Editor's Note: Read the article "First comes the flame, then the burn".
It was the largest wildfire to burn in Idaho since 1910 and was the fourth-largest in national history, affecting grazing allotments, wildlife habitat and winter range, watershed and riparian areas, and a number of cultural sites.
For this fire alone, total reclamation costs are estimated at over $11 million during fiscal years 2007 to 2010, with full recovery of the natural systems taking several additional years.
Response time by fire crews in remote rangeland can sometimes determine whether a fire burns 4,000 acres or 400,000 acres. Even though ranchers in the Murphy area might have responded to this fire at the first sign of smoke, they could not.
The fire started on public lands and any fire-suppression efforts had to be coordinated through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the safety of BLM crews.
No one argues that safety is paramount, but the ranchers were frustrated. There had to be a way they could help save the land.
Mike Guerry, rancher on the Idaho-Nevada border within the Murphy fire area, says, “When we get multiple sparks spread over a lot of country, ranchers are more closely located and we can get assets out to those areas to get a quicker start on some of these fires.
As more and more of the rangeland becomes grassland, a tractor and disc work pretty well, so we’ve got opportunities to get around some of these fires quicker.”
We’ll never know, now, whether that fire could have been controlled earlier and whether the devastating losses could have been mitigated if ranchers had been allowed to respond at first spark. It was a case of public policy at its worst.
Tired of seeing their land and livelihoods go up in smoke, local ranchers in Idaho took action by forming Rangeland Fire Protection Associations (RFPA). As first responders, legal and liability issues had to first be addressed with fire-fighting training, personal protective equipment, communication with BLM fire crews and liability insurance.
It took legislative action to make that happen, clarifying rules for setting up an RFPA and providing funds for personal protective equipment and communication radios.
The RFPAs are formed as non-profit, volunteer associations, funded by dues assessed on member entities rather than through a taxing district.
The RFPA formed in Guerry’s range comprises 20 ranches and approximately 700,000 acres. RFPA members hold accident and life insurance policies through association memberships.
Personal equipment (i.e., tractors, discs) is used at the rancher’s own risk and is covered by individual policies, as it is voluntary whether or not an individual chooses to respond. RFPA members receive professional training through the BLM services. Their goal is not to fight fire on the front lines but to be first responders to reduce the scope of the fire.
With the first fire season behind them, more boots on the ground through the RFPA seems to be working. Guerry says, “Case in point, this past Saturday morning, at 1 a.m., we had two fires start west of Balanced Rock, and within a very short while we had six tractors and discs on the two fires.
We tied them in with the BLM engines and had the fires under control by about 4:30 a.m., holding one fire to 300 acres and the other to about 280 acres.” 
