Wildfire Protection

How ranchers can protect their communities from wildfire

Understanding the socioeconomic impact of wildfires and the responsibility ranchers have to protect their land.

Ranchers have a lot of responsibility. They’re in charge of maintaining their land, raising cattle, managing their employees and business, providing for their families and helping feed the world. But when it comes to wildfires, they also have a duty to help protect their communities by minimizing risk where they can. We’ll help you understand the impact wildfires can have on communities and how ranchers can help keep their land and their neighbors safe.

On the surface, it’s obvious to know that wildfires can be dangerous. They can pose a danger to the safety of people, animals and structures. But wildfires can also pose more long-term risks and damage to local economies.

First of all, it’s important to understand that communities often develop around specific industries and/or are naturally resource dependent. People who own property in these communities may manage livestock, maintain it for aesthetic or hunting purposes, use it to grow and harvest timber, or own it for a multitude of other uses. If a wildfire comes through unchecked, it could destroy all of this, devastating people’s livelihoods.

Besides the immediate injury to the land, wildfires can leave long-term damage. When a fire burns, it can burn hotter in some areas versus others. This could mineralize the soil, damaging the essential organic matter and microbiome and making it much harder to grow anything there for decades.

Scale is also something to consider. A 1-acre fire can have just as much economic impact as a 5-acre or even 100-acre fire depending on its location. For example, a landowner will be impacted by a 1-acre fire that burns down their home. A trail system can be completely shut down due to a 5-acre fire, and a 100,000-acre fire could impact the forest service significantly by loss of timber.

Additionally, wildfires can have a ripple effect. By affecting natural resources, opportunities to generate money in the local economy can be reduced. When a rancher or lumber company’s land is destroyed, business revenue takes a dive due to lost resources. This can cause there to be less money available to support local restaurants, buy groceries and put back into the local economy.

Ultimately, each individual property owner has an inherent responsibility to be a proper steward to their land and protector of their community. Fire doesn’t stop at property lines, so doing your part to keep fine fuels to a minimum and having a strong vegetation management program is important to reducing wildfire risk to your community.

Learn more about how you can protect your community and establish an effective vegetation management plan on your land by contacting an Envu rep.

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