To better protect area residents, maintain firefighter safety and provide decision space in the event of a wildland fire, a cooperative effort has resulted in a multiyear project to construct a fuel break around the community of Sterling, Alaska. A portion of the discontinuous eight-and-a-half-mile-long fuel break will be located on CIRI land.
A fuel break is a strip of land on which flammable vegetation and debris have been removed so it can act as a barrier in the event of a wildfire. In addition to fire protection, the Sterling fuel break will provide increased opportunities to safely support the use of prescribed fire and wildland fire to achieve habitat and land management objectives.
Hand-cutting a portion of the break began in June and work will continue until summer 2017. Much of the planned work will be accomplished during the winter months to take advantage of frozen ground conditions, which better support the use of heavy equipment. The width of fuel break will average 200 to 300 feet, depending on topography.
Located on the Kenai Peninsula 15 miles east of Soldotna, Sterling has seen its share of wildfires in recent years. In 2014, the Funny River Horse Trail fire consumed nearly 200,000 acres, and in 2015, the Card Street Fire scorched 9,000 acres not far from the Funny River blaze. Earlier this summer, fire crews extinguished several fires in the area caused by the previous years’ burns.
The success of the fuel break will rely on multiagency and landowner cooperation. “As the largest private property owner on the Kenai Peninsula, CIRI is proud to utilize these lands to help protect the community of Sterling, including those of our shareholders who call Sterling home,” said Sophie Minich, CIRI president and CEO.
The fuel break will run along the boundary of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and incorporate multiple land owners including the Alaska Mental Health Trust, CIRI, the Kenai Peninsula Borough and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Other partners include the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Alaska Division of Forestry and Chugachmiut.
