned-out vegetation--including dense stands of oak and sage--will return, Martinsen promised.

“It’ll take 10 to 20 years,� Martinsen said. “(But) what was there will eventually come back.�

RESTORING THE FOREST

Los Angeles Times

On June 27, fire charred 8,200 acres of wildlands in Orange and Riverside counties, most of it in Cleveland National Forest. The most serious erosion threat involves 1,100 acres near Lake Elsinore. Here is how the U.S. Forest Service is attempting to reinforce the barren slopes:

Step 1

To minimize erosion and mudslides, temporary dams--built from 1,000 bales of hay transported by helicopter--will be built in about seven fire-charred ravines to slow the flow of rainwater in a 106-acre area. Strips of biodegradable cloth 15 feet wide will be used to cover the sides of the ravines.

Step 2

Another 250 acres of charred slope will be covered with straw matting fastened to the ground by six-inch metal staples.

Step 3

In two or three weeks, grass seed will be strewn by helicopter over the 1,100-acre area near Lake Elsinore. About seven pounds of seed per acre will be used, with about 500,000 seeds per pound. The total restoration project will involve about 50 workers and cost $107,500.

Source: U.S. Forest Service