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Fire Collaborative

SAWTOOTH VALLEY WILDLAND

Fire Collaborative

The SVWFC is the only collaborative in our region working collectively to reduce wildland fire risks in the Sawtooth Valley. Mitigating wildfire hazards in the Sawtooth Valley protects Blaine and Custer Counties from catastrophic fires due to prevailing winds that can funnel fire into the Big Wood and Salmon River drainages. The collaborative structure of SVWFC was not mandated by any law, regulation, or policy, but rather by community-driven need. The tremendous positive impacts of fire collaboratives in other regions of Idaho and the West motivate local stakeholders to work together. The SVWFC aims to better protect local communities from ongoing hazards of wildfires as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Wildfires

Recent statistics

In 2023, more than 56,000 wildfires consumed 2,693,910 acres of land in the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. More than 4,300 structures were reported destroyed by wildfires, including 3,060 residences and more than 50 commercial structures.

The USDA Forest Service reports that Idaho has a very high risk of wildfires – higher than 94% of states in the U.S.

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SVWFC

sawtooth valley wildland fire Collaborative

The Sawtooth Valley Wildland Fire Collaborative (SVWFC) was formed due to the local community’s concern after a lightning strike ignited the Halstead Fire that burned 182,000 acres within the Sawtooth National Forest and Salmon-Challis National Forest in 2012. The escalation of catastrophic fire frequency across the Western U.S makes clear the extremely high risk of large-scale fire threatening the Sawtooth Valley which, lies upwind of the Wood River Valley.

The recent Ross Fork Fire in 2022, ignited by lightning, smoldered for weeks in remote, steep terrain where putting it out would have required 50 – 100 firefighters deployed in an extremely hazardous location. A string of “red flag” hot and windy days two weeks after ignition created extreme fire behavior threatening and burning all sides of the Smiley Creek designated community in the SNRA until firefighters and cooler weather put it out.

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join us

Be part of the change

The SVWFC steering committee is leveraging public interest in reducing wildfire risk or hazard to rebuild local participation from a broad-based group of dedicated stakeholders – federal, city, and county governments, private landowners, businesses, emergency response teams, and concerned community members – working together to identify the risk of large-scale wildland fires, improve structure protection, and enhance wildfire education for the public.

Donate

Demonstrated community involvement is key to bringing large fire grants from federal, state, and regional funds to the Sawtooth Valley and Blaine County.

donate today

Volunteer

SVWFC is the only collaborative in our region dedicated to working collectively to reduce wildland fire risks in the Sawtooth Valley. Volunteer and become part of the collaborative .

volunteer

Public Meeting

Join the SVWFC for a public meeting ahead of the fire season on May 23rd and May 24th at the Stanley Community Center.

Join the Public Meeting

Resources

Wildfires require three critical ingredients: oxygen, a spark, and fuel. In the outdoor environment, oxygen is abundant and readily available, serving as a key element in the combustion process.

list of resources
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In central Idaho, research shows that hot, dry weather conditions and wildfire patterns will continue to put people and structures at risk and harm our natural ecosystems. On average, 45 fires burn each fire season in the Sawtooth National Forest – half caused by lighting, and half caused by humans. While regular fire is an important and regenerative part of the ecosystem, since the 1980s, the fire season – when the vegetation is dry enough to sustain a fire – has lengthened considerably according to Dr. John Abatzoglou, a scientist who studies climate science, wildfire, and its impact on the American West.

“Over the past 50 years, fires have become much larger, and the amount of landscape being burned is increasing dramatically,” Abatzoglou said. Large, severe fires are highly likely to intensify in Idaho and result in longer wildfire seasons, and increased wildfire frequency, intensity, and total area burned.

Originally organized by the Sawtooth Society and the Stanley community in 2012, the SVWFC was facilitated by the Sawtooth Society until 2020 when the National Forest Foundation (NFF) offered their staff as a facilitator until 2023. As of 2024, facilitation of the SVWFC is the result of advocacy for the SNRA by the Sawtooth Society and funded through grants secured by the Sawtooth Society. It is led by staff from the Sawtooth Society, the City of Stanley, and the US Forest Service SNRA. The Collaborative is working alongside a range of experts and consultants to identify and develop practical recommendations for steps to reduce wildfire risk to human lives and protect our homes and communities.

