Grazing to Mitigate Wildfire
Wildfires in Hawaii County have destroyed homes, threatened residences and businesses, and caused evacuations of entire communities. Wildfires also:
- degrade rangeland quality
- contribute to the loss of cultural and biological heritage
- cause soil erosion
- create health hazards from exposed soils that become airborne with the wind
- contribute to water quality problems from erosion and deposition of airborne particulates
Wildfire Challenges
Grazing Reduces Wildfire Hazards for Communities and the Environment
Fountain Grass, an invasive species and a high-intensity burning fuel that easily carries fire, has colonized large areas of northwest Hawaii Island.
Fire History and Grazing
Grazing reduced the hazardous fuels in the foreground, on the left. Well managed grazing can protect Hawaii’s endangered dryland forests from wildfire.
Aerial view of the Pu'uanahulu Wildfire Management study and 24 test pilots
Grazing reduced the hazardous fuels in the foreground, on the right.
Well managed grazing can protect Hawaii’s endangered dryland forests from wildfire.
The 2004 - 2006 Pu'uanahulu Wildfire Management Study,
Aponsored by the Joint Fire Science Program and conducted by Hawaii Wildfire Management staff, evaluated the effectiveness of a range and various combinations of fine fuels management techniques including:
- prescribed burns
- herbicide applications
- grazing
Research concluded that:
Well managed grazing that includes an objective for reducing fine fuels is an effective and flexible treatment for mitigating wildfire hazards.
Prescribed burns and large-scale herbicide applications, while effective at reducing grasses, can render treated area vulnerable to colonization by additional undesirable invasive species, such as tree tobacco and castor bean.
Areas invaded by tree tobacco
1. can no longer be grazed (a wildfire mitigation option and economic opportunity is lost)
2. require mechanical and herbicide treatments to control future build up fuels.
Prescribed burns and herbicide treatments are costly while grazing provides wildfire mitigation and an agricultural and economic benefit.
Historically, well managed grazing to manage grasses has
- reduced the scale, frequency, and intensity of wildfires
- protected irreplaceable native habitats from wildfires
Example: Grazing objectives in the Pu'u Wa'awa'a area included reducing fine fuels to minimize wildfire threat. Wildfires in this area have been infrequent and small and as a result, damage to the dryland forest ecosystem has been less severe.
In contrast, grazing was removed in Pu'uanahulu (separated from Pu'u Wa'awa'a by a lava flow) in the 1960s. Since then, this area has experienced numerous large fires that have decimated much of the native dryland habitat.
Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization
65-1279 Kawaihae Road, Suite 211
Kamuela, HI 96743
Tel: (808) 885-0900 Fax: (808) 885-0922
Fax: (808) 885-0922Contact Us:
Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization
Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, Kamuela, HI
