Fell or disappeared – Newspaper Kommersant No. 39 (7484) dated 03/07/2023

More than a dozen constituent entities of the Russian Federation have planned to carry out preventive spring annealings of dry grass, despite the urgent recommendation of the Federal Forestry Service to stop this practice. In mid-February, the department issued an appeal to the regional authorities to move the main work from spring to autumn. Officials then specified that the moratorium would reduce the risk of the spread of forest fires in the event of adverse weather conditions. Representatives of the regions interviewed by Kommersant, however, note that the introduction of such bans must take into account climatic conditions, and insist on the effectiveness of spring fires as part of fire prevention measures.

In mid-February, Rosleskhoz called for a moratorium on spring preventive annealing of dry grass, postponing the main work on the destruction of vegetation to autumn (see Kommersant of February 14). Ecologists supported the decision of the agency: in their opinion, the suspension of preventive fires can reduce the area of ​​spring landscape fires in the country by tens of percent.

However, the Greens have noticed that some regions do not plan to comply with the Rosleskhoz moratorium. Ecologists, referring to the data of the Information System of State Remote Monitoring of Forest Fires (ISDM-Rosleskhoz), indicate that at least 12 regions still planned to carry out professional burning in the spring. Among them are the Kurgan, Omsk, Kemerovo, Irkutsk, Kaluga, Bryansk, Tambov, Lipetsk regions, as well as the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Adygea, Tatarstan and the Jewish Autonomous Region.

Controlled grass fires are arranged to prevent the spread of fire: dry grass can carry fires for many kilometers. At the same time, this is the cheapest method of clearing hayfields and pastures from last year’s vegetation. Often, agricultural enterprises resort to just this method to restore order on the land. However, controlled burnings themselves sometimes cause large-scale fires.

Kommersant turned to Rosleskhoz with a request to comment on the situation. Aleksey Venglinsky, deputy head of the agency, says that a number of large regions have taken the decision to postpone professional burning from spring to autumn, where an early onset of spring is predicted, a rapid melting of snow cover and a sharp increase in temperatures. These are the Amur, Volgograd, Novosibirsk regions, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and a number of other regions. “At the same time, such regions as the Irkutsk and Omsk regions, the republics of Adygea and Bashkortostan and others have planned professional burning in two stages – in spring and autumn, in order to prevent the possibility of forest fires,” says Mr. Venglinsky. , Rosleskhoz clearly controls the procedure and conditions for such work. There is feedback from the regions.”

Rosleskhoz states that the Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk and Tambov regions analyzed the fire seasons of past years and found that timely professional burning led to a decrease in the area of ​​forest fires. In the same places where professional burning was not carried out, the area of ​​​​fires increased, the department specified. “That is why in these regions they decided not to postpone the spring professional burning to the autumn period,” says Aleksey Venglinsky. “All subjects are located in the ground-based extinguishing zone, which allows them to provide high-quality work on the organization and conduct of professional burnings.”

The government of the Irkutsk region told Kommersant that the authorities had not yet made a final decision on professional burning in the spring: “The issue will be discussed at the regional commission for emergency situations.” “In the conditions of the Omsk region, these activities are much more effective in the spring,” they say in the main forestry department of the region. “The fire season usually closes in the middle of autumn, when the rainy season begins or snow falls: at this time professional burning is no longer possible. Therefore, in our climatic conditions, it is advisable to carry them out in the spring. In the conditions of the Kemerovo region, controlled preventive burning of dry grass in the spring has shown its effectiveness, as it helps to prevent the fire from spreading to forests from lands of other categories. Kommersant was told about this in the regional department of the forest complex: “Burning is carried out under strict control, only if weather conditions allow – in calm weather. During the entire period of application of this method, there was not a single case when a forest fire arose due to professional burning. However, they added that the department will take into account the recommendations of Rosleskhoz in its work. The forest management of the Republic of Adygea explained that preventive burning of forest combustible materials is regularly carried out in winter and spring, before the onset of the fire danger season (until April 1), this year events are also planned. The scale of the events is small, since broad-leaved forests in the highlands of Adygea are less prone to fires than in other regions. “The deadline for preventive controlled fire burning of brushwood, forest litter, dry grass and other forest combustible materials in forests on the lands of the forest fund of the Republic of Tatarstan has been postponed to the autumn period of 2023,” Kommersant was told in the Ministry of Forestry of the region.

Aleksey Yaroshenko from Greenpeace Russia recalls that controlled fires often turn into uncontrolled ones. “The biggest worry is the vast sparsely populated regions,” says Mr. Yaroshenko, “where the infrastructure is poorly developed and it is difficult to control the spread of fire. Therefore, there is a risk that the fire will run away and develop into a landscape fire.” He includes the Kurgan, Omsk, Kemerovo, Irkutsk regions, as well as the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region, among such subjects.

Anna Vasilyeva; correspondent network “Kommersant”