The National Interagency Fire Center has issued the following report:

June 24, 2008

A critical wildland fire situation continues to develop in northern California. Firefighters are battling 32 large fires in California that have burned more than 180,000 acres. New large fires were also reported in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

Here in California, the Weekend of June 21/22 had a large number of lightning strike fires. At one time on Sunday it was reported that there were over 600 fires burning in Northern California. Here in the North Bay area, the smell of smoke permeates everything, and visibility is severely limited.

The summer wildfire season certainly affects Western hunters. While periodic wildfire is a good thing for many big game species habitat, it may affect access to historic hunting areas. That is why part of my pre season “remote scouting’ involves monitoring wild fire reports such as the NIFC, (for large incidents) and state wild fire agencies such as CAL FIRE

The Cal Fire northern California Status Report as of Tuesday morning, was:

Northern California

The Wild Fire incident, located in the Green Valley area of Napa-Solano Counties, has burned 3,750 acres and is 40 percent contained. There is one residence and one outbuilding destroyed.
The Walker Fire is located near Indian Valley Reservoir in Lake County. This fire is 3,500 acres and zero percent contained with 35 residences threatened.
The Lime Complex Fire is located in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Trinity County-five miles south of Hyampom. The fire is currently at 4,000 acres and is zero percent contained. There are 1,200 residences, two commercial buildings and 300 outbuildings threatened. One commercial property has been destroyed.
In the Shasta-Trinity counties, over 130 fires are burning at a total of 5,000 acres, threatening 13 communities. Eastbound Highway 299 may be impacted by these fires.
The Quarry Fire is located near the base of San Bruno Mountain in Brisbane, San Mateo County. This fire is 300 acres and 100 percent contained.
Fires are burning in various locations throughout Humboldt County. The fires are currently at over 900 acres, including four new fires that started today. Five residences are threatened.
In Butte County, fires burning near the communities of Concow, Magalia and Paradise total 1,397 acres and are five percent contained. 200 residences are threatened.
110 fires, including 20 new fires discovered yesterday, are burning in Mendocino County, totaling 7,625 acres. 17 of these fires are contained. Four of the fires are greater than 1,000 acres. Over 525 homes are threatened

This will affect my scouting trip into the Wilderness on the 4th of July weekend, I’m sure.  The wilderness area I frequent had 12 active fires as of Monday.  It will be interesting to see how many continue to burn, since there are fires that threaten homes, and property in other areas. 

As I’ve mentioned before, wildfires in the west are becoming more and more of an issue for Western hunters.  My in-laws sent me a satellite photo of the smoke plumes from the 20 fire complexes burning in Idaho. 

I am willing to bet the air quality in Northwest Montana isn’t too good right about now!  (Click on the Thumbnail to see the full size photo)

You can see a map of the United States with all the active fires as of August 17th at

http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/lg_fire2.php

For more information on Fire progression , spread and containment at the National Interagency Fire Center

In reading around the Network, A post by Phillip, on his Hog Blog made me remember that about this time last year, I was tracking a couple of wildland fires in areas I hunt. There was some concern whether we were going to have access to our traditional area for our Fall Deer hunt in Wyoming. Forest management has moved towards re-introducing periodic fire cycles to areas that have had fire excluded for a number of years. The result, is big blowups, similar to the 1910 fire that spread across North Idaho.
Many people thought a similar fate would occur withthe the Yellowstone fire of 1988.
What occurred after that fire,  surprised many as the burned areas began their succession. I found an outstanding summary of the fires cause, spread and result in The 1988 Forest Fires of Yellowstone National Park, by Dr. Robert J. Ruhf

Since then land managers and wildlife managers have put more effort into managing for low intensity natural fires in the wild areas of the Western States. When I opened my e-mail I found now the University of Idaho is now even offering a degree program in Fire Ecology

The Friday Letter
A Newsletter for University of Idaho Alumni and Friends
July 6, 2007

Dear Friends,

This fall semester, the University of Idaho will offer the nation’s first fire ecology and management bachelor’s degree through the College of Natural Resources. The program will help to meet the growing demand for highly trained fire professionals who can make sound decisions about fire prevention, suppression and management. Students pursuing this degree will learn about fire ecology and management in both forests and rangelands.

The impact of fire, especially in the West, is staggering. This summer, we’ve already seen the impact of wildfires at Lake Tahoe and in Utah. The 2007 fire season quickly is heating up toward what could be a record burn year. Scientific projections show that the size, severity and cost of fires will continue to increase, especially in the forests and rangelands of the northern Rocky Mountains. In 2006 alone, some nine million acres burned around the nation and the U.S. government spent $1 billion on fire suppression.

The University of Idaho has offered a fire research program for 30 years. The new fire ecology and management degree program will extend our leadership in this area and help the state and region achieve a sustainable future in natural resources.

Tim White
University of Idaho
Office of the President
Moscow, Idaho 83844-3151
Phone: 208-885-6365
Fax: 208-885-6558

I hope we can continue to learn more about the role of fire in keeping the wildlife habitat of the Western States compatible with productive and recreational uses. This may mean altering some of our fall hunting plans because of fires as we allow natural caused fires to run their course when appropriate. I think it is a small price to pay to prevent larger devastating, life threatening fires, like those that spread across north Idaho in 1910.