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Buffaloberry is rated fire resistant by all three regional programs that assess it.
Buffaloberry is a shrub in the Elaeagnaceae family.
FireSmart BC approves buffaloberry through a compiled, binary plant chart designed for wildfire-conscious landscaping. Adaptation to Montana is part of the recommendation: Montana State University Extension includes buffaloberry in its expert-curated list of fire-resistant plants. For Willamette Valley growing conditions, buffaloberry receives a fire-resistant recommendation in Oregon State University Extension’s profiles of shrubs and woody vines.
The agreement is useful because each judgment remains tied to its own place and method. British Columbia’s program gives FireSmart approval, Montana’s extension service addresses plants adapted to Montana, and Oregon’s extension service addresses the Willamette Valley. Oregon also says the USDA hardiness zone varies by species, so its profile should not be read as one hardiness rating for every Shepherdia species.
These are practical planting recommendations rather than interchangeable test scores, but they point to the same conclusion. Buffaloberry is a fire-resistant choice under the standards used in British Columbia, Montana, and Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
Form
shrub
Rated in
British Columbia; Montana / Northern Rockies; Oregon (Willamette Valley)
On this lot
1. Fire evidence and conditions
Fire evidence
Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
The April 2022 MontGuide explicitly presents fire-resistant species adapted to Montana. FireApproved publishes 92 exact plant records from the source while retaining excluded genus, family, and unresolved rows; the guide itself says not every listed species grows in every part of the state.
Willamette Valley (OR footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2015-02-01
OSU Extension says EM 9103 highlights fire-resistant plants that thrive under Willamette Valley growing conditions. FireApproved publishes 172 exact owners only as valley context. The guide shares the PNW 590 lineage and is not a second independent vote or statewide site clearance.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in WA, OR, ID.
Native range
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness
3. Legal, ecological, and broader status
Legal-list status
Seed-list status
Reported invasive here
Broader regional context
Federal context
How to read this page
The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.
Where its sources say to plant it
Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating.
They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.
FireSmart BC Plant Program: suitable for HIZ extended zone (30-100 m) [FireSmart BC Home Ignition Zone] (with its recommendation)
Fire-resistant Landscape Plants for the Willamette Valley: Buffaloberry profile (PDF page 115) [osu-em-9103-profile] (with its recommendation)
The evidence
Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself
(a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or
republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.
