A pair of cow Elk stand in the river as flames light up the hillside behind them August 6th, near Sula Montana. Photo taken by Fire Behavior analyst John McColgan from a bridge over the Bitterroot River. Many of Idaho's River corridors were ravaged by wild fires this summer. Read some of the first hand accounts below.
8-29-00: Here's a first-hand report from the Taylor Ranch Field Station Mangers of the Middle Fork fires that burned through the Flying B area. It's lengthy (5 pages printed), but a powerful description of the force & devastation of wildfire in the wilderness.
8-27-00: Yesterday the Little Pistol fire made a major run,
moving approximately 6 miles. The fire crossed the Middle Fork of the Salmon
River burning 17 ranch homes and 4 outbuildings at Pistol Creek Ranch.
The Custer County Sheriff ordered and evacuation of the Middle Fork Lodge,
and contacted the Simplot Ranch recommending residents and visitors evacuate.
Here is a cabin owners account of the Pistol Creek fire
Here is a trip report by the last group to go down the Middle Fork before the fire closure.
And a report by the first Kayak Recon to go down the Middle Fork after it opened on September 7th. This includes an assessment of fire damage in boater campsites and other damage along the river.
I also wanted to tell you about a recent Main trip that we did. I was amazed at the amount of the canyon that has burned. I saw it when it was on fire and would never have thought it would have spread so far. There are three major burned areas: the uppermost was just above Lantz Bar on the South side. Next was the area around Barth to down around Bailey rapid (the 3 bears fire) burned pretty good. The area from below the South Fork to Vinegar also burned pretty good. As was expected the burn was patchy, the worst of the burn was around Maxwell Camp. Reminiscent of a moonscape. Big trees burned, ground was severely impacted and their was already evidence of erosion. For the most part the other burned areas were not hit too hard. The fire burned mostly underbrush and dead stuff. Several camps were impacted but mostly from sketchy looking burned snags hovering nearby. All in all, I thought the Main was not as bad as I had expected it would be. We have been seeing alot of dark muck in the river near Riggins. It looks like we can expect some bad blowouts until the soil and ash stabilize. Hopefully this won't have an effect on the Steelhead or Salmon Runs.
The Forest Service had closed the Middle Fork and Main Salmon River Thursday, August 17, 12:01 a.m. for the entire Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and the Main Salmon River from Cache Bar to Carey Creek. Learn more from the Forest Service Press Release.for the main closure and click here for the Middle Fork closure release
This closure will affect over 2,000 miles of trails, over 80 miles of river and all airstrips, except for Indian Creek. The closure will be in effect until the fire situation changes with a season ending weather event. This could be as early as September and as late as October.
8-23-00: The lower Salmon River from Riggins to the Snake River
and the upper portion located in the Sawtooth National Forest are not affected
by this closure. However, the Lower is restricted for open fires meaning
no fire pans or Dutch Ovens, propane only. There's a fire burning down
in the canyon that can be seen from the river at Maloney Creek. And it
sounds like smoke is pretty dense in places.
Here are some photo's
of the Hells Canyon fire from the confluence with the lower main salmon.
According to Matejko, individuals who have a permit to float the Salmon River on and after August 17, they can contact the North Fork Ranger District at 208-865-2700 and obtain a permit for the same date next year.
other good fire sites:
US Forest Service
Fire & Aviation News page This has some great stories and pictures.
national interagency fire center
payette national
forest
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