Printer-friendlyForest Ranger 2006 Annual Report
Overview
The Division of Forest Protection (Forest Ranger Division) is responsible for the protection of almost four million acres of state-owned and department-managed lands and easements. Nearly three million acres are in the Adirondack Park alone but every region of the state has substantial state land resources. The protection of these public lands and the people who use them is the division's first priority. An important part of protecting public lands is wildfire management. New York has a vast landscape of public and private forest lands that are susceptible to seasonal wildfires. In the last exceptionally dry fire season of 2002, 324 wildfires occurred throughout the state, burning a total of 2,062 acres. In historical contrast, the similarly dry weather of 1903 spawned over 643 fires which burned 464,000 acres in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks alone. The difference from 1903 to 2002 is a direct result of 100 years of forest ranger efforts, working to prevent wildfires and improve fire control response. An important part of protecting the people who use our public lands is wildland search and rescue. The need often arises to find and rescue lost or injured people in wild or remote locations of New York. Throughout 2006, the division fulfilled its traditional responsibility of assisting, rescuing and comforting hundreds of people.
"Eyes & Ears"
Forest rangers also continue the historic tradition of being the "eyes and ears" for the department regarding public use of state lands. The direct professional contact rangers make with state land users is an essential service for both New Yorkers and visitors to the state. The information rangers provide helps enhance people's enjoyment and safety while protecting the land resources from which we all benefit. This public service role is a 365-day a year responsibility for every ranger. Historically, summer hiking/camping and fall hunting seasons were the primary periods of state-land use. However, in recent years the use of state lands has expanded throughout the entire year, with summer and fall weekends as peak use periods. In September, forest rangers were designated police officers after 26 years as peace officers and 121 years of law enforcement history at protecting New York's natural resources. This enhanced authority is necessary for the Division to accomplish its primary mission of protecting state lands and the people who use these lands and resources.
Interpretive Activities
In 2006, as a means of informing and educating people before they enter state lands, forest rangers conducted 125 presentations on proper use, etiquette and safety concerns related to outdoor recreation. Altogether, 25,144 people attended these presentations. Rangers use the "Leave No Trace" program as a means of promoting and inspiring responsible outdoor recreation on public lands through education, research and partnerships. Rangers issued 1,958 camping permits to groups of 10 or more, or to any group staying at one site for more than three nights. Throughout the year, rangers inspected or patrolled public campgrounds 1,581 times to support campground staff or to check facilities during the off-season. Routine patrols included 74,524 inspections of trail-head access points and inspection of 2,544 miles of non-roadside state boundary lines.
Enforcement
Continuing a trend of several years, the most problematic year-round activity encountered by rangers was the illegal use of all-terrain vehicles (ATV) and snowmobiles on state land. In 2006, forest rangers issued tickets or made arrests for 620 violations involving ATVs. Another 159 violations involved the unauthorized use of traditional motor vehicles on state land. Rangers executed enforcement actions in response to 641 non-vehicular violations of various regulations designed to protect state land. An increased emphasis on curbing under age alcohol consumption on state lands resulted in rangers making 103 arrests for illegal possession of alcohol by a person under 21 years of age. Ranger patrols have been most crucial on weekends when state land use is most intense and the majority of violations occur.
Assistant Forest Rangers
The division employed 31 seasonal assistant forest rangers (AFR) during the summer and early fall of 2006 for the primary purpose of informing the public of proper state land use. Each day, AFRs met people on the trails. They provided tips on how best to enjoy state land, promoting low or no-impact land-use techniques which maintain the integrity of the natural resource for future visits. All AFRs attended a 5-day training session designed to prepare them for the season and develop skills that enhance their interactions with the public. Forest rangers provided most of the instruction, but the interaction between returning AFR veterans and newly-hired AFRs was extremely valuable as well. About 60% of AFRs return for two or more seasons, providing stability for the program. In addition, all newly hired AFRs received five days of training in the "Basic Federal Wildland Firefighting" (S130/190) course.
Search & Rescue
Forest rangers have always provided search and rescue response in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. Over the last four decades, this service has expanded to all wildland areas of the state. In rural areas, local services are insufficient to effectively find a lost hiker or rescue an injured person in a remote area. In urban and suburban areas, local services are available but generally not trained or experienced in wildland search or back-country rescue techniques. New York's forest rangers are nationally known and respected for search and rescue work and are even asked to teach other agencies or volunteer groups from other states.
Search & Rescue Statistics
In 2006, forest rangers conducted 144 search missions, 76 rescues and six recoveries. Seventy-two percent (163) of these incidents occurred on state lands. Most of the incidents were resolved in one or two days but several searches went on for weeks incurring thousands of hours of search time. Although hikers are the activity group which is most often reported lost or injured, people suffering from dementia or mental illness are often the most difficult to find. Rescue and recovery missions are often complicated by the nature of wildland recreational activity. Ice climbing rescue requires special training and equipment. White water boating activities require rangers to prepare for fast-moving water rescue, sometimes in the most remote and inaccessible areas of the state. Snowmobiling accidents require rangers to be prepared to treat potentially serious injuries in cold weather and remote locations. The prevailing motto within the division,"If it was easy, someone else would do it," reflects the nature and complexity of search and rescue missions conducted by forest rangers. Rangers utilized their "air-boats" in the rescue of 146 people and 76 domestic animals in the Binghamton area after that region suffered severe flooding from a 1-in-500-year rain storm in June.
