National Fire Plan Success Story

Secesh Meadows Hazardous Fuel Treatment Success
Secesh Meadows, Payette National Forest, Idaho
2007

The central Idaho community of Secesh Meadows is no stranger to fire. The meadow area encompasses a few hundred acres and is surrounded by thick acres of sub alpine fir and lodgepole pine. Throughout the years, fire has been a significant threat to the forest and the people of Secesh.

Secesh was identified as a community at risk from wildland fires in 2002 and 2003 by the National Fire Plan and the Idaho County Fire Mitigation plan. Communities considered "at risk" from a wildland fire are based on the condition of the surrounding ecosystem, the fire hazards within the community and the fire history of the area.

Secesh residents made contact with the Payette National Forest and the Idaho Department of Lands to create defensible space around their homes and obtain information on federal funding opportunities. In 2005, the Payette National Forest began a contract to thin timber stands around Secesh Meadows to create a fire break in the event of a wildland fire near the community. Secesh residents also received funding to do similar work on private lands adjacent to the Forest Service's thinning.

This past summer a 215,000 acre fire threatened Secesh Meadows. The fire, known as the Loon-Zena, came from two directions, simultaneously burning around and past the Meadows. The work performed by the community and the Forest Service allowed firefighters to defend the area and successfully save all the structures in Secesh Meadows, Idaho.

The Payette National Forest continues to look for opportunities to engage local communities to plan collaborative fuel treatments in defense of WUI and the restoration of fire dependent ecosystems.