Alaska, burning up

[starmac]

Somebody needs to do the rain dance right.
I knew the fires were getting bad from my travels, but in the paper today, we have over 300 fires going on and have lost 3.1 million acres so far.
Predictions are that it will surpass the record of 6.6 million acres.
One place on the elliot it has burned as far as you can see, over the mountain, then at least to the top of the next ones.

[Handloader109]

Sorry, seems we've been getting it instead. NW Arkansas is over about 10inches or more this spring and it is still raining today.

[swheeler]

Sorry to hear that. I think NW Montana could be in for something similar this year, hope not!

[dg31872]

It was like that here in Texas in 2011. So for this year, we are 12 inches ahead.
It must be Bushes' fault. The current administration blames everything else on him.

[Plate plinker]

Bummer on the fires. Sounds like a good place to pick shrooms in the future.

[dakotashooter2]

Just nature cleaning house................

[lefty o]

agree with the above, land needs to burn off occasionally.

[dilly]

Some types of forests are designed for periodic burns. People think it's a man made catastrophe, but the only thing man made about it is its catastrophic scale. If the Forest Service or other entities put out fires too much for too long and the forest WILL light up hotter than we can combat. It's as futile as trying to permanently dam up 100% of a river's water without any mechanism of overflow.

That doesn't make it any less devastating when your house burns down though.

This is a dilemma my dad talked about a lot in his years at the Forest Service. I suspect that the fire control had been a lot more aggressive in the western states where he worked than it had been in Alaska.

[MtGun44]

Forests grow up, then they burn down and grow up again. Stay out of the
way of this natural process and you will be fine.

They screamed "Yellowstone is being destroyed" in 1988 when the fires went thru,
but it is very well recovered now. As long as buildings don't get burnt down, no
harm in the longer run, ugly in the shorter run.

[TXGunNut]

Yes, just a part of the natural life cycle for forest. Plains too, come to think of it. Not very comforting for folks who don't plan their landscaping with that in mind.

[reloader28]

MtGun, that is not entirely true.
Yes, I agree, it needs to burn off and on, but there are many places in Yellowstone that got so hot there may never be trees again.
The stuff along the roads is all grown up, but it is not all because of nature thats for sure. After the fires, there were herds of illegals hired to replant along the roads strictly for tourism. I know this for a fact because the sheriff in the area was constantly catching them up and shipping them out.
Tree planting would shut down for a few days til either more were hired or the first ones made it back up here.
Back off the roads aways and in surrounding areas here that burned that summer, there are still many places with nothing.

It boils down to miss management of the forests. Forest service is probly the worst thing possible for managing trees. Around here, the pine beetle have killed almost everything. Entire mountains are gray and brown with an occasional green tree. No thinning, no logging, no culling, nothing. When it goes, its going to be a VERY hot burn and no controlling it. With all the early moisture, this may be the year.

[.45Cole]

A human time scale is measured in years. A forest's scale may be centuries.

[RugerFan]

We got a bit of rain and the burn ban was finally lifted in my neck of the woods. Took the opportunity to throw a bunch of dead branches and tree trimmings in my burn barrel and light a match.

[MaryB]

I am tired of all the smoke out of Canada that keeps reappearing down here. A lot of people are fighting breathing issues form it, I have had a massive allergy attack triggered by it. Earlier in the week visibility was 1/4 mile form the smoke and MN Pollution Control Agency issued an air quality warning.

[starmac]

AIR QUALITY, we will be lucky if we se any air quality the rest of the summer. lol
Our air quality is listed as hazardous, federal employees that work outside, such as park personell are not even allowed to work.

[timtheartist]

These forest fires look like a good excuse for something like an emissions tax. Now we know from experience the tax won't fix a damn thing, but it will make all the politicians feel better about themselves.

[Hickory]

These forest fires look like a good excuse for something like an emissions tax. Now we know from experience the tax won't fix a damn thing, but it will make all the politicians feel better about themselves.

Plus, anytime the government taxes something you eventually end up with less of it.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

snip...

It boils down to miss management of the forests. Forest service is probly the worst thing possible for managing trees. Around here, the pine beetle have killed almost everything. Entire mountains are gray and brown with an occasional green tree. No thinning, no logging, no culling, nothing. When it goes, its going to be a VERY hot burn and no controlling it. With all the early moisture, this may be the year.

You are soooo right !
In 1999, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (a Government controlled wilderness area) had a bad wind storm, blowing down many acres of pine trees. They would not allow anyone to harvest the blow downs with anything more than a canoe and handsaw. Many Locals quickly became worried about a severe Fire... fast forward 12 years...

By Bill McAuliffe Star Tribune staff writers SEPTEMBER 14, 2011 — 9:56AM

"BWCA fire huge, fast and erratic
Most of the wilderness area is shut down. Fanned by unanticipated winds and fueled by dry wood, the blaze has spread rapidly to consume more than 100,000 acres, making it one of the biggest forest fires in Minnesota history. "

lots more at link...but no mention of the Government's inaction.
http://www.startribune.com/bwca-fire...tic/129731598/

[Bad Water Bill]

Jon

My son spent several summers at a camp in the B W area.

He said the campers actually dug over a foot down in hard packed needles before they reached any sand or soil.

Even after the visual fire is gone how long will that smouldering hazard continue till it actually extinguishes itself.

[blaser.306]

I am tired of all the smoke out of Canada that keeps reappearing down here. A lot of people are fighting breathing issues form it, I have had a massive allergy attack triggered by it. Earlier in the week visibility was 1/4 mile form the smoke and MN Pollution Control Agency issued an air quality warning.

We as Canadians, sincerely apologise for any inconvenience our Forrest fires caused by severe drought ( and lightning strikes in remote forested areas ) have caused. We have had less that 1/2" of rain since mid may .As of yesterday there were 56 fire fighting helicopters ( one from Montana ) and I believe they said 24 or 25 water bomber planes in active duty fighting the fires ( 116 active fires and over 500 to date this year ). The area they claim to be burning right now is 3 times the land mass of New York city, this is in Saskatchewan alone. Alberta has larger fires burning than us , and British Columbia is also on there way to a record setting fire season. There were 1000 Military troops ( along with a couple thousand trained fire jumpers ) and volunteer fire fighters deployed to aid in containment and attempting to save the homes and businesses of the 12 000 evacuated citizens from these northern communities. So again I / we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience the smoke from our country burning to the ground has caused! PS. today is about the second or third day in the last 10 I have actually been able to see the sun thru the smoke.