[pct-l] Stehekin closed...........

Brett blisterfree at yahoo.com
Sun Sep 10 20:57:31 CDT 2006 

This one still appears to be a relatively small, creeping 
fire burning in steep, rocky terrain north and east of 
"downtown" Stehekin, along the north shore of Lake Chelan. 
There's still plenty of intact forest in this area, so 
either Stehekin burns now or they face the risk again at 
some point in the future.

No one in their right mind would wish permanent harm upon 
the Stehekin community, NPS "agendas" et al be damned. This 
is simply an "I told you so" moment and it will pass, 
hopefully for the better.

Could PCT hikers get by without a stop in Stehekin? 
Absolutely. But it wouldn't be the same experience without 
it.

As for the soon-to-be-broken record fire season, if the 
total acreage consumed reflects all 2006 western fires then 
it may be worth noting that huge tracts in eastern New 
Mexico and west Texas rangeland burned this spring, which 
means little in the long or even near term. Essentially 
there have been two fire seasons - one Southwestern due to 
earlier drought now mostly relieved, and now a Northwestern 
season with the absence of early fall-type weather systems 
coming off the Pacific.

Obviously the Northwest forests are less adapted to drought 
and fire, so the consequences are gonna be greater. Most of 
the "why" type questions are rhetorical at this point. The 
big issues are the 'hows' of improved forest management. The 
"put them all out" school of thought is dead and buried. 
IMO, the only solution is to let the forests burn to the 
ground in bits and pieces, as dictated by nature and guided 
by us, until the ecology returns to a natural balance where 
forests are healthier and fire is less devastating. In the 
meantime, weep not for the forest, but for what the kids 
won't have that we in our ignorance took for granted.

- blisterfree

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "TYVEK wooster" <pastafly at hotmail.com>
To: <wayneskraft at comcast.net>; <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 9:24 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Stehekin closed...........


> good day everybody.
>
>     it is very sad to think about the town of stehikin 
> being burnt down.
>      if the fire does consume the town,  how is this going 
> to effect next
> years hikers on the trail to canada???
>
> the only positive thing that i can think of about this 
> fire is that that
> will mean there wont be anymore big fires in that area for 
> quite a long
> time.
>
> TYVEK
>
>
>>From: Wayne Kraft <wayneskraft at comcast.net>
>>To: PCT-L MailingList <pct-l at backcountry.net>
>>Subject: Re: [pct-l] Stehekin closed...........
>>Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 18:28:32 -0700
>>
>>A report here, dated tomorrow (??), says Stehekin has NOT 
>>been
>>evacuated.
>>
>>http://www.wenworld.com/sub/story.php?id=1157825613-115-833
>>
>>I'll advise this list further when I am convinced I know 
>>what's
>>happening, but right now I'm not.
>>On Sep 9, 2006, at 4:04 PM, Wayne Kraft wrote:
>>
>> > Brett, there are plenty of fires burning right now that 
>> > are labeled
>> > Wildland Use Fires and these fires are being allowed to 
>> > burn.  I
>> > think that's wrong, but the point will be debated.  I 
>> > don't think the
>> > Flicker Fire that threatens (or has already consumed?) 
>> > Stehekin is in
>> > that class.  The terrain on which the fire was burning 
>> > was simply too
>> > steep to establish a fire line. Dumping stuff on a fire 
>> > is helpful,
>> > but it won't hold a monster fire like this one.  It may 
>> > very well be
>> > that Stehekin was doomed from the beginning.  Now that 
>> > the fire's
>> > intensity and direction are clear, yes, you are right, 
>> > there are few
>> > resources to throw at it because they are all in use 
>> > elsewhere on the
>> > remaining 5 million or so acres we're torching this 
>> > season.  It may
>> > also be that the fire would have done what it is doing 
>> > regardless of
>> > the resources thrown at it.  The question that needs 
>> > answering is,
>> > why are we experiencing record fire years one year 
>> > after another?
>> > What caused these conditions to develop?  Could/Should 
>> > something have
>> > been done differently in the management of this 
>> > resource?  I don't
>> > know this area or that subject matter well enough to 
>> > know the answer,
>> > but I am interested in hearing the answers and I think 
>> > these
>> > questions should be asked until there are some.
>> >
>> > Wayne Kraft
>> >
>> >
>> > On Sep 9, 2006, at 3:06 PM, Brett wrote:
>> >
>> >> Unbelievable. The "unarmed" community as well as area 
>> >> fire
>> >> fighting resources have had fair warning on this fire 
>> >> for
>> >> more than a month. One would have expected a different
>> >> outcome by this point. Either it was permitted to grow 
>> >> into
>> >> a monster, or it's been stoppable all along but for
>> >> insufficient resources.
>> >>
>> >> - bf
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> ----- Original Message -----
>> >> From: "andrea dinsmore" <buggy_boo69 at hughes.net>
>> >> To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
>> >> Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 4:08 PM
>> >> Subject: [pct-l] Stehikin closed...........
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>> Saturday noon...........Word has come from Stehikin 
>> >>> that
>> >>> evacuation in now in process. Hikers that are there 
>> >>> are
>> >>> being bussed back to the trail. The post office is 
>> >>> trying
>> >>> to figure out what to do with the hiker mail. The 
>> >>> fire is
>> >>> 300 yards from town and unstoppable. I will keep 
>> >>> everyone
>> >>> as updated as possible. Take care,
>> >>>
>> >>> Andrea Dinsmore
>> >>> Skykomish
>> >>> _______________________________________________
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>> >>
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