Although the forest fires of 2007 are out, work continues to restore the area burned on the Payette and Boise national forests.
The process to restore the forests started weeks before the fires were declared controlled.
More than 600,000 acres in the two forest burned as part of the Cascade Complex Fires and East Zone Complex Fires.
Payette National Forest
On the Payette forest, Fire crews cleared the South Fork Salmon River Road of burned snags and fallen rocks and found more than 150 polyurethane culverts were burned or damaged by the fires.
Nearly 300 20-foot long 6-by-6 inch pressure-treated timbers used in lag walls to stabilize road cuts were burned.
A total of 41 wooden inlet retaining walls above the culverts and 50 plastic outlet downspouts at the end of culverts also were destroyed.
The Payette requested about $1 million in fire-restoration funds to replace the culverts, lag walls, retaining walls, and downspouts.
Rehabilitation measures along the road also included application of seed, fertilizer and mulch to minimize and control erosion.
More than 100 tons of wheat straw and 100 tons of wood fiber mulch were ordered to make the mulch.
"The major concern is to repair the damaged infrastructure along the South Fork Salmon River Road," said Dave Kennell, coordinator of the Burned-Area Emergency Response team, or BAER.
"It is critical to re-establish water management and erosion control features before winter to prevent additional road failures and to maintain winter access to Yellow Pine," Kennell said.
In addition, aerial mulching of about 400 acres of severely burned areas above the road and river is being done to stabilize the soil.
The Price Valley Helitack base has sent firefighters to protect the road, water quality, and spawning habitat for Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout.
On the East Zone Complex, the focus is on communities, ranches, private residences and water system, Kennell said.
Fires crews have already installed silt fences and mulch above the domestic water spring development in Copenhaver Subdivision, where two cabins burned during the fire.
Also, restoration has been completed on nearly 100 acres in severely burned drainages that are prone to natural landslides above homes in Trails End Subdivision.
The Gray's Creek Fire, which burned west of Tamarack Resort, burned more than 24,000 acres of Forest, BLM, private and Potlatch Corp. lands.
Restoration of that burned area required cooperation, said BAER Team Leader and Forest Wildlife Biologist Ana Egnew.
"A great example of cooperation involves Adams County on the Middle Fork Weiser River Road," Egnew said.
"Several culverts on this county road on national forest land were determined to be undersized for an expected increase in water and erosion," she said.
"The forest and county have agreed to split the cost of upsizing these culverts."
Boise National Forest
On the Boise National Forest, specialists have recommended more than $4 million of work to be completed before winter.
More than 50 percent of the total burned area is expected to recover through natural conditions within the next two years.
The largest cost, estimated at $2 million, is for straw mulch for protection of bull trout fisheries, soil health and vegetative recovery in Riordan Creek and Trapper Creek.
The second largest cost, at an estimated $1.8 million, is for road improvements, such as the replacement of several stream crossings.
Also, important fish habitat in the South Fork Salmon River and within the Johnson Creek drainage are at risk from mudflows and blowouts.
On the Cascade Complex, specialists found about 69,000 acres were severely burned, about 29,000 acres were moderately burned, about 95,000 acres had minimal damage.
There are several areas that have an increased hazard of erosion for several years, forest officials said.
The water source at the Paradise Valley summer home area at Warm Lake may be threatened due to increased ash flows.
Also, water sources for Yellow Pine and along Johnson Creek may be affected by sediment.
Loss of shade could increase water temperatures and hurt fish, and recreational trails and roads within the South Fork Salmon River drainage will see erosion.
