SELWAY BITTERROOT WILDERNESS AREA

The Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness is located on the border of north-central Idaho and western Montana. Elevations range from 430-3070 m (1410 to 10,060 feet). The climate ranges from inland-maritime in the northwestern part of the Wilderness to a continental rain shadow climate in the southern and eastern portions (Finklin 1983). The vegetation ranges from open stands of ponderosa pine at lower elevations, to mixed conifer forests at intermediate elevations, to whitebark pine, alpine larch, and Engelmann spruce at higher elevations (Habeck 1976). The area experiences a mixed severity fire regime: many fires are nonlethal surface fires but under suitable weather and fuel conditions, lethal surface fires and even stand replacing crown fires occur (Brown et al. 1994). The fire season typically runs from late June to mid-September; during this time, lightning-caused fires accompany frequent thunderstorms.

The Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness area's fire use program traces its origins to the very beginnings of the US Forest Service fire use program. It is home to the White Cap and Bear Creek drainages which were used as pilot areas when fire use was first being explored by the USFS and this led to the authority to use natural fire across much of the wilderness in 1976. Prior to its use as a pilot area for the fire use program, naturally ignited fires were suppressed much as they were in the rest of the country because fire was seen as a destructive force with no redeeming qualities. As we have had more opportunity to study the process of fire we have come to realize that not only does fire have redeeming qualities, it is absolutely necessary for the maintenance of many plant and animal species. The US Forest Service has since recognized the importance of fire as a natural ecosystem process. Today, unplanned ignitions are often allowed to burn within the boundaries of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, although if a threat is perceived to the wildland-urban interface outside the wilderness, fires within the wilderness will be controlled (Law et al. 1997).

The Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area was selected for this study based on the availability of data, the existence of a fire management plan that includes WFU as an option and size and remoteness of the wilderness area, characteristics which are conducive to the implementation of WFU.

Brown, J.K., S.F. Arno, S.W. Barrett, and J.P. Menakis. 1994. Comparing the prescribed natural fire program with presettlement fires in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. International Journal of Wildland Fire 4:157-168.

Finklin, A.I. 1983. Weather and climate of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. University Press of Idaho, Moscow, ID.

Habeck, J.R. 1976. Forests, fuels, and fire in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Idaho. Pages 305-354 in Proceedings: Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference, Missoula, Montana, October 8-10, 1974. Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, Florida.

Law, E., T. Brickell, and G. Brown. 1997. Selway Bitterroot fire management guidebook. USDA Forest Service, Nez Perce National Forest.