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County ranger and state staff warn of elevated wildfire risk, heavy timber loss after Helene
Summary
County Ranger Richard Carpenter and North District staff presented satellite and field data showing about 35% timber damage in Avery County after Hurricane Helene and urged fuel mitigation, EFRP plans and additional staffing to reduce wildfire risk.
Avery County officials told the Board of Commissioners that Hurricane Helene caused extensive timber damage and created heightened wildfire risk that will require coordinated mitigation and additional staffing.
County Ranger Richard Carpenter briefed the board on his first year and outlined emergency forest restoration efforts through the Farm Service Agency's EFRP, inspections of logging sites and local wildfire statistics. He said the county recorded 35 wildfires in fiscal 2023'24 that burned 16.54 acres, with estimated property-protection impacts and structure values reported in the county's incident summaries.
Michael Kraus of the North District office presented satellite canopy-disturbance imagery showing concentrated canopy loss across multiple western North Carolina counties and estimated the total value of timber damage in Avery County. "The total value in Avery was 16,000,000,328 and 9 cents," Kraus said, and he explained that because trees were blown down with leaves still attached, small fires can escalate rapidly through canopy fuels.
Kraus recommended several mitigation steps including use of EFRP plans (which may reimburse 75 percent for approved work), fuel-removal programs, assistance with logging-road access to permit safe timber removal, and promotion of Firewise community practices to clear the immediate area around houses.
Carpenter and other staff asked the board to consider adding another permanent ranger position for better local coverage and said the region has requested a 22-person hot-shot-style crew staged in five-man units. Carpenter said current staffing has been stretched and the county would benefit from an additional full-time position.
Officials also described grants available to local fire departments (a 50/50 program cited at $39,366.50) and multiple Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) updates funded by federal grants. No new funding allocation for staffing was approved at the meeting; officials said they would continue to seek state and regional support and to carry out mitigation planning.
The board had questions about work on public versus private land, and staff said public land will be remediated but will require larger-scale operations because of terrain and scale.
