A burning concern
Vast land closures prompted by forest fires are of immediate concern to national forest visitors, especially sportsmen heading into the backcountry for early hunting seasons.
“Conditions are changing so fast there’s really no telling what lands will be open to hunters from day to day,” said Dave Ware, Washington Fish and Wildllife Department big game manager. “We strongly recommend that hunters keep tabs on conditions in the areas they intend to hunt right up until the day they plan to leave.”
The Blue Mountains in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon are being swept by the second big fire in two years. Umatilla National Forest areas remaining closed as of earlier this week include the Washington portion of the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness and Umatilla Forest lands that are in Washington west of Forest Road 44 and Wenatchee Creek.
Most of the Wooten Wildlife area also has been closed. As of last week, all wildlife area campgrounds are closed, but camping may be available at the Last Resort RV Park, (509) 843-1556.
At 103,000 acres, this year’s Blue Mountains fires are already twice as large as last year’s School Fire.
Washington hunters will soon find that fire has swept over about two-thirds of the Dayton Game Management Unit and scorched much of the Tucannon Unit that did not burn last year.
But not all of the land within those acreages is burned. This year’s hunting prospects are still unclear.
Sherman Creek Wildlife Area and surrounding lands west of Kettle Falls currently have restricted access because of the new Bisbee Mountain fire.
Idaho Panhandle National Forests have closed a portion of Stateline Road 430 because of the Ulm Peak fire, and the Kootenai forest has closed several roads and trails on the Montana side of the fire.
Priest Lake-area fires have prompted closure of Navigation Campground on Upper Priest Lake well as nine trails in the nearby area and Salmo-Priest Wilderness.
The Mallard-Larkins region south of the St. Joe River is affected by the relatively small Collins Tooth fire, prompting more temporary road and trail closures.
Forest Road 395 is closed at Table Camp Trailhead, along with Trails 11, 109 and 110, plus the lookouts at Surveyors Ridge and Mallard Peak.
The Pasayten Wilderness, covering 529,000 acres in north-central Washington, has been completely closed to the public. The Tripod fire has expanded to more than 170,000 acres in the Methow Valley region and the Tatoosh fire is burning on the west side of the wilderness.
Fires in central Washington also are affecting access to the Glacier Peak and Lake Chelan-Sawtooth wilderness areas, as well as the Chelan National Recreation Area.
Clearwater and Nez Perce national forest fires are causing road and trail closures near Elk City (Meadow fire) and Powell (Rabbit fire) as well as a small area along the Lochsa River and in Hells Canyon Wilderness. The southwestern third of the Gospel Hump Wilderness has been closed by the Heaven’s Gate complex fires.