Western Fire Hazard Is Likely to Restrict Summer Recreation Plans

Campers and fishermen in the West may see some crimps in their plans this summer if 2001 brings an encore of the great drought of 2000 and its huge wildfires. But this year, they may at least be allowed to have a cup of morning coffee.

Summer 2000 brought severe drought to the Northern Rockies and spawned the worst fire season in half a century. Nearly 7 million acres of national forests burned, most of it in western states and almost 1 million acres of it in Montana alone.

Fire danger was so extreme that federal and state agencies in Montana closed almost 20 million acres of public land to recreation. Montana restricted fishing in several ways because of shrunken streams and tepid water that made fish vulnerable.

All of the signs point toward a repeat of the drought this summer--and maybe worse. There’s no way to fight a drought, and some of last year’s restrictions may return. But land and water managers say they learned a few things last year.

“Some things we learned were that we need to be more surgical about our closures,” Gary Morrison said last week at the regional Forest Service headquarters in Missoula, Mont. Another possible lesson: Rather than banning back country fires outright, allow people to use contained stoves, which are much safer than campfires.

That is the morning-coffee lesson, which became “a real sore point” with outfitters last year, Jack Rich of Seeley Lake, Mont., explained. When all fires were banned in some national forests, guides could not cook food or brew coffee for guests.

“The only food options were MRE’s [Meals Ready to Eat] from the military,” Rich said. “But there was no way you could address a hot drink in the morning, or even sanitation if we needed hot water to wash.”

But it was the closures that hurt most, Rich said. Some forests in Montana and Idaho were closed entirely to hikers, backpackers, hunters and fishermen, for fear they might accidentally spark a fire where it could not be quickly snuffed. Some outdoors enthusiasts had their vacations canceled at the last minute; others scrambled to relocate a trip dozens or hundreds of miles away, where the risk of fire was lower.

“Our best months are July and August, our strongest cash flow,” Rich said. “I lost 75% of August last year because of the fires, and the thought of that happening again is pretty unsettling.”

Kayakers and other boaters couldn’t get on rivers because the land closures prevented vehicle parking at river access sites, said John Anderson, president of the Missoula Whitewater Assn. “Their concern was with catalytic converters, which can start fires,” he said.

And even where recreation was permitted in Montana, the air usually stank of wood smoke, and the sun shone orange through a thick, smoky haze.

The Forest Service has no blanket policy on closures because conditions vary greatly from forest to forest, Morrison said.

But there needs to be some coordination among forests too, said Al Bukowsky of Merlin, Ore., and Salmon, Idaho. His company, Solitude River Trips, conducts rafting, kayaking and fishing trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

Last year, he recalled, the bank on one side of the Salmon was closed to recreation, but the bank on the other side, in a different national forest, was not. His clients could camp on one side of the river, but not on the other.

This year, he said, the Forest Service and the state of Idaho already have asked outfitters and guides for advice on how better to handle recreation during high-risk periods. And those in the tourism industry are working hard to put a positive spin on the possibility of low water and access restrictions.

Dave Mills of Rocky Mountain River Tours in Boise, Idaho, said his river trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon are booked solid for the season, from Memorial Day weekend to Oct. 4, and he expects even the “terrible” Idaho snowpack will provide enough water to float his rafts all summer.

But, he adds, “This year the best water is definitely going to be in May and June.”

Montana too expects streams to dwindle rapidly.

“One message we’re putting out is, come early and bring a jacket to enjoy Montana,” said Kathleen Williams, water resources program manager for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “The other message we’re encouraging is, come to Montana but let it surprise you. Be flexible.”

Larry Peterman, Montana fisheries chief, said programs to encourage ranchers to leave water in its world-famous fishing streams for fish, rather than using it to irrigate hay fields, have been successful. But he still has little hope that restrictions can be avoided entirely this summer.

“We’re still reeling from last year,” Peterman said. “If it materializes the way everybody anticipates it will, we’ll probably see more of what we saw last year. That includes limited fishing during some periods.”

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On the Net:

State of Montana:

https://www.discoveringmontana.com/css/default.asp

Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks: https://www.fwp.state.mt.us/