Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Forest Fire August 26, 2022

This fire is burning locally here in Southern Oregon.... it is about 8 miles or so near my place... even closer to Fireball 2's place.
it was one of about 20 plus forest fires started by lightning strikes a week a go or so...

it is in steep terrain, along the Rogue River.. too steep to get firefighters in there... there has already been one life taken among the Forest Fighters when a tree fell on him earlier this week.

Every year we have to put up with this crap, courtesy of the the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management "

[video:vimeo]https://kobi5.com/news/rum-creek-fire-grows-to-over-1200-acres-194416/[/video]procedures"....


[img]https://kobi5.com/news/rum-creek-fire-grows-to-over-1200-acres-194416/[/img]

I hope it doesn’t interfere with any illegal marijuana grow.

You got BLM down there on the west side? Figured it was all USFS.

Uhh....you have to deal with drought and lightning because of the Feds?

Fingers crossed for cool temps and early rain.

Seafire, two things. Saw you called I was up to my neck in it at the moment and got a new phone so if you left a message be patient, or come on over.

Second, a contractor friend has a brother in law works for ODF, Oregon Dept of Forestry. According to my buddy, his brother in law said the feds came in and took over the fire and are letting it burn because "there are no homes" in the area. Also I guess the same guy is disgusted and said it's all about funding. Not sure how that all works or if it's true, but that's my contribution to the thread.

Since the withdrawal of logging in most of the state, mandated by state and feceral law. Under story fuel is at elvated levels. I'm assuming thats why the comment, about the state and feds. No logging means no equipment from loggers to help suppress the fires. The feds and state want control. There is big money in fighting forest fires, and the state and feds, want control of the piggy bank. Can't line your and your friends pockets if you can't, adjust the books. The figures don't lie, but liars figure! Thats part of the golden rule, those with the gold rule.

Lots of BLM acres in southern Oregon and most of it is in a section by section checkerboard pattern with private land owners. This came about in the mid 1800s when these alternating sections were given to the Oregon and California railroad to facilitate the construction of - a railroad. Which never happened. The land reverted to the counties and they put it in trust with BLM. The counties and BLM are in litigation over that. BLM has an agreement with the state for the state to provide most fire suppression for BLM lands. Because of this, we have less problems with BLM. We have lots of problems with the USFS.

To add no logging means no maintained roads so access to fires is restricted greatly and much slowed down.

Not to worry, they grow in the valley, where it's easier to steal water. Might still be a few wets growing in the forest. Nowdays the holier than thou farmers rent land to the growers, and claim they didn't know what crop! Just lately are the authorities, fining and punishing farmers for their practices.. Saying I just leased, what they do is up to them! Doesn't work anymore. The state is on this like a duck on a june bug. They are losing revenue, and don't like thatl

This is a damn shame, the O&C Trust lands contain some of the most beautiful timber, cleanest water on the west coast. This Rum Creek fire will burn until the snow flies. Just a few years ago the Biscuit fire burned a half a million acres in the same Rogue watershed. Fire is good in a healthy forest, necessary even, but considering fuel loads, the weather this time of year, it is criminal to let a fire get away this early in the summer. Mid to late Sept, hell yes, let 'er burn and help it along...but now, fire so intense it will sterilize the soil, forest to brush for generations to come.

Thanks for the info.

Aww come on there Mr Conrad!

you're smarter than that Jimbo.

The feds don't cause that... they cause all the carnage afterwards by sitting on their asses and being bureaucrats for all the leftist democRats.

Ain't no different here or in Montana....same feds in both locations.

BTDT.

I fully expected my place to burn to the ground in 2017.

Stay safe amigo.

Same typical BS as every year Roy....the more Federal money they milk out of the whole mess, the more they will get next year...
Corruption never ending. I could have told ya that...I've covered Federal Accounts and the Forest Service and BLM for a total of 12 plus years with fortune 250 company... local upper level managers knew me on a first name basis...from Roseburg south to Redding.

The state put out the lightning strike over here on Granite Hill within 48 hours...and it was no bigger than the first down at Graves Creek Bridge when it started... that was 2 weeks ago now...

Thanks Sal!

Flint,

Rum Creek fire is on real steep terrain.... 45 degree angle or worse... they can't fight it right now with ground personnel...they already lost one guy when a tree fell on him...a week and a half ago... I went thru the Biscuit fire in 04. for those back east.... that burned an area the size of the state of Connecticut here in Southern Oregon....back east and midwest folks have NO clue of what we put up with out here... up until 1980, The Forest Service had a lot attention paid to their job....

Have you been up to Happy Camp and seen what the fires did a couple of seasons ago, north of them? Ya get on a mountain top over there, and for a 50 plus mile radius, there isn't ONE healthy tree growing anywhere.... just mountains covered with what looks like burnt match sticks...

yup that is the heroes with the Forest Circus...that the tax payers shell out money for them to destroy our national forests...

I understand, my son and I drove across the local fire that happened here last year, 200,000 acres, it took us 2 hours to travel one end to the other in the bush roads we have here.

My heart and prayers are truly with you.

All things considered, we've been pretty lucky there hasn't been more fires this year. Hoping we can get through the next couple of months. I went to Diamond Lake this morning and the drive up is a stark reminder of the damage a fire can cause.

Fingers crossed for you folks. My boys and I were up in OR last summer, getting smoked out, or just being utterly dismayed at the North Umpqua destruction from a few years back.