The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Mark Rapp has been promoted ... away from Sisters.

For years, The Nugget has reported on the fire suppression work led by Assistant Fire Management Officer, Mark Rapp. No more.

Starting this week, the "assistant" will be dropped from Rapp's title; but, from Sisters' point of view, there's a downside.

Rapp is leaving the Sisters Ranger District to report as Fire Management Officer to the Fort Rock and Crescent Ranger Districts.

For the 15 years that he's been in the Sisters Ranger District, Rapp has been closely identified with the Forest Service's efforts to reduce the danger of catastrophic wildfires in the nearby forests.

As population growth has placed more and more people in and around the National Forests, Rapp's work has taken on increasing importance.

In the quarter century that Rapp has spent with the Forest Service, all of his time has been devoted to some form of firefighting or fire suppression.

In the process, he's fought fires from Alaska to Florida.

"I've certainly seen my share of fires," he said. "I've probably seen more of the country than most people see in a lifetime....some really beautiful places that most people don't ever get to see."

Rapp's first assignment was in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington, where he spent much of his time burning slash from logging activity "...back when there still was a lot of logging," he commented.

After that, he spent eight years fighting wildfires with the Prineville Hot Shots.

In a job like that, firefighters learn to respect fires.

"They're all different," Rapp said. "You never know what they're going to do. One of the most difficult fires for me was the Sage Flat Fire."

That fire, which raged in the Wilt Road area outside of Sisters several years ago, was a little too close to home for Rapp.

"It personally affected me when it was that close," he said. "It's certainly a different feeling to lose homes right in your own backyard."

Due to federal agency reorganization, Rapp's new job will not only cover two ranger districts, he'll also be responsible for fire management on several thousand acres of Bureau of Land Management property.

Some of that BLM land lies between the Fort Rock and Crescent Districts near LaPine, but also includes quite a bit to the east of the Fort Rock Ranger District.

Recently, Rapp's work in the Sisters area has focused on the prevention of wildfires by supervising the reduction of combustible vegetation in the forests surrounding Sisters.

One of the most successful methods has been the thinning of thick stands of young trees, a significant portion of which has been accomplished by inmate crews.

Many of the small trees cut have been made available to the public for firewood at a nominal cost.

Residual slash is usually stacked and burned in the fall.

Rapp's crews have also employed mowing and underburning to remove potentially dangerous buildups of dead forest vegetation.

Often these multiple methods are used in concert or succession to completely "treat" a target area.

An underburn, where the forest floor is allowed to burn beneath the forest canopy, is typically the last stage in a treatment cycle.

This "fuels treatment" process is intended to replicate the natural forest life cycle that does include periodic fire.

The problem is that forest fires are typically extinguished to protect people and homes, as well as forest resources.

As a result, forest stands can become too dense, with a resulting decrease in forest health because crowded forest stands become susceptible to disease, insects and -- of course -- wildfire.

Rapp and his co-workers strive to restore the burning cycle and forest health, while simultaneously reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire.

Fire management officers don't necessarily eliminate fires. Rather, they reduce fuels and prescribe manageable, low-intensity fires to manage the overall fire potential and impact in a region.

Effective Monday, however, Rapp's responsibilities are taking him a little farther south and to a new office in Bend.

"The fire issues are little different there," Rapp said. "There's higher recreational use, many more lightning fires, and different fuel types, like lodgepole pine; plus it's a lot dryer."

Rapp doesn't actually plan to leave Sisters and will continue to live here with his wife and family. Now, however, he'll have a bit more of a commute.

"I'm excited to be moving on to a new challenge, but I'm really going to miss the relationships that I've built in the Sisters forest," Rapp said.

Then he added, "But now I have new ones to build."