Have you ever been driving across grasslands and seen strips cleared of brush parallel to the road? That may have been what’s called a linear fuel break.
The idea of a linear fuel break, or LFB, is pretty straightforward: by clearing grass or other fuel along fire-prone roads, or planting fire-resistant vegetation, you can slow the spread of wildfire.
To assess potential cost-savings, a team of researchers looked at the 2019 Pothole Fire in south-central Idaho, which burned into a large system of linear fuel breaks.
“And we found that – properly maintained – these treatments could reduce burned acreage by as much as 66%,” said the study’s lead author Aaron Johnston, who works for the Oregon-based High Desert Partnership nonprofit.
The fuel break system in question cost a little over $4 million to put in place and maintain. But, on this single incident, estimated savings ranged from $2.6 to $6.7 million in the modeled scenarios. The study considered direct suppression and post-fire rehabilitation costs, as well as lost grazing fee revenue.
And LFBs can remain in place for years, meaning that the accumulated savings could be substantially higher over the course of their useful life.
“This treatment's not just a one off thing,” Johnston explained. “It sticks on the ground, and it's an insurance policy that continues into the future as well, as long as it's properly maintained.”
“Long story short,” he added. “We would see significant cost savings far exceeding what we spend in putting the field break in place.”
Johnston says they can also significantly reduce risk to homes near grassfires.
Some scientists and advocates have raised concerns about the effectiveness and ecological impacts of fuel breaks. In response to a large Bureau of Land Management fuel break proposal, scientists questioned the ability of LFBs to slow intense, wind-driven grassfires.
“The long-term implications of fuel break construction suggest that the ultimate effects of fuel breaks will not serve to decrease fire spread but, rather, to serve as corridors for the establishment and spread of exotic plant species,” they wrote in late 2020.
Johnston acknowledged that LFB construction can be damaging, but argued that their overall ecological impact can be positive.
The frequency and intensity of grassland fires have been dramatically altered by climate change, development and the spread of invasive plant species like cheatgrass. Blazes now come more often and are bigger than the historical norm, and as a result can threaten sagebrush and other native species, according to the study.
“The way I look at this is we're sacrificing a little bit of acreage to save a ton of acreage,” Johnston said.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
