Fires burn up camping season
Forest fires dominated the media last summer.
An extended period of drought in many portions of the country created a nationwide hotbed for fires to burn freely. The lack of precipitation required many campgrounds around the country to place heavy restrictions on campfires.
In Utah and other states, campfires were banned. The prohibition of fires put a damper on the summer recreation season of many, like Logan resident Derrick Dickey.
“I didn’t go camping at all this year because of the restrictions,” he said, “The campfire is a centerpiece of the camping experience, there is no fun and no point without it.”
In the past, controlled fires were allowed in designated areas, but national forest service law enforcement officer Cheri Lang said the ban on campfires was strongly enforced.
“We wouldn’t allow any campfires anywhere,” she said, “The law enforcement is very thorough in trying to find those fires which are in violation.”
Lang said she is the only full-time law enforcement officer in the Logan Ranger District. With a jurisdiction from the Idaho border to Blacksmith Fork Canyon, as well as the Wellsville Mountains. Catching every fire violation was a difficult task, she said.
Fortunately, Lang said, she had some help from forest protection officers, many of whom were also firefighters.
“While they are doing their job, they will look for violations,” she said. “I have some help, but they do it as a side job.”
While Lang found a number of fire violations during her patrols, there were very few major fire outbreaks in the Logan Ranger District this past season, said fire management officer Jeremy Brunner.
“We average about 16 fires a year in this district,” he said. “This year we had four or five.”
Nationwide, the fire season was one of the worst ever, Brunner said.
“It’ll probably be one of the top four [worst years] ever,” he said.
Forestry professor Michael Jenkins said approximately 6.5 million acres burned this past fire season, comparable to the size of Vermont and Rhode Island
combined.
“The fire season started so early, and got severe so quickly,” Jenkins said.
Large fires can be caused by a multitude of reasons, but nature is to blame for the majority of fires, Jenkins said.
“Two-thirds of fires are caused by lightning strikes.”
With fire restrictions lifted for this fire season, the forest service will now look forward to the 2003 fire season. But with the severity of a fire season hinging significantly on the weather, making assumptions about the future is nearly impossible, Jenkins said.
“It’s very hard to predict. The weatherman can’t even tell you what the weather will be like tomorrow,” he said.
Though it is hard to predict the future fire season, Brunner was optimistic.
“They’re thinking it [the 2003 fire season] might not be as severe,” he said.
This is good news, he said, considering every other year for the past six years there have been record-breaking fire seasons.
Brunner said while there has been more precipitation the past few weeks, caution should still be used when using fire in the
forest.
“We’ll get an Indian summer here; there’s going to be a period of time where it will be dry with the leaves on the ground. There is always the potential for fire danger,” he said.
Lang elaborated.
“Fire is very unpredictable. Even though it may look wet, or there is snow on the ground, there is no idea what is going on underneath all of that,” she said.
Jenkins said fire safety should be practiced still, especially with many hunters heading into the forests in the coming weeks.
Brunner said he recommended standard prevention techniques be used for anyone going into the hardwood stands of the forest where leaves had fallen.
Lang also warned forest users to be careful with their fires.
“Safety, no matter what time of year it is, should be utmost in everybody’s mind,” she said.
-str@cc.usu.edu