Search & Rescue Training
Considerable time and effort goes into preparing for search and rescue missions. Rangers train emergency service agencies and volunteer groups in order to work with them during incidents. Together, they maintain positive relationships and continually improve the search and rescue program. In 2006, Rangers presented 42 NYS "Basic Wildland Search" courses to 1,401 participants. Another 90 presentations, covering wilderness first aid, advanced search and rescue training and incident management were given to 2,247 participants in support of local and division response to incidents statewide.
Wildfire Management
In 2002, the Forest Ranger Division experienced one of the busiest and most difficult summer fire seasons in the Adirondacks since the early 1960s. After several years of drought in the Adirondack region, an abundance of "dry- lightning" caused 40 fires to ignite in August. At one point, 30 fires were active and most of the division's personnel were involved with suppression activities. By the end of the year, rangers had controlled 324 fires that burned 2,062 acres at a direct cost of $318,758. In contrast, 2003, 2004 and 2005 were just the opposite, with frequent rains that prevented wildfires from occurring in the state throughout the year. Statistically, over the last 21 years, the Division has responded to an average of 330 wildland fires per year with 66% of these fires occurring in March, April, and May. 85% of these fires are smaller than 10 acres and only six fires burning more one thousand acres. The primary cause of wildland fire in New York is debris burning, however, arson, campfires and lightning have been the causes of the most damaging fires encountered by rangers. On average, the Division experiences about 100 days per year in which a wildfire is likely to occur. In 2006, rangers contained and extinguished 211 fires in the spring, 11 fires in the summer and 9 fires in the fall that burned a total of 2,323 acres. Eleven of these fires required the division to incur direct costs at a combined expense of $10, 014. Twenty-six of these fires occurred on department-managed state lands. The most significant wildfire of 2006 occurred in late April on Cherrytown Mountain in Ulster County. By the time the fire was declared out, it had burned 998 acres, mostly on State forest preserve lands, and had cost the Department $8,400 in direct suppression expenses.
Preparing to Fight Wildfires
The wildfire management role of the division requires considerably more time than that which is spent extinguishing fires. Similar to the search and rescue program, significant time and energy is spent preventing fires from occurring and preparing for fire suppression. Forest rangers instructed the 12-hour NYS "Basic Wildland Fire Suppression" course on 24 occasions, teaching 382 volunteer fire department members the basics of wildfire suppression. On eight occasions, rangers taught the 44-hour "Basic Federal Wildland Firefighting" course commonly referred to as S130/190. A total of 196 firemen, state employees, students and volunteers completed this course, which is considered basic training for professional (non-volunteer) wildland firefighters. Rangers provided an additional 82 training sessions to 2,194 firefighters, emergency-service personnel and volunteers in advanced firefighting or incident-command management. The division relies heavily on NYS Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) inmate crews for "mop-up" of controlled fires. Rangers gave 5 four-hour training sessions to 164 inmates. Through advanced training of corrections officers, this course will be taught by DOCS staff in the future.
Wildfire Prevention
The best way to reduce wildfire occurrence is to prevent fires from starting. Rangers gave 98 prevention presentations to 238,102 people. Many of these events were large gatherings such as the State and county fairs where Smokey Bear appears with a ranger. Smokey continues to be the most recognized symbol of fire prevention in the world. Of the 231 wildfires extinguished by the division in 2006, rangers attributed only 11 fires to the actions of children. This statistic stands as a tribute to the effectiveness of the six-decade old Smokey Bear campaign at preventing wildfires caused by children.
Wildfire Prevention Laws
Debris burning, unextinguished campfires and arson are the three leading categories of human-caused wildfires in New York State. As a means of preventing debris fires, rangers and their permit issuing agents issued 26,447 burning permits as required by the NYS Environmental Conservation Law. Rangers inspected 1,147 of the permitted burns to insure compliance with the terms of the permits. Additionally, rangers issued tickets or made arrests for 155 violations of law related to fire prevention. The most frequent violation was burning without a permit in towns within the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. Department burning permits are not required in other areas of the state. The year 2006 was the fourth year that seasonal assistant forest rangers (AFRs) were required to discuss campfire safety with campers during their patrols. This increased focus on preventing wildfires through campfire awareness contributed to a continued reduction in the occurrence of wildfires and the resulting damage they do to New York State forests. Only 25 campfire-caused wildfires were extinguished and reported by rangers in 2006.
National Wildfire Response
In 2006, the Division mobilized three 20-person firefighting crews to western wildfires as part of its cooperative agreement with the US Forest Service. Each crew was staffed with a forest ranger as its crew boss plus three other rangers as squad bosses. The other 16 members were forest rangers, other DEC employees and department volunteer firefighters. New York State Crew One was sent to the Los Padres National Forest in California in late July. Crew #2 was sent to Salmon- Challis National Forest near Landmark, Idaho in mid-August while Crew #3 went to Boise National Forest, also in Idaho, in late August. This was one of the busiest years rangers have had supporting western or southern wildland firefighting efforts since 1979 when New York sent its first crews.
