Commissioners declare wildfire risk emergency
Wildfire season looms in Boundary County. The first incident, the half-acre Gin Rummy fire near the eastern Bonner County Border, was discovered by Idaho Department of Lands June 3.
Photo by NED NEWTON
Boundary County declared a state of emergency June 2, urging the U.S. Forest Service to address wildfire risks on overgrown national forest land — while also aiming to revive the county’s timber industry.
“This resolution shall serve to formally notify the U.S. Forest Service and other federal partners of the county’s urgent concern and demand for immediate mitigation actions,” county commissioners said in the emergency declaration. “The preservation of property, infrastructure, natural resources and economic activities — including timber, agriculture, and recreation — are significantly threatened by the growing risk of catastrophic wildfire. Observed fuel loads indicate that the accumulation of dead, dry and overgrown vegetation has reached hazardous levels.”
Commissioners said they hope the declaration will compel the U.S. Forest Service to address wildfire risk before it becomes a reality. So far, however, they said the agency has shown no indication of action, with no new timber sales planned in the Bonners Ferry District for several years.
“We’re looking at 2027, most likely 2028, before we could possibly see any significant change in the volume we’re producing in this district,” said Idaho Panhandle National Forest supervisor Tim Gillon. “We’re looking at roughly 10 million board feet coming out of Bonners Ferry for the next couple of years.”
The stagnation in Boundary County persists despite a March executive order from President Donald Trump directing a 25% increase in nationwide timber sales, along with emergency declarations for wildfire risk in Idaho’s forestlands issued in April by both U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Idaho Gov. Brad Little.
With proper mixed-use management, commissioners said USFS can balance grizzly bear habitat protection, support for local industry, and wildfire risk reduction — particularly in the wildland-urban interface where private property borders national forest.
“The USDA identified the entire West as a fuels management area,” said Commissioner Ben Robertson. “We believe we have an emergency situation here. The Forest Service has done very little fire fuel mitigation over the last 20 years. This declaration helps them recognize that we have a problem right here. Hopefully, it will put the spotlight on Boundary County.”
Shared wildfire mitigation responsibility on the wildland-urban interface
The Forest Service owns more than 60% of the land in Boundary County, yet it often has a slower wildfire response time compared to local fire districts and the Idaho Department of Lands.
Still, despite the vast federal land ownership, private landowners in the wildland-urban interface must share responsibility for fuels mitigation, said Andrew O’Neel, public information officer for Boundary County Emergency Management.
“The primary driver behind making somebody's home safe is the homeowner, not U.S. Forest Service,” he told commissioners after they approved the declaration.
Commissioner Lester Pinkerton replied, "We’re looking at the potential threat, the imminent threat that we have with heavy fuel loading right up around our residents."
Both sides of the argument are true, said Kennon McClintock, Curley Creek Volunteer Fire District secretary-treasurer.
“You can’t put it all on the Forest Service,” he said. “They deal with multi-resource management. Many private landowners will just watch their dead trees fall over instead of properly treating the land.”
The Boundary County Fire Prevention Cooperative has worked with IDL for years to offer advice to local landowners on how to prepare for wildfires. It offers free wildfire home assessments, information on general forest health and best practices and free smoke detectors for county homeowners. Community members are also able to request free wildfire home protection zone evaluation classes from IDL.
Industry at ‘catastrophic stage’
From an industry standpoint, the Idaho Forest Group Moyie Springs Mill sources most of its timber from private landowners, McClintock said.
“The Forest Service has all the ground, but they put out the least volume,” he said.
Commissioner Tim Bertling said with limited USFS output in the Bonners Ferry District, the Moyie Mill has been forced to source logs from Couer d’Alene and Rathdrum. The mill has only a few months of inventory, and the private landowners are running low on harvestable timber.
“We're at a catastrophic stage right now. We got to get some movement out of the federal system," Pinkerton said. “We don’t know where this emergency declaration is going to go, but it’s very important for us as community leaders to address this issue.”
Commissioners said ideally the USFS will invoke an emergency consultation clause for timber harvests — which streamlines Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Protection Act compliance to address wildfire risk. In the Bonners Ferry District, those consultations are particularly lengthy and complicated due to the presence of grizzly bears in 95% of the district’s national forestland, said Bonners Ferry District Ranger Heather Fuller.
“We’re requesting assistance from the Forest Service to defend against the threat of wildfires,” Robertson said. “The mitigation isn’t necessarily emergency services, but it’s the Forest Service managing the timber in Boundary County.”