Rancher Looks to Fire for Better Grazing

Gerard Breton is a rancher who believes in the power of fire.

He's seen firsthand how controlled burning benefits both his cattle and the wildlife that depend on the native grasses of the southern Rocky Mountain Trench.

Grasslands dotted with ponderosa pine and western larch were once a predominant feature of the low-elevation landscape in the broad valley between the Rockies and the Purcells that stretches from Radium Hot Springs to the U.S. border.

The park-like landscape of bunchgrasses and mature widely spaced trees was maintained by forest fires that burned frequently -- as often as every five years -- through the valley. These low-intensity fires left the tough ponderosa and larch untouched but regenerated the grasses and shrubs. Most importantly, the frequent fires burned off the Douglas fir and lodgepole pine seedlings which otherwise could spread into a dense carpet of trees that would choke out other forms of life. It was a fire-maintained ecosystem.

But nature's delicate balance was put out of kilter when we started fighting forest fires in a big way around the middle of the 20th century. The thick canopy of spindly conifers that we see today in the southern Rocky Mountain Trench is not natural. It's there because we no longer allow forest fires to burn as they once did.

This forest ingrowth, as it's called, produces more trees than the land can support, as many as 10,000 trees per hectare instead of a healthy few dozen to a few hundred. Forest ingrowth destroys habitat for birds and small mammals. It encroaches on grasslands, depriving cattle and wildlife of food. And unchecked forest ingrowth provides fuel for wildfires that threaten people and their property.

For all these reasons, Gerard Breton believes in using managed fire to return the landscape of the Trench to its once natural fire-maintained state.

For the past eleven years Breton has managed the J2 Ranch on the Kootenay River near Canal Flats. He grazes the ranch's 430 head of cattle on Crown range near Premier Lake, Whiteswan Lake and up Findlay Creek. Back in the mid-1990s he worked with the Invermere Forest District on a pilot burning project on Pump Pasture near Sheep Creek.

"After that burn we could graze 120 cattle for over a month, and still leave grass behind, where once it would barely maintain 100 cows for a couple of weeks. I've seen what fire can do, how fast the rough fescue comes back once you get rid of the closed forest canopy," Breton says.

Controlled burning of dense stands of lodgepole pine and Douglas fir isn't the only way to bring back the natural grasslands of the Trench. Breton has worked with the Ministry of Forests over the years to develop grazing plans that are compatible with the environment. In fact, both the B.C. and Canadian Cattlemen's Associations recognized his efforts when they awarded him with their respective Environmental Stewardship Awards in 1998.

Breton promotes the use of controlled fire to restore grasslands through his membership in the Rocky Mountain Trench Natural Resources Society. Established in 1996 by ranchers, hunters and environmentalists tired of decades-long conflict over diminishing forage for cattle and elk, the Trench Society is the public's voice in calling for action against forest ingrowth.

Breton represents the Windermere Farmers' Institute on the Trench Society's board of directors. As a rancher, he has a special interest in improving grasslands for his cattle but he values the Society's work because it benefits all species that live in the Trench.

"Endangered species like the sharp-tailed grouse, the long-billed curlew and the badger depend on open forests and grasslands. People think that the number of trees they see here is good, but the kind of forest encroachment we have in the Trench is bad for everyone and every living thing," Breton says.

"By bringing back the native grasses we provide habitat and forage for domestic and wild animals. When we thin thick stands of trees we improve the health of the remaining forest and we reduce the fuel load for wildfires. I believe in what the Trench Society is doing for everyone who lives and works in the East Kootenay."

 What is the Trench Society?
by Maurice Hansen

How are timber and range managed in the Trench? Why does the Trench need restoring? What is the Trench Society? If these questions make you curious, some answers follow.

The Trench Society is a not-for-profit organization formed in 1996 to encourage the restoration of ecosystems in the dry forest and grassland zone of the Rocky Mountain Trench. Should we be successful, the resulting benefits will help attain the aspirations, with regard to Crown land, of the local citizens who belong to our member organizations. The Trench Society is a member of the BC Grasslands Conservation Council and the Society for Range Management and is affiliated with the Land Conservancy of BC, all organizations that work to maintain and enhance the open space resource for present and future generations.

The Trench Society's goal is to restore 140,000 hectares of Crown land as soon as possible. This is a sizeable portion of the public trust. Some residents may be interested in learning how this area of the Trench is gradually being transformed.

Why Restoration?
The dry forests and grasslands of the Trench were historically fire-maintained. For the last 60 years or more the BC Forest Service has maintained a standing declaration of war on wildfires. The unmanaged forest ingrowth resulting from the absence of fire now plagues tens of thousands of hectares in BC's southern interior and parts of the Cariboo. The problems thus created (described elsewhere in this newsletter) were recognized as early as 1950. Until recently, a variety of bureaucratic and social problems had stalled the introduction of any comprehensive remedy.

How Does Restoration Happen?
Here in the Trench a beginning has been made to reverse the negative effects of forest ingrowth on Crown land. What has made this possible is the ability of the various land-use interest groups and government agencies in the community to work together, a unique situation in B.C. which took many years to develop. The restoration collaborators are: the Trench Society, the BC Forest Service, BC Agriculture, BC Environment, Tembec, Galloway Lumber and the Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program.

The Work
The idea of using fires to manage land gets the lion's share of attention but fire is only the maintenance tool. In this regard, it is cheap and fast. But to get to the point where fire can be used with low risk, a lot of trees usually need to be removed mechanically. The benefits of this approach are substantial.

The Trench Society conducted a trial near Ta Ta Creek where the removal of a portion of tree cover and then burning the site resulted in 100% increase in grass production. But restoring the grassland resource is only one benefit. The health of the landscape improves for trees and all the critters that call the place home. The site is also fire-proofed from hot destructive crown fires, a concept that might interest rural residents and communities.

Maurice Hansen is the Trench Society's coordinator, a director of the BC Grasslands Conservation Council, president of the Pacific Northwest Section of the Society for Range Management, and a member of the Land Conservancy East Kootenay Committee.