Firefighting Equipment
The division is under transition from sub-regional storage and deployment of equipment in fixed facilities to a centralized "fire cache" system in mobile facilities (large cargo trailers). The division now manages its firefighting equipment through its Fire Cache, located in Saratoga. The year 2002 was the first time this new system of managing firefighting equipment resources was tested during a busy fire season. All firefighting equipment for extended suppression efforts is ordered and dispensed through the cache to support large or multiple fires in various localities. Large cargo trailers are stocked with sufficient and diverse firefighting equipment to outfit one large firefighting complex. In 2002, all eight trailers were used to support suppression activities in the eastern Adirondacks. Although this was sufficient, no additional trailers were available for other areas of the state. By the beginning of 2006, 19 trailers were in-service as the division achieved its statewide objective. The trailers provide a rapid response with sufficient equipment to contain large or complex fires.
Prescribed Fire
In 2006, the forest rangers maintained their working relationship with the department's Division of Lands and Forests and Division of Fish and Wildlife to use prescribed fire as an ecosystem management tool. Throughout the year, rangers conducted 30 prescribed fires on departmental state lands, burning a total of 330 acres. Rangers also assisted its federal, county and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) partners with several prescribed burns on their properties.
Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) Grants
Each year, the Forest Ranger Division administers the Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) grant program using funds provided by the United States Forest Service. VFA grants assist rural volunteer fire departments with the purchase of fire suppression equipment and supplies. In 2006, the Division awarded 346 qualifying fire departments with VFA grants of $1,000 each. Not only does this program place much needed dollars in the hands of rural fire departments, it also furthers the solid working relationship between forest rangers and the volunteer firefighter service.
Department Support
Forest rangers also provide several support activities to other programs within the department, other state agencies and local governments throughout New York State. Rangers assisted other agencies with emergency incidents on 469 occasions in 2006. Many of them were automobile accidents at which a ranger came upon the scene. Others include fugitive searches, fire scene traffic control, evidence searches, drownings, and marijuana plantation eradication. Since rangers are considered experts in the National Interagency Incident Management System (NIIMS) Incident Command Systems (ICS), they are often called upon to teach courses on these topics at police academies, county government centers and local fire departments.
Permit Enforcement
In support of other Department divisions, rangers inspect stream crossings at logging sites and often issue permits for such activity. In 2006, rangers issued 335 stream crossing permits and inspected 814 sites. Rangers also inspected 192 commercial burning permit sites and 1,868 sites for dock permits , state land access permits (Region 1) and other Department program permits. Rangers also made 1,081 inspections of state land with regard to Temporary Revocable Permits (TRP), timber harvesting contracts and "Adopt-A-Natural-Resource" permits.
Licensed Guide Program
The division also manages the NYS Licensed Guide program. By the end of 2006, there were a total of 2,182 licensed outdoor guides in New York State. Out of that total, 185 new licenses and 232 license renewals were processed throughout the year. Rangers made 135 guide license checks throughout the state in 2005 and made no arrests for guiding without a license. Four guides had their licenses revoked for being convicted of committing violations of New York's Environmental Conservation Law.
Public Presentations
Forest rangers are often asked to speak on environmental topics or to make presentations regarding careers in forestry or with the department. In 2006, rangers made 70 career day presentations to 20,079 attendees. Another 32 presentations were made on a variety of topics not categorized as state land use rules, search and rescue, or wildfire control. Some of the presentations were made at fairs, while others were made at community events and agency-sponsored events. Altogether, 1,331 attended these presentations.
Internal Training
Throughout 2006, the division met or exceeded its primary training initiatives described in the 2004 Training and Development Report. The division's training and development section coordinated and accomplished delivery of all training in the following topic areas: peace and police officer training mandated by the Division of Criminal Justice Services, Wilderness Medical Associates First Responder training, agency mandated health and safety training, National Wildfire Coordinating Group certified courses in fire management and suppression, information technology, aviation, supervision, and a one-week assistant forest ranger academy.
Work hours Categorized
In 2006, ranger training activities accounted for 30,117 program hours. This amounted to a slight decrease of approximately 1,497 hours from the previous year. The training and development program may be summarized into four primary program areas. They include: search and rescue training - 10,334 hours, wildfire management training - 9,012 hours, peace/police officer training program - 6,459 hours, and other training - 4,312 hours.
Summary
The division's 2006 Annual Report includes summary tables of reportable data on wildfire occurrence, prescribed fire, search and rescue missions, arrests or tickets issued, public presentations and general activities. Most summaries are reported at the division's zone level. A zone is identified as the smallest work group under the direct command of a division supervisor. There are 17 division zones in the state, each within a department region. Each zone supervisor has provided a narrative review of activities within their zone as part of the division's annual report. All summaries are substantiated by data reporting at the region, zone or individual ranger level. A fact sheet on 2006 forest ranger accomplishments and statistics follows this executive summary.
