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Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1253394
46 Nebraskaland • June 2020 resiliency of the Pine Ridge: Do things that will lessen the eff ects of the next fi re that comes through the area and begin to incorporate more prescribed fi re along the way." No doubt, land managers have plenty of other jobs to keep themselves busy in the areas that burned. "Over the next few years, the cleanup will continue. Building fence and piling trees that continue to fall over," Arnold said. "I have been told by others that have seen the catastrophic fi res that it takes 10 years to recover from infrastructure damages, and I think we are on pace with that from 2012. I do think in fi ve or 10 years we will see much more regeneration from the 2012 footprint than we have seen in the 2006 burn area. There were enough trees that put on seed before they passed, and we have had several good years of precipitation to provide for good regeneration." Those years of above-average precipitation have helped buy time to complete forest management projects, but everyone expects a drought cycle to return soon. When it does, the Pine Ridge will be more prepared. Air Support While the practices of land managers are helping prevent catastrophic wildfi res, the capability to respond to fi res also has improved. With such rugged landscape, it helps to attack fi re from above. After the wildfi res of 2006 and 2012, offi cials recognized the need for fi rst-responders to have more resources for wildfi res. One result was increased aerial capabilities from the Legislature's Wildfi re Control Act of 2013. In conjunction with the Nebraska Forest Service, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency contracts a single-engine air tanker, known as a SEAT plane, to be stationed in western Nebraska during fi re season. With designs based on agricultural sprayers, the small aircrafts can get to places trucks cannot and possess the capability to make substantial impact by dropping 800 gallons of water or retardant in a single action. With bases in Chadron, Valentine, Alliance, Scottsbluff and McCook, the airplane is serving where Nebraska's range fi re danger is greatest. Seth Peterson, a Nebraska Forest Service employee who serves as the SEAT base manager in Chadron, said the goal is to have the airplane loaded with retardant, off the ground and communicating with the fi re chief within 15 minutes of receiving a dispatch. "Our goal is to provide a quick response to volunteer fi re departments on small fi res, hopefully keeping them small before they cause any real problems," Peterson said. It seems to be working. He said there has been just one fi re over 500 acres in the Pine Ridge since the program's inception in 2013. If a fi re is highly active and growing, Nebraska may The single-engine air tanker, added to the region's fi re resources after the 2012 wildfi res, provides a demonstration during a forestry workshop at Chadron State Park.