Despite the cooler, wetter weather recently, summer really is coming — and the risks of wildfires are rising along with it.
Also coming soon is the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s “critical revegetation management” project, near Ophir.
“As we have drier summers, and drought, we’re very focused on what we can do,” spokesman Lee Boughey explained. “We want to be able to have a right of way that minimizes the risks of wildfires and protects the power lines — that minimizes risks and keeps the lights on.”
The project will take place over approximately 5.1 miles, between the Ames Hydroelectric Station to near the top of the San Miguel County side of Ophir Pass, along the 115- kV Ames-Burro Bridge transmission line, according to a news release from Tri-State.
“The transmission line passes through the town of Ophir and also on private and National Forest lands,” the release said.
“We’ll begin the work in June, and once the work starts, crews will do most of the work by hand within the right of way, in an effort to make sure we have as little impact as possible” to surrounding vegetation, Boughey said. “There’s a lot of wetlands in the project area and we want to do as much as we can to minimize our impact. We’ll be focused mostly on trees: we’ll look at those, and any dangerous trees that might impact the line will be removed. We’ll also remove any dangerous trees just outside the right of way that could potentially fall into the right of way.”
Boughey said traffic impacts would likely be minimal.
“We won’t have any requirements to close the roads,” he said. “Any impacts on traffic should be very brief. When we have a helicopter moving the (downed) material, in July, there could be temporary closures then.”
“Tri-State will be hauling material on Ophir Pass Road and a traffic control will be in place to ensure public safety during these operations,” the release said. “There may be short-term delays involving timber-hauling activities. Tri-State will obtain a heavy haul permit from San Miguel County and will work closely with the U.S. Forest Service and town of Ophir to ensure public safety and notification during vegetation activities.”
Exactly when the work is to begin — and precisely where, and what vegetation will be mitigated — is still under discussion, county commissioner Lance Waring said. The players are Tri-State, the USFS and the community of Ophir: “We’re not in the driver’s seat,” Waring emphasized of the county’s role. “We have two minor leverage points: the hauling permit and the wetlands-operations permit. We signed off on both of those, because all the boxes have been ticked. We still want to improve the plan, with an agreement, if possible, from all our partners. That’s why we’re hosting this one last meeting on Wednesday. We’re hoping that by the end of the meeting we can say, ‘This is what we’re doing. This is the final plan.’”
The impacts of Tri-State’s mitigation efforts on fragile wetlands “in the east end of Ophir Valley, up by Swamp Canyon” are drawing particular scrutiny. “That is where most of the concern is,” Waring explained, “because of the fragile nature of an ecosystem at 12,000 feet. There are concerns about the possible dangers of a hot, stationery fire,” which would be employed to burn the refuse, “compared to a fast-moving wildfire. The alternative for removing (downed trees) would be to chip-and-haul, and that would involve a lot of trucks. That’s another impact. It’s a balancing act. There’s no good, easy way to get this done,” nor at this point is there universal agreement on how to do it.
“We can all work together to reduce and mitigate impacts and end up with a safer power line for the coming hot summer,” Waring added. “Nobody’s against the idea of having less fuel, and fire risk, in the Ophir valley.”
