Invasive weed a fuel for West’s wildfires. By Patrick O’Driscoll, USA Today. This is a fine and an easy-to-understand article on the role cheatgrass plays in the range fires of today’s West. It wasn’t supposed to be this way — conservationists were to be held to blame for the fires and Larry Craig was to…
Idaho wildfires cost feds millions. Most homeowners haven’t taken steps to fireproof their homes, fire managers say. By Heath Druzin. Idaho Statesman
A fast moving fire burned into Frenchtown, MT. 200 homes were evacuated. The number that burned is not known yet. By Matt Gouras. Associated Press Writer Note that the Teton Pass area mentioned is not the pass leading into Jackson Hole, but the Teton Pass on the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana.
Updates on major Idaho fires. Idaho Statesman Seventeen fires and fire complexes are burning on more than 632,269 acres in Idaho, the National Interagency Fire Center said.
George Wuerthner recently wrote an important piece in New West on the need to plan for those who build on “the fire plain,” just like planning should be done for those on a flood plain. Land Use Planning Must Address Wildfire Plain. New West. George Wuerthner. post 1243
This in the New York Times addresses a growing question because fighting wildfires costs more and more, and most of the cost is to protect structures that have been built, often knowingly, in areas that are very prone to natural fires. The debate echos that of who should pay for flood damage when people knowingly…
Today it is 30 degrees colder than a couple days ago. It has rained widely in Idaho and western Montana. One to 2 inches fell on the massive Derby and Jungle fires south of Big Timber, MT. It is not supposed to warm up again except just a little and more showers are predicted. The…
Maybe posts on Aug. 25 made it sound like everything was going to burn up. So? Well, calm and cooler weather made the fires “lay down.” They are still there spreading slowly where their edges have not been contained. However, higher temperatures and strong winds are predicted 8/30 in advance of a cold front. It…
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.