North Fork escapes fire season, again

As I write this on Friday, we are moving into the last weekend of summer. By the time the paper comes out, it will be the first day of fall. Cool damp weather the last week plus the time of year causes me to believe the fire season is virtually over. Sure, we could still have wildfires but it is unlikely we will have any large stand replacement fires. Apparently, the North Fork has dodged the bullet - again.

Of course, nearly 60 percent of the North Fork has burned since 1988, so we don't have the risk we had in 1988. The advantages of the past fires are somewhat reduced by the fact that the U.S. Forest Service was not very aggressive about salvaging dead trees for lumber or even firewood.

As a result, our biggest fire this summer was the Glacier Rim Fire, which started, and spread from dead wood left by the Robert Fire of 2003. As fire-killed trees from recent fires are blown over or just fall down, the danger of fire will increase.

Also a factor this summer was the fact that Glacier View District of the USFS did an excellent job of initial attack on the fires that did start - either by lightning or human causes.

These two examples are an excellent scenario in what I think is wrong with the USFS. Local USFS folks are devoted, hardworking employees as evidenced by their plans to quickly respond to any fire start not only on Glacier View District but the whole forest. They are limited only by the resources allocated by folks far removed from the Flathead Forest. Same thing with salvage after a fire. Even firewood policies are set at a level way above the Flathead Forest. If the Forest Service supervisor and district rangers were given more power to manage the forest, we would all be better off. Much better off than turning the forest over to the State of Montana to manage.

There is a possibility that the PBS program, "Backroads of Montana" will film a segment on Trail Creek this fall. The proposed show would feature the Kutenai Indian Trail from the Tobacco Plains to the North Fork. This Trail was used for at least 3,000 years and perhaps as long as 8,000 years as the Kutenai traveled to the Plains to hunt bison. They stopped using the trail when the tribe was confined to reservations in Canada and the U.S. It is, however, a part of their heritage and most locals would appreciate knowing more about it. It is amazing that portions of the trail remain visible today, evidence that it was used by hundreds of horses at a time. I hope the program is filmed. Trail Creek Road is certainly one of the true backroads of Montana. Even the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has mentioned "remote" Trail Creek.

I hope everyone supports the benefit for former North Fork resident, Debby Cowley. It will be held at the Montana Veterans Chapel in Columbia Falls Sept. 27 from 4 to 6 p.m.