Unit 21 (Elk) Burn

[pymulies]

The forest circus has decided to burn unit 21 (Elk) which is also unit 82 (Deer) in August. They are trying to get a handle on the beetle kill. So if anyone was thinking of being on the west side of Roaring Fork Creek, plan on lots of forest service people and a lot of fire. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the fire will get away from them and over the Continental Divide toward Encampment. They are also going to shut down camping in that area for the time period of the burn, which they are saying will be 3-5 days. Good luck with that one, there are huge amounts of dead pines and also huge amounts of dead standing aspen!

 

[usa]

pymulies, just found out about the proposed burn, its right where we hunt, the problem is that it can occur anywhere from aug 24th to oct 30. we can still day hunt but that means camping down by 3 forks and 4 wheeling for about 8 miles each morning.We're going to take our chances that the uncontrolled part of the burn will be contained before we go or won't happen until we're done.that area is so filled with dead brush that it's going to be a real job to not let it get out of control.

 

[pymulies]

Sent you a pm usa

py

 

[Duramax]

I heard today that the burn is scheduled for the 21st of Sept. A friend of mine spoke with the forest service and they stated a few weeks ago that the cattle and sheep had to be out by the 20th of Sept. I too have hunted this area for several years and can't believe they picked hunting season to do this. The area that will be closed is huge compared to the burn area. How they can say it's the 21st is beyond me...might just be a target date though. Right in the peak of the rut from my experience. I guess we should prepare for the worst and hope for the best case.

EW

 

[WyomingMan]

I've hunted this area for years and it does suck that the burn is during the rut. But it is the only time of year that is logical for them to do such a burn becuase it is very dry and there is a chance it could get out of control and they need to do this so close to the snowy season. There are a couple of advantages to this. It will consentrate the elk into a smaller area during the burn(so with the hunters) and also next year will be great in that area with all the new grass with high nutrient content. This area needs to be burned as the aspen population is critical in these areas and they are almost all dead at this time.

 

[usa]

Yeah, I figured it would be near the end of sept because theres a stormfront moving in about the 24th and the bioligist said they wouldn't torch until there was a good chance of rain to put it out. they also sent me a map showing the burn area and the acceptable burn area is quite large going all the way to the stocktrail

 

[usa]

My buddy spoke to the F/S lady that's actually in charge of the burn and she catagoriclly denied that a tenative burn date has been set and she said she's unaware of any notice to remove sheep and cattle. She said they need a freeze to get the leaves off the aspens and then an impending snowstorm to douse the fire. She said they prefer snow to rain because it's more effective.the burn will probably not take place until oct if at all, she asked us to call her office and let her know about where we will be camped.