Oregon Is On Fire

[Togwotee]

I'm a life long eastern OR resident and I've never seen anything like this. hundreds of thousands of acres burnt and no end in sight.

there are many ramifications but since this is a hunting site let me say this, in many units you better rethink your plans because your area might be gone. and possibly worse much of the ground already burnt is wintering grounds and this winter could be catastrophic .

I'm as worried as I've ever been about fire damage. this is awful.

 

[CC11]

I hear ya. Lived in LG my whole life and fought fires for the Forest Service for 7 years. Crazy how the fires are ripping through everything right now, maybe in late August but by that thinking we still have a month before it hits peak fire danger. This is the type of year that the watershed goes up and the only chance will be to catch it at the roads...

 

[callsalot]

I'm also a lifelong Oregonian in the central part of the state. I was hoping with the better moisture year and reservoirs final full it would be a better year but obviously I was wrong. I guess double the amount of people compared to when I grew up here and you get double the fires.

 

[Firedad]

It’s a busy year up there for sure. 427,906 acres burned so far this year, 1573 fires. The areas I hunted up there had burned a few years ago.

 

[CC11]

I'm also a lifelong Oregonian in the central part of the state. I was hoping with the better moisture year and reservoirs final full it would be a better year but obviously I was wrong. I guess double the amount of people compared to when I grew up here and you get double the fires.

Tough thing about wet springs is it grows the underbrush and grass then when we stop getting moisture and it heats up quick it cures out and we end up with that much more fuel load. That and in certain areas the fuel load from no logging, thinning or prescribed burns we've just been setting up for big fire events.

 

[gundog2]

It’s a busy year up there for sure. 427,906 acres burned so far this year, 1573 fires. The areas I hunted up there had burned a few years ago.

The National Interagency Fire Center reports 791,653 acres burned in Oregon with seven new fires and zero fires contained. That is more than the nine other listed states combined. That sounds bad, especially this early in the season.

 

[Bluehair]

Good luck up there. Besides the tangible losses, all of these fires have impacts that roar thru the western insurance markets as well. The vultures follow every time.

 

[LIK2HNT]

From this morning. New fires constantly popping up.

 

[Nilguhm]

It is crazy out there. I just drove back from Boise on 84 between closures. Fire close to the freeway on both sides. Unbelievable.

 

[Murphy]

The Timber Canyon fire came almost to my property line Tuesday. I fought it with a backpack sprayer but couldn't keep up, just too steep and rocky. I made progress in the grass but for the sage I would have to move on then try to come back when they burned down. A helicopter showed up with a water basket and dipped water out of an irrigation dam on our place. Great pilot, he put it out before it hit the canyon bottom. If it hit the bottom we would have evacuated. Now the Badlands fire is coming up from the SW. 2800 recorded lightning strikes in SE Oregon and SW Idaho yesterday.

 

[LIK2HNT]

The Timber Canyon fire came almost to my property line Tuesday. I fought it with a backpack sprayer but couldn't keep up, just too steep and rocky. I made progress in the grass but for the sage I would have to move on then try to come back when they burned down. A helicopter showed up with a water basket and dipped water out of an irrigation dam on our place. Great pilot, he put it out before it hit the canyon bottom. If it hit the bottom we would have evacuated. Now the Badlands fire is coming up from the SW. 2800 recorded lightning strikes in SE Oregon and SW Idaho yesterday.

Be safe. Sounds like you can not get a break.

 

[Murphy]

Be safe. Sounds like you can not get a break.

We're packed and ready to go if need be. Just a lot of tension.

 

[Togwotee]

Talked to a guy from Condon today that said they lost 250 head in the first days of the Lonerock fire. makes you wonder how many deer and elk are going to be lost, the fawns aren't big enough to cover the miles they may have to. the Durkee and Cow fires combined to over 400,000 acres, that's an insane size area. the Heppner unit is on track for a near total wipe out.

And what does survive will be pushed into a smaller area where hunters will congregate . some units should have season cancelled but OFW never will. then comes winter.

Now we have a fire blowing up in the Ochoco unit. no good news in sight , and it's not even August yet.

 

[Murphy]

Another ranch lost 150 pair in Rye Valley from the Durkee fire. My neighbor had 400 up Timber Canyon. Don't know yet how they fared. Some came down to the Powder River out of it. The mule deer just can't catch a break, fewer and fewer every year.

 

[callsalot]

The Timber Canyon fire came almost to my property line Tuesday. I fought it with a backpack sprayer but couldn't keep up, just too steep and rocky. I made progress in the grass but for the sage I would have to move on then try to come back when they burned down. A helicopter showed up with a water basket and dipped water out of an irrigation dam on our place. Great pilot, he put it out before it hit the canyon bottom. If it hit the bottom we would have evacuated. Now the Badlands fire is coming up from the SW. 2800 recorded lightning strikes in SE Oregon and SW Idaho yesterday.

Wow, stay safe!! That's to close for comfort.

 

[kickerbuck]

There is one silver lining. If and I mean IF any deer survive all these fires the habitat will be lush and nutritious at least in the mountain areas in three or four years. The problem is like already stated there was no deer to lose or spare.

I suppose we will have a 2016 or 2023 winter this year as well and that should just about extinct Mule Deer in some areas and units unfortunately. Praying for rain and some sort of green up in September and October before winter sets in!

 

[Firedad]

We just sent an engine to the hole in the ground fire near Jordon Valley

 

[jims]

My guess is that some of these wildfires in central and eastern Oregon are fueled by cheatgrass and other annual invasive grass species? If so, it will only get worse in future years if the fine fuels aren’t eliminated.

My guess is that desirable native browse species are being eliminated in some of these high intensity wildfires. Mule deer and other critters that rely on these species for food and cover are the real losers in this battle.

 

[huntindad4]

Fire is a huge boost in SOME deer and elk habitat. It's a terrible disaster in others.

Fire at this level and amount is bound to do a lot of damage to an already hurting deer and elk population.

 

[Firedad]

My guess is that some of these wildfires in central and eastern Oregon are fueled by cheatgrass and other annual invasive grass species?

Unfortunately you’re right

Fire is a huge boost in SOME deer and elk habitat. It's a terrible disaster in others.

Fire at this level and amount is bound to do a lot of damage to an already hurting deer and elk population.

Before the days of fire suppression fires would burn mostly at lower intensity and in mosaic patterns with native plants and grasses returning that benefit wildlife. Back then there were fewer homes and values at risk and less of an wildland urban interface. Some areas had a history of fire re-entry more than others. Those areas with less natural fire would burn hotter because of the excess fuel loading so stand replacement fires are not new. The difference is that as time went on there became a huge urban interface and we suppressed fires, poorly managed the land and put out the message that fire was bad. Prescribed fire along with thinning of fuels, being the best way to fix the problem is complicated by a fear of seeing fire on the landscape (good or bad) and values at risk scattered throughout the forests and rangelands. So now we get catastrophic stand replacement fires that are replaced with cheatgrass.