Camping Protocol

Unsafe Campfires Rise

An increase in abandoned campfires in the Rockies over recent weeks has prompted fire officials to issue a reminder: be careful in the woods this time of year, when the fire danger often is high.

In Montana, more than a dozen abandoned campfires have been discovered lately. Sixty-one percent of fires on lands managed by the state have been human-caused this summer. In the Lolo National Forest alone, firefighters have responded to 16 human-caused blazes, or 55 percent of the total fires there.

NEW WEST FEATURE

Al Gore to Headline Seminar on Climate Change and the West

When Aspen, Colo. resident John Bennett flew across Colorado after the devastating pine beetle infestation had taken effect, he was shocked by what he saw.

“I had a very strong sense of flying over a cemetery. A vast graveyard,” he said.

Entire pine forests had turned brown and died as the beetle epidemic spread, and the death toll of trees continues to rise, not just across Colorado, but across a swath of forest from Canada to the Mexican border.

Forests across the West are seeing a confluence of factors killing off trees in numbers never before seen in human history. Various beetles are attacking weakened pines, spruce and pinons. Wildfires have reached explosive proportions. Aspens, the iconic tree of the west, are falling ill and dying in massive numbers. No single cause is behind all of them, but scientists believe climate change is one factor they all have in common.

For the first time ever, a group of scientists and land managers will come together in Aspen in February to discuss the plight of Western forests and the role climate change is playing in it. 

UM Study Finds Logged Forests More Prone to Severe Wildfires

Historically logged forest sites are denser and potentially more prone to severe wildfires and insect outbreaks than unlogged, fire-excluded forests and should be considered a high priority for fuel-reduction treatments, according to a new University of Montana study [PDF].

Anna Sala and Cameron Naficy, lead researchers in the study, published an article on these findings in the most recent issue of the journal “Ecological Applications.” Sala is a professor in UM’s Division of Biological Sciences, and Naficy graduated with a master’s degree from UM in 2008.

Sala and Naficy’s study compared logged, fire-excluded sites to unlogged, fire-excluded sites in forests mainly consisting of ponderosa pines. The study covered a broad region spanning the Continental Divide of the Northern Rockies, from central Montana to central Idaho.

FUTURE FOREST

As a Forest Dies, Officials Plan What’s Next

Above the sparkling waters of the Crystal River in western Colorado, while aspen leaves are turning golden, tall trees are turning brown and dying. It’s not why you might think, though. Not exactly.

Mountain pine beetles aren’t doing the damage. It’s Douglas fir beetles, killing off fir trees just like their cousin has killed off pines across the West.

Pines. Firs. Spruces. Aspens. They’re all dying here on the White River National Forest, killing off broad swaths of one of the nation’s most heavily-recreated forests, home to ski areas like Aspen and Vail, and high peaks like the Maroon Bells. What that new forest will look like is up to nature. But the Forest Service wants to play a role.

Guest Column

Firefighters Should Calm Down About Beetle-Killed Forests

The dirty little secret that some firefighters and land managers either don’t know or will not admit to knowing, is that forests that have been affected by mountain pine beetles are less likely to burn as intensely as green forests. When the needles on a pine tree die, the volatile oils that cause a green, healthy pine tree to torch and support a crown fire, break down. And a tree with no needles is not a good candidate for a crown fire either — less so than a green tree.

Sometimes land managers, when faced with a landscape of brown, ugly, beetle-killed trees, fall all over themselves finding additional taxpayer funds to “fix” the problem, such as a state Governor vowing to order his state employees to storm into a federal wilderness if there are any fires in the area, which has some beetle-killed trees, or an agency asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix a possible future beetle problem.

Some scientists have tried to say that the wildfire potential in areas affected by beetles is over-stated. But now there is new research that further confirms that point of view. And it appeared on the NASA web site, whose satellites were used to collect some of the data.

'YOU KNOW YOU'RE TAKING A CHANCE'

Boulder Fire Transforms a Landscape and Lives

Mark Wischmeyer looked out across Fourmile Canyon and saw smoke rising into the sky over Gold Hill.

A volunteer firefighter in Jamestown, Colo., 14 miles northwest of Boulder, Wischmeyer chalked it up to a Labor Day barbecue.

Then he saw another trail of smoke. Then another, with a peculiar orange glow. 

Wildland Fire

Fire Near Boulder Most Destructive in Colorado History

The destruction of homes and buildings as a result of the Fourmile Canyon Fire near Boulder recently surpassed that of 2002’s Hayman Fire to become Colorado’s most destructive fire in history, according to a story today at the Daily Camera.

The Associated Press is reporting that the fire is 30 percent contained and that it has, so far, destroyed 169 homes. The Hayman Fire burned up 133 homes.

Firefighters are concerned that high winds in the forecast could pick up sparks to more acres. According to the AP, they’re hoping to make progress before this evening, when gusty winds and lower humidity were expected to move in. The National Weather Service said wind gusts could reach 45 to 60 mph by midnight.

By this morning, 7,100 acres had burned, according to InciWeb.

According to a report in the Coloradan, officials suspect the blaze started when a car crashed into a propane tank.

Wildland Fire

Fire Update: Idaho’s Magic Valley Burning, More Fires Spreading

What looked like a slow fire season last week changed dramatically as new and recent fires picked up across Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and Idaho. 

In Idaho, the lightning-sparked Long Butte Fire has covered the Magic Valley, burning more than 327,800 acres. It’s listed as 10-percent contained after heavy winds picked up two small fires Saturday night.

Numerous structures are threatened as the fire grows. After jumping the Snake River, the fire burned power poles, wind turbines and charred two smaller buildings.  The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has since declared the Twin Falls area “unhealthy” for area residents. 

In Colorado, the Alkali Fire has burned nearly 8,000 acres. Also ignited by lightning, the fire north of Maybell is primarily burning on private land. 

Wildland Fire

Fire Update: Mild Season Could Cook Up in Dry Days of Fall

Fire season in the Northern Rockies is nearing the end of its run. It’s been largely drama-free, so far, although some late weather has kicked it up a bit, says Rick Floch, Bitterroot National Forest Fire Management officer.

With two active fires in Wyoming, three in Montana and no significant fires in Idaho, the Northern Rockies haven’t really seen the kind of burning expected for mid-August.

According to Floch, the fire season so far has seen an unusual number of storms with large amounts of rain, hail, wind and lightning.  The rain has definitely mitigated fire danger in many of the region’s forests. 

Although, “there is still the potential for some belated fire activity,” says Floch, “the days get shorter and the likelihood of lightning storms diminishes. This chance grows smaller each day as we move into the fall.”