From a Moose Creek resident…
Sheriff was just here. They are focusing Red Meadow to Hay Creek today just to say what is going on. They will reassess tomorrow and head up Whale and Moose Creek. They may close the NF to non landowners in 3 or 4 days. Of course short of helicopters and crew but lots of fire engines, grading NF road as well. He said spread the word.
Note that the fire danger in Flathead County is now rated at Extreme.
This press release is also downloadable in PDF format…
Northern Rockies Coordination Group
Northwest Montana Area
For Immediate Release: July 22, 2021
Stage II Fire Restrictions Implemented across NW Montana
Kalispell, MT, July 22, 2021 — Interagency fire managers agreed to implement Stage II Fire Restrictions that will go into effect at 12:01am Monday, July 26th, 2021 across the Flathead National Forest, Glacier National Park, Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks sites, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Kalispell, Stillwater, and Swan Units, and Flathead County.
Continue reading Stage II Fire Restrictions Implemented across NW Montana
The Hay Creek Fire started brewing up yesterday, July 21, on top of the ridge along the north edge of the Hay Creek Drainage (see map below). The Forest Service dispatched assets to fight this fire in the late afternoon. By evening, it was about 50-60 acres in extent. According to early morning radio chatter, the fire laid down overnight but was starting to pick back up. Here is the first press release regarding the Hay Creek Fire, sent out yesterday evening at abut 10:00pm. You can also download it as a PDF.
From the press release. (See also the official order, which is much more detailed and contains supporting material.)
Kalispell, MT, July 19, 2021—The Flathead National Forest has updated the existing food storage restrictions for all Flathead National Forest lands outside of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and reminds the public to be bear aware. The updated order can be found on the Flathead National Forest website. The intent of food storage restrictions is to reduce the likelihood of a bear getting into unsecured food and garbage. Bears can become food conditioned if they receive a food reward. Food conditioned bears can lead to an increase in conflicts between humans and bears, which compromises the safety of both.
The order requires all attractants to be stored in an acceptable manner when unattended. Attractants can include, but are not limited to;
Acceptable methods of food storage include;
As always, there is inherent risk to recreating in bear country and it is vital that everyone does their part to be Bear Aware and Recreate Responsibly. It is often said, “a fed bear is a dead bear.” Please don’t be responsible for a bear becoming conditioned by receiving human food rewards. For more information on approved bear-resistant containers please visit the Flathead National Forest website.
Here we go again. Note that the fire danger in Flathead County is rated at Very High. From the official press release . . .
Northern Rockies Coordination Group
Northwest Montana Area
For Immediate Release: July 15, 2021
Fire Restrictions Updated for NW Montana
Kalispell, MT, July 15, 2021 — Interagency fire managers agreed to implement Stage I Fire Restrictions that will go into effect at 12:01am Saturday, July 17th, 2021 across the Flathead National Forest, Glacier National Park, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Kalispell, Stillwater, and Swan Units, and Flathead County.
Interagency fire managers are implementing Stage II Fire Restrictions that will go into effect at 12:01am Saturday, July 17th, 2021 across the Kootenai National Forest, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Libby Unit, Sanders and Lake County lands.
Interagency fire managers are implementing Stage II Fire Restrictions that will go into effect at 12:00am Friday, July 16th, 2021 across Lincoln County lands.
Continue reading Fire restrictions updated for NW Montana; Flathead County at Stage I Saturday
With fire season fast approaching, this is a nice find. This very handy map showing fires, air quality and smoke plumes is part of the U.S. EPA’s “AirNow” air quality website. Use this link for a map centered on Columbia Falls, MT: https://fire.airnow.gov/?lat=48.3637&lng=-114.1893&zoom=7#. Or you can find it on the NFPA’s “Wildfire Information” page.
With fire season looming, the NFPA’s Wildfire Information page has been subjected to its annual housecleaning. As usual, there was some “link rot.” A few new resources were added and one or two eliminated that simply no longer existed.
Greetings All. Click here to view the full nationwide July/August/September Wildland Fire Potential Outlook.
Here is the graphical summary by month:
Continue reading July/August/September Wildland Fire Potential Outlook
Hi, folks.
The Summer 2021 Interlocal Agreement Meeting is at 1:00pm, on Wednesday, July 14 at Sondreson Community Hall. This summer’s Interlocal is hosted by the North Fork Preservation Association (NFPA). It follows the annual Firewise meeting at 9:30am. Lunch is at noon, with the NFPA providing the main course. If you wish, bring a side dish or desert to share.
For those of you who are new to this, Interlocal meetings are held twice each year, winter and summer. These semi-annual get-togethers are intended to encourage open discussion between North Fork landowners and neighbors, and local, state and federal agencies. In other words, it’s a big deal if you have an interest in the North Fork.
As a convenience (it’s not required), I’m serving as a central point of contact for issues that North Fork organizations and individuals would like to see addressed by the various government agencies represented at the meeting. If you’ll send me your issues by the afternoon of Tuesday, June 29, I’ll pass them on to the various organizations in enough time for them to prepare their presentations. (Note: Please do not respond via Facebook. Use my email address, wkwalker@nvdi.com.)
Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.
Bill
I am a little late forwarding out the current National Wildland Fire Potential. I’ll be sharing this through the fire season until we get our season ending event.
This is as we would expect given our dry spring and spreading drought. The good news is that we in the North Fork are in a better position than most of the West. That is not much consolation since the outlook across the West is grim. Specifically for the Northern Rockies, here are some excerpts: Continue reading June 1st National Wildland Fire Potential