School fire misses river vegetation

The fast-burning School fire seared through the upper Tucannon River watershed over the weekend, but appears to have spared critical fish habitat.

Green vegetation is still visible along the river’s banks, much to the relief of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife managers. The Tucannon, a major tributary of the Snake River, is home to some of southeast Washington’s last wild steelhead and salmon stocks.

“It’s a real breeding ground for fish,” said Madonna Luers, department spokeswoman.

Every year, spring chinook salmon and summer steelhead return to the Tucannon to spawn, traveling hundreds of miles and navigating a series of hydropower dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers en route from the ocean. The fish are listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

“This is the core area of their recovery,” Luers said. “It’s very significant.”

The Tucannon runs through a steeply timbered stretch of the Blue Mountains before winding down to farm and ranch land. The river’s cold, clean water also supports a thriving rainbow trout fishery.

Preservation of vegetation along the Tucannon will help keep the water cool, though erosion from burned areas further up could become a concern this fall when the rains start, officials said. The Forest Service will send in a mitigation team when the fire is contained to try to prevent silt from flowing into the river, said Earle Rother, fire information officer for the Umatilla National Forest.

Over the weekend, the fire burned to the edges of the state-run Tucannon Fish Hatchery. Families of hatchery workers who live on-site had to evacuate. Employees stayed on to fight the fire with water trucks usually reserved for hauling fish. A green lawn and clear space around the hatchery saved the buildings, Luers said. “It burned to a crisp right up to the grass.”

The fire also took out 12-miles of “elk fence,” which helps keep the voracious grazers on public lands and away from wheat and canola fields.

“It’s a huge loss,” Luers said. “Elk damage to agricultural crops is a very big issue here.”

One consolation: the burned areas are likely to come back lush in grass next year, which will help lure elk back onto public lands, she said. Fire is a natural part of the ponderosa pine ecosystem, but in many areas, it’s been suppressed for a century.

On Wednesday, the School fire had shifted to the east, and was licking at the edges of the Asotin Creek Wildlife Area near Asotin, Wash. The area was closed to the public, and state officials were trying to get the word out.

The wildlife area is home to deer and elk, and some hunters are already out scouting, Luers said. The archery season opens Sept. 1.