One More Tree talks wildfire mitigation

Morse to hold Wildfire Strategic Planning Workshop on April 30

In January 2022, a small group of friends and property owners formed a group to help mitigate wildfire risk on their properties.

The group calls themselves “One More Tree,” and they presented at Grand Ely Lodge this week on how to mitigate wildfire risk in a way that is safe and fun.

“We decided on our name when we realized every time we gathered and came to what we thought was the end of the day, somebody would yell out, ‘There’s one more. Let’s get that one more tree before we stop,’” said Thea Sheldon of One More Tree.

When they started the group, they asked themselves important questions such as how they can help protect structures from wildfire, how to help firefighters do their jobs, which areas need thinning or clearing, and should they do the work themselves or hire someone?

“We chose to team up and do the work ourselves,” said Polly Carslon-Voiles, a group member of One More Tree.

One More Tree schedules eight-10 workdays per year and rotates from property to property, ensuring each group member’s properties receive the proper attention and fire mitigation.

When working on a block of forest that needs treatment, they generally deal with the trees and the brush following the Forest Service’s silvicultural prescription.

“It’s a three-part process,” said group member Steve Voiles. “First, we remove dead and down trees and slash. Secondly, we remove balsam fir trees that are less than six inches in diameter. And then we look at the standing trees, and we limb those trees up to at least 10 feet and a little higher if we can, creating a clear understory in the area.”

At each property they work on, the property owner is the leader for that day.

It is the leader’s responsibility to keep the group informed on weather developments, neighbor-related concerns, boundary lines, smoke direction, work goals for the day, and the safety plan.

“Safety is a big deal with us,” said Voiles.

Roles are assigned in case of emergency, such as who will call 911, who will lead the response team for this day, who will drive, and which vehicle will they take if we have to make an exit.

In addition to safety protocols, they make sure to take breaks every hour, not only for water but also for ginger cookies.

“Water is important, but more important, we take breaks so we can have ginger cookies,” said Sheldon.

According to Sheldon, one must be invited to one of One More Tree’s burning parties to get the recipe for the ginger cookies.

At the end of the presentation, the floor was opened for questions, and someone asked why bother going through the trouble of protecting your property when a wildfire may take it out regardless of preparations.

Group members from One More Tree admitted their efforts could be in vain, but being proactive and trying to make safer fire conditions was better than doing nothing, and if everyone took precautions the community would be much safer.

“We’ve learned that while our fuel mitigation can increase overall safety on our properties, it’s not just about us,” said Sheldon. “Our efforts are making our neighbors safer too. As a community, we can all work on helping create safety for each other.”

The Town of Morse will be hosting a Wildfire Community Strategic Planning Workshop at 5 p.m. on April 30 at the Morse Town Hall.

The workshop is open to all Morse/Fall Lake township landowners who are interested in participating in two two-hour workshop sessions to help the townships identify wildfire concerns, prioritize those concerns, create action plans to address those concerns and determine what is needed to implement those actions.

RSVP to St. Louis County Firewise Coordinator, Gloria Erickson, [email protected]. There will be pre-meeting information sent out to all participants.