42 Nebraskaland • June 2020
throughout the Pine Ridge. With a system of fi rebreaks, the
hope is to at least limit the size of wildfi res.
"We're building those box sides and communicating them
to area fi re departments," McCartney said, as he points to a
map of the Pine Ridge with areas shaded in various colors
to show projects in progress and completed. "Absence of a
commodity to pay for the work, this is the best approach; the
best bang for our buck."
A primary focus area of the collaborative eff ort has been
the U.S. Highway 385 corridor, which runs north and south
through the ridge near Chadron and features many private
tracts interspersed among public land. Through cooperation
between the Nebraska Forest Service, Game and Parks, the
U.S. Forest Service and the many landowners, a large buff er
has been created through thinning. In the event of another
large wildfi re, the area will be invaluable in eff orts to stop it
from moving east or west.
An area of emphasis in the collaboration has been Chadron
State Park. Situated along the highway, it had experienced
valuable thinning prior to 2012 and, though that year's fi re
burned through much of the park, it did not charge eastward.
Since then, the park has undergone more thinning and the
removal of burned trees.
The Strategy of Thinning
For thinning, land managers are strategic in selecting
trees to cut. Gerlach prefers an approach he calls "groupy-
clumpy." With that method, trees are not spaced uniformly
throughout large areas, but rather in small groups. This
approach keeps crown fi res from spreading, yet lessens the
likelihood that the trees will be uprooted or damaged by the
wind. The groups of trees also serve as a seed source.
Gerlach said about 2,200 acres have been treated on state
wildlife management areas in the Pine Ridge with thinning
and removal of "ladder fuels," the brush and other vegetation
that helps fi res climb trees.
The other big public land organization in the Pine
Ridge, the U.S. Forest Service, has completed about 4,000
Pine Ridge Shared Stewardship
Project Areas
Nebraska Forest Service – complete/in progress
United States Forest Service – complete/in progress
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission – complete/in progress
2006 and 2012 fi re perimeter
A map created by the Nebraska Forest Service shows shared stewardship forestry project areas near
Chadron.
