Governor to convene wildland fire summit

Sunday, May 7, 2000 | 8:50 a.m.

The statewide summit will be held May 31 to June 1 at the Peppermill Hotel Casino.

Guinn, who will be the event's keynote speaker, said its aim is to develop an action plan to lessen the effects of future fires.

Last year's wildfires blackened about 1.6 million acres of the state - an area larger than Delaware.

Summit participants will consider plans to increase the number of prescribed burns and to become more aggressive in eradicating exotic plant species that crowd out native varieties.

One of the worst exotics is resilient cheatgrass, which burns hot and fast in a fire.

Participants also will consider stepping up efforts to get the public to protect property with defensible-space techniques.

"A lot of information is already out there," Gary Derks of the Nevada Division of Emergency Management told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

"Along with what comes up at the conference, we hope to be able to develop an action plan at the end of the session."

In a related development, a scientist at the Reno-based Desert Research Institute says Nevada could see a repeat of last year's record wildfire season.

"We should be looking at a very active season," Timothy J. Brown said. "We got an early start a few weeks ago, and unless the pattern changes and we get a big increase in moisture, it may be severe."

Last year, six of the top 10 Western wildfires were in Nevada with five blazing in the northern part of the state.

Brown said dense fuels of the Great Basin desert, coupled with a dry summer and lots of lightning, were last season's recipe for disaster.

In addition, the invasion of cheatgrass has made the Great Basin a tinderbox in a dry year, he said.