On December 3, 2020, the U.S. Forest Service (FS), National Forests and Grasslands in Texas (NFGT), resolved the objection that the Houston Regional Group and Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club made about the Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF) Prescribed Burn Project (Project), which covers 125,000 of 163,000 acres of SHNF.

Prescribed burning is conducted to put fire back into the forest which naturally would have burned, depending on the topography, moisture, and vegetation present, every 1-5 years on upland forests.

The Sierra Club requested changes that included more public collaboration and input into the Project.  The FS proposed what the Sierra Club calls a “Forever NEPA” decision which means that once the Project is approved there are no further public opportunities via the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to determine what the FS is doing, how the prescribed burning program is working, why the program is successful or not, and how the program can be improved.

Due to the objection, the NFGT Forest Supervisor, directed the District Ranger to collaborate with the Sierra Club and other interested members of the public to review the project at 5-year intervals.

The FS also agreed to provide the Sierra Club with Fire Regime Condition Class data, revise Vegetation Class and Cover Types in the project area, provide documentation about public comments, provide a copy of interagency prescribed fire implementation guidelines, provide maps that show the 619 acres of fire exclusion zones, document state regulations for municipal water supply reservoirs that the FS must comply with, provide sensitive soil areas and maps of the area, and provide information about a helicopter crash from 2019 during a prescribed burn.

The FS also agreed to meet with the Sierra Club and other interested parties in the field to discuss site-specific assessment criteria and protection measures for the LSHT, participate in implementation and effects monitoring following prescribed burns, and collaborate with the Sierra Club and other interested members of the public via the pilot air quality/lichen monitoring program.

The Sierra Club will continue to work with the FS to ensure that the public has appropriate opportunities for input for prescribed fire activities on Sam Houston National Forest.

Author: Brandt Mannchen