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CHAPTER 7. AVALANCHE <br />7-8 <br />Scale relates degree of avalanche danger (low, moderate, considerable, high, extreme) to descriptors of <br />avalanche probability and triggering mechanism, degree and distribution of avalanche hazard, and <br />recommended action in back country. Figure 7-2 shows key elements of the danger scale. <br />This information, updated daily, is available during avalanche season from the joint NOAA/U.S. Forest <br />Service Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center and can be obtained from Internet, NOAA weather wire, <br />and Department of Transportation sources. Avalanche danger scale information should be explained to the <br />public and made available through appropriate county and local agencies and the media. <br />Measures that have been used in other jurisdictions to reduce avalanche threat include monitoring timber <br />harvest practices in slide-prone areas to ensure that snow cover is stabilized as well as possible, and <br />encouraging reforestation in areas near highways, buildings, power lines and other improvements. The <br />development of a standard avalanche report form, and the maintenance of a database of potential avalanche <br />hazards likely to affect proposed developments in mountain wilderness areas, would be of significant value <br />to permitting agencies.