All posts by nfpa

Fire near Lakeside grows to 100 acres

Fire Information and Status, News, , , ,

Crews are fighting a fire near Lakeside and dealing with two fires in the Bob Marshall Wilderness . . .

Firefighters were aggressively attacking the Stoner Creek fire on Monday, Aug. 19 as the 2013 wildfire season arrived in the Flathead Valley. The Stoner Creek fire started on Aug. 18 along Blacktail Road in Lakeside and is one of three active fires in the area.

The fire had burned 100 acres by Monday afternoon and was a quarter mile away from structures, according to Flathead National Forest Public Information Officer Wade Muehlhof. No evacuations had been issued by Monday evening…

The Stoner Creek fire is one of three active fires being managed by the Flathead National Forest…

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Fire in Bob Marshall Wilderness grows to 1,375 acres

Fire Information and Status, News,

Wildfire activity in “the Bob” picked up a little yesterday . . .

A lightning-caused fire in the Bob Marshall Wilderness grew to 1,375 acres on Saturday.

The Damnation Fire was at 150 acres Friday before active burning in the Damnation and Lewis creek drainages increased its size.

The fire, approximately 21 miles east of Swan Lake, is burning primarily in previously burned areas, particularly the area burned by the Lewis Fire in 2000.

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In Montana, a relatively quiet fire season so far

Fire Information and Status, News

Fire season in Montana has been pretty manageable so far . . .

Despite the smoke and occasional buzz of an air tanker, the 2013 fire season in Montana has been quiet, historically speaking.

Eleven fires totaling 35,220 acres remain active in the state, all but two of them burning west of the Continental Divide.

Across Montana, 48,637 acres have burned this year, according to the Northern Rockies Coordination Center. The center lists nearly 690 human-caused fires, which have burned about 15,000 acres statewide. Around 380 lightning fires have burned nearly 34,000 acres.

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Wildfire season comes to the Flathead National Forest

Fire Information and Status, News, , , ,

The Forest Service is dealing with two lightning-triggered fires in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Here’s the official press release . . .

Fire managers on the Flathead National Forest are managing two fires on the Spotted Bear Ranger District. Both are believed to have been started by lightning strikes from the storm that passed through the area on August 11, 2013. Both are in the Bob Marshall Wilderness area and will be managed so they can play their natural role in the wilderness while providing for public and firefighter safety and protecting values at risk.

The Snow Creek fire is burning about 20 acres and is located up the Snow Creek Drainage. The fire is close enough to Black Bear Cabin that fire fighters are starting to implement structure protection, but there is no immediate threat. There may be some future impacts to the trails in the area depending on where the fire grows.

The Damnation fire is covering more than 150 acres and is growing to the east and north-east. This fire could impact trail access as well. Managers are working to keep area trails open with crews on the ground to observe fire location and behavior; however trail closures to ensure public safety may occur as fire conditions dictate.

Growth is expected today, August 16, 2013, as the weather forecast calls for high temperatures, low relative humidity and wind. Please contact the Spotted Bear Ranger District before heading into these areas to ensure you have the latest information on conditions: 406-758-5376.

As firefighting resources are needed to respond to natural wildfires it becomes even more important for everyone to thoughtful and careful in their use of fire in the forest. The forest is not currently in fire restricts, but the fire danger is high in the Flathead Valley, meaning a small spark or an unattended fire of any kind can start a wildfire and it could quickly spread.

Grizzlies injure 4 in Yellowstone area

News, , ,

This was not a good day for human-bear interactions, although it was something of a testament to the use of bear spray . . .

Four people injured in two separate bear attacks in and near Yellowstone National Park on the same day were able to escape with relatively minor injuries. None remained hospitalized Friday.

In Yellowstone, officials decided not to pursue a grizzly that attacked two hikers on a trail near Canyon Village on Thursday in the north-central portion of the park. The sow grizzly attacked after the hikers came across its young cub born the previous winter, according to park spokesman Al Nash…

Later that day, two Bureau of Land Management contract workers were attacked about 70 miles west of the Yellowstone attack…

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Old Moose Fire burn on North Fork has a knapweed problem

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , ,

Knapweed is a real nuisance in the old Moose Fire burn area . . .

The hillsides above Big Creek and the North Fork of the Flathead River are valuable winter range for deer and elk. Unfortunately, a new invader has moved in — weeds. Spotted knapweed is becoming a problem along the North Fork Road where the 2001 Moose Fire razed the landscape.

The Forest Service is aware of the problem, said Tris Hoffman, weed coordinator for the Flathead National Forest.

Hoffman said last week that Montana Conservation Corps crews were hand-pulling weeds from the slopes last week. The Forest Service is also spraying and in some cases using weevils to control the weed.

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The Robert Fire ten years later

Fire Information and Status, History, , ,

The Flathead Beacon has a nice retrospective on the 2003 fire season, the Robert Fire in particular . . .

The rolled-up maps in Dennis Divoky’s office show the enormity of the 2003 fires in Glacier National Park. Huge swaths of land are colored in red and orange, depicting in print the 136,000 acres of land burned that summer. It was the biggest fire season in the park’s history – even larger than 1910’s “Big Burn.”

“The 2003 season is the pinnacle,” said Divoky, fire ecologist for the park.

That summer, the National Park Service responded to 26 wildfires that scorched roughly 13 percent of the park’s land. Of those, six blazes were larger than 10,000 acres. The Robert Fire alone burned 57,570 acres of land in the park and Flathead National Forest and forced multiple evacuations of the Lake McDonald Valley and West Glacier. By September, the fires had cost the Park Service more than $68 million.

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Feds delay wolf plan independent review

Environmental Issues, News, ,

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service messed up the initial stages of an independent scientific review of their plan to remove federal protections for wolves across most of the U.S. Now they have to back up and try again . . .

A federal agency is delaying an independent analysis of a plan to drop legal protections for wolves across most of the nation because of concerns about the selection of experts to conduct the review, an official said Tuesday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in June called for removing gray wolves across the Lower 48 states from the endangered species list, with an exception for the struggling Mexican wolf in the Southwest. Agency director Dan Ashe said the wolf had recovered to the point that it could thrive and even enlarge its territory without federal oversight, although some advocates and members of Congress said the move was premature.

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Xanterra selected as new Glacier Park concessioner

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

The National Park Service has selected Xanterra Parks & Resorts as the new Glacier Park concessioner for the next 16 years, replacing Glacier Park, Inc., which as been operating the park concessions since 1981.

And, yes, this is the same Xanterra with connections to Anschutz Exploration Corp., the outfit that was until recently performing exploratory drilling on the Blackfeet Reservation along the eastern boundary of Glacier Park. Both Anschutz Exploration and Xanterra Parks and Resorts are owned by Philip Frederick Anschutz, one of the wealthiest billionaires in the nation. Xanterra is likely to prove a controversial choice.

Here is the lead-in for the official press release . . .

The National Park Service has selected Xanterra Parks & Resorts, Inc. (Xanterra) to provide a variety of visitor services in Glacier National Park for the next 16 years.

The new park concessions contract is anticipated to begin in January 2014 and includes lodging, food and beverage, retail, transportation and other visitor services within the park. This fall Xanterra is expected to work with Glacier Park, Inc. during a transition period. Glacier Park, Inc. has held the current park concessions contract since 1981.

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