Frisco Wildfire Part II

All over the Rocky Mountains, pine bark beetles are taking their toll on lodge pole pine forests. The red trees in this picture are dying. I'm planning a group of posts about the pine bark beetle, but the fire Saturday in Frisco illustrates the danger that many communities in the Rockies face.



This was really a small fire. Probably started by campers, it burned in a green and moist aspen and cheat grass area rather than hitting the dead pines nearby. However, you can see how close those dead pine trees were to the fire. And the fire started in an area where the firefighters had to hike in to get to it.



Traffic in I-70 was warned that a fire was near and that there might be smoke on the road. I was parked south of I-70. There was a steady stream of residents who pulled up to check on the fire. They were worried. The predictions are that Summit county will lose 95% of the lodgepole pines. While in Breckenridge, the law is requiring homeowners to remove the dead trees, the people I talked with seemed to think there was no plan in place in the national forests to remove the dead trees. The research I've done so far indicates that there is a small window when the trees that are harvested can be used. If you miss the window, the wood has deteriorated too far.




This was the scene at the worst part of the fire. Thankfully, the firefighters were helped by a helicopter with a 100 gallon bucket. By Sunday, only wisps of smoke were left. The damage from the fire was invisible from town. But this is fourth of July week, people are nervous about fireworks and are expecting a burn ban.




From the Summit Daily News comes this warning from Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief Jeff Berino: "we want people to really be aware of the dangers we are facing this season, and that it is now a matter of when, not if, we will have a big wildfire.”


The fire Saturday only burned a couple of acres. But this is early in the season. As the snow melt ends, and everything dries out in the warmth of summer, the Rockies are a powder keg waiting to erupt.

Interesting things that come "across my radar"

You can probably say I am an internet junkie.

I read lots of things from many places on the internet.

I start my day usually checking out my new email and the Discussion Forum and the Photos of the Day at The Digital Image Cafe. I've made lots of friends there and I enjoy seeing the beautiful photographs each morning as well as to see if there is any photography information I would find useful.

I have set up a My Yahoo page that gives me lots of different news headlines that I can click on for more details. I read news articles, editorials, and entertainment articles (I"m tired of hearing about the celebrities whose lives are so messed up right now - the names change, but the disfunctional lifestyles go on and on and on.) Sometimes I look at the Austin American Statesman. Today I looked at one of the editorials and I wrote a letter to the editor. My first draft was twice the size limit, so I just sent the first part.

Lately I've been reading Yellowstone.net and The Yellowstone Newspaper to make Yellowstone still feel real when we are so far way. I am fascinated with the story of Hollywood Star, the bear that has been relocated twice now. The last time they took her 100 miles away and she still came back to the Fishing Bridge area. Apparently she has moved over to Pelican Valley. There are several photos of her on the postiing. She is a beautiful bear. I sure hope that she stays in Pelican Valley and away from people, so they don't have to kill her.

I also read several blogs. Some of them are friends and family. I love hearing what's going on in their lives. I started reading two blogs after attending the Festival of the Cranes at the Bosque del Apache NWR. Julie Zickefoose and her husband, Bill Thompson (Bill of the Birds). His article today was about pigeons in the Los Angeles area. I have to agree that putting birth control in their food supplies can certainly have unintended consequences - not only to raptors that feed on them, but also to other birds that may also ingest the drugs. On the other hand, pigeons tend to over populate in metropolitan areas (as do grackles.)

From the Yellowstone Newspaper I chased this link to The Yellowstone Spectator. It dovetails with Bill of the Bird's comments about how small things can affect other things. Who would have thought that the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone would increase the growth of aspen groves and provide better habitat for beavers? By the way, my beaver photos were the beaver that lives in the lodge he pictured.

I also chased this link from the Casper Star Tribune. This fits in with some research I did on the regrowth of trees in Yellowstone after the 1988 fires. I had to figure out how white pines were related to lodgepole pines. I'm interested in lodge pole pines because they need fire to open their cones for the seeds to germinate. They are also under attack all over the western United States from pine bark beetles. I wonder what the landscapes are going to look like with so much of the forest dead. And due to fire danger, so much of the dead wood will be logged, that the mountains will have a very different look.

I'm interested in lots of different things and my web surfing shows it. While sometimes my time might be more productively spent doing other things, I sure do learn a lot as I chase the different threads.