The SVWFC is the only collaborative in our region working collectively to reduce wildland fire risks in the Sawtooth Valley. Mitigating wildfire hazards in the Sawtooth Valley protects Blaine and Custer Counties from catastrophic fires due to prevailing winds that can funnel fire into the Big Wood and Salmon River drainages. The collaborative structure of SVWFC was not mandated by any law, regulation, or policy, but rather by community-driven need. The tremendous positive impacts of fire collaboratives in other regions of Idaho and the West motivate local stakeholders to work together. The SVWFC aims to better protect local communities from ongoing hazards of wildfires as effectively and efficiently as possible.

The SWCA Environmental Consultants team includes senior consultant Stephanie Graham to lead the facilitation effort with Sarah Lupis as co-facilitator. These team members each have 18 years of experience in natural resources planning, fire and fuel suppression and restoration, and
stakeholder engagement. SWCA principal fire planner, Victoria Amato, will serve in an advisory role. Ms. Amato has developed more than fifty Community Wildfire Protection Plans and fire management plans throughout the United States. SWCA also will contribute highly specialized expertise in obtaining federal and state grants for hazardous fuel reduction on non-federal land such as private property on the SNRA. Based in Salt Lake City, SWCA is a global consulting firm with an aligned mission to preserve natural and cultural resources for tomorrow while enabling projects that benefit people today.

A main goal of the SVWFC is to identify and recommend to the Forest Service the location, type, and scale of fuel treatments and other wildfire risk reduction strategies for the Stanley area. In 2013 the SVWFC recommended key areas of large-scale hazard fuel modification to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire along the northeast and east sides of the Sawtooth Mountains and along the west and north sides of the White Cloud Mountains. These recommendations and fuel reduction projects require ongoing advocacy to be achieved. In addition, the need for structure protection has increased on the SNRA as occupancy of structures rises and new structures are built. Funding a facilitator will also increase capacity of the SVWFC to apply for federal and state grant opportunities that require collaborative teams. Facilitation will increase our community capacity to not only mitigate on-going annual wildfire risks, but also to prepare for coordinated responses to catastrophic wildfires.

I’d like to Donate

Thank you for your interest in donating to the SVWFC!

The SVWFC is the only collaborative in our region working collectively to reduce wildland fire risks in the Sawtooth Valley. Mitigating wildfire hazards in the Sawtooth Valley protects Blaine and Custer Counties from catastrophic fires due to prevailing winds that can funnel fire into the Big Wood and Salmon River drainages. The collaborative structure of SVWFC was not mandated by any law, regulation, or policy, but rather by community-driven need. The tremendous positive impacts of fire collaboratives in other regions of Idaho and the West motivate local stakeholders to work together. The SVWFC aims to better protect local communities from ongoing hazards of wildfires as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Please complete the below form and we'll get back to you shortly.

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Sawtooth Fire Colab. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

I’d like to Volunteer

Thank you for your interest in volunteering!

The SVWFC is the only collaborative in our region working collectively to reduce wildland fire risks in the Sawtooth Valley. Mitigating wildfire hazards in the Sawtooth Valley protects Blaine and Custer Counties from catastrophic fires due to prevailing winds that can funnel fire into the Big Wood and Salmon River drainages. The collaborative structure of SVWFC was not mandated by any law, regulation, or policy, but rather by community-driven need. The tremendous positive impacts of fire collaboratives in other regions of Idaho and the West motivate local stakeholders to work together. The SVWFC aims to better protect local communities from ongoing hazards of wildfires as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Please complete the below form and we'll get back to you shortly.

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Sawtooth Fire Colab. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

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By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Sawtooth Fire Colab. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

RESOURCES:

The Sawtooth Society is developing funding to hire a contracted facilitator and will sponsor the SVWFC and hold the facilitator’s contract. Kathryn Grohusky, executive director of the Sawtooth Society, works closely with Steve Botti, mayor of the City of Stanley, and Stephanie Graham, the Senior Ecologist from SWCA to lead the SVWFC. Mayor Botti, in addition to his
extensive local knowledge, has tremendous experience working in wildland fire mitigation for the National Park Service at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). During his time with the Park Service at NIFC, Steve helped to create and write major fire policy documents, including 1995 and 2001 policies and the National Fire Plan, while working tirelessly both in Idaho and Washington to promote effective fire management strategies. He is skilled in fundamental aspects of fire management such as Wildland Fire Use, Hazardous Fuels Reduction, Fire Ecology, Burned Area Emergency Response, and the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI).