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Smokejumper, Issue No. 76, April 2012 ISSN 1532-6160 in the Forest Service

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Smokejumper, Issue No. 76, April 2012 ISSN 1532-6160 in the Forest Service The Evolution of Smokejumper Equipment .................................. 16 Fire Jump Leader Retires ............................................................... 19 Operation Bolo/MiG-21 Shot Down ............................................. 21 Contents Message from Message from the President ....................................2 Membership Corner ...............................................3 1949—Gates of the Mountain or Mann Gulch? .......4 the President ’46 Jumpers Spotlight Beck—Sort of— in Magazine Prank ...........................................7 Blast from the Past..................................................9 fire management. Airborne Eradication Effort Kills Johnson Flying Service Pilot When Engine Fails........................9 Smokejumper aircraft are Abandoned .............................................................9 aging and in short supply. The The Jump List .......................................................11 Forest Service is looking at The “Country Club” that Never Was, and the Bliss of Springtime in the Wilderness .......13 eliminating the DC-3 in Mis- Midair—A Bad Place for Lines to Tangle ..............15 soula and McCall because of the Evolution of the Smokejumper Parachutes and cost of operation. The Forest Related Gear ..................................................16 After Almost 400 Fire Jumps, Wasser Hangs Up Service owns eight smokejumper His Parachute ................................................19 aircraft. Scrapping two large, Sounding Off from the Editor ................................20 airworthy aircraft without Operation Bolo: Smokejumper Shoots Down finding suitable replacements MiG-21 ..........................................................21 Glacier National Park—Two Medicine Lake .........28 by John Twiss seriously degrades the effective- First-Ever Trail Project in Eastern U.S. (Redmond ’67) ness of smokejumpers and thus a Big Success .................................................29 the agencies firefighting capa- The View from Outside the Fence ..........................31 President Bob Hilbun and the Hard-To-Find Cow Camp .......32 bilities. Smokejumpers are still Judge for Yourself: Courson Has Enjoyed As I rotate out of the President’s one of the quickest initial attack a Fabulous Ride .............................................33 position and turn the job over to resources in the Bureau of Land Andersen Was One Mentally Tough Jumper ...........34 Carl Rosselli: a Friend, and a Hardworking outstanding board member Jim Management and Forest Service, Smokejumper ................................................36 Cherry (MSO-57), I would like and 400 is the bare minimum Carl Rosselli: Older, and Quite a Bit Wiser ............37 to leave you with some thoughts needed today. Off the List ............................................................38 1971 Missoula Rookies Fete 40th Anniversary ......40 for the future. Drought and insect infes- Odds and Ends .....................................................41 The Forest Service and tations have left our western Thank You, Donors ..............................................42 Bureau of Land Management forests in poor condition. The (BLM) are facing budget cuts fuel loading is very heavy. Many and will look closely at the future fires will be large and smokejumper program and its catastrophic. It will be even cost effectiveness. I support this more important to attack fires review, however, the smoke- quickly with a high level of skill. jumper program does not cur- Smokejumpers will likely attack rently enjoy high-level support more fires in the urban interface Smokejumper, Issue No. 76, April 2012 ISSN 1532-6160 in the Forest Service. There are and, because of the shortage of Smokejumper is published quarterly by: fewer smokejumpers attaining skilled fire personnel, will serve The National Smokejumper Association high-level positions within the on lead fire teams and fire moni- c/o 10 Judy Lane agencies and thus fewer who can toring assignments. Chico, CA 95926 explain the skills and capabilities Firefighting costs are high and The opinions of the writers are their own and do of smokejumpers. will be scrutinized closely. Fire not necessarily reflect those of the NSA. Permis- There are roughly 400 camps, equipment and logistical sion to reproduce Smokejumper in any manner must first be obtained in writing. smokejumpers in the United support on large fires have grown NSA Web site: http://www.smokejumpers.com States. A steady yet reduced tremendously and there is still Managing Editor: Chuck Sheley number from earlier years. Many little incentive to cut costs. There Associate Editor: Ed Booth backcountry and wilderness fires is a shortage of skilled firefight- Editing: K. G. Sheley previously attacked by smoke- ers who can go out on a large Photo Editor: Johnny Kirkley jumpers are allowed to burn for fire today and safely put the fire Illustrators: Dan Veenendaal, and Eric Rajala ecosystem improvement and cost out, thus fires linger on and costs Printing: Larry S. Jackson, Heidelberg Graphics, www.HeidelbergGraphics.com reasons. Smokejumpers, while continue to rise. Smokejumpers Cover photo: Walt Wasser (Courtesy Mike still attacking backcountry fires, and Hotshot crews will be in even McMillan) are assuming different roles in greater demand on these fires. Check the NSA website 2 www.smokejumpers.com The Forest Service and BLM will need to look se- and eliminated. Proper preplanning is a must. riously at how and why fires escape initial attack and Forest Service and BLM leaders today do not have thus become costly mega-fires. There is no national the fire management background of their predecessors. review process. There has been a reluctance to do They came up in a system where fire was very special- this because of the decentralized nature of deciding ized and not a part of most employees’ background. when and how a fire is initially attacked. Fires are These leaders will face many difficult staffing and fire often attacked on the cheap or with local resources. decisions. Fires will threaten life and property and de- Inexperienced employees with little national guid- cisions will have great impact. They will need training ance often make multi-million dollar dispatch deci- and help. sions. The closest forces concept and ordering the It is important that you and I stay updated and right firefighting resource are often out of consider- lend guidance to the agencies. We need to be ready ation. Dispatching cannot be timid, nor slow, and to get involved and lend our skills and input on the inter-agency/local turf battles must be discovered level of skills and readiness we want on our forests and grasslands and how we expect the agencies to perform. That is part of our National Smokejumper Associa- tion Mission. Smokejumpers are multi-functional and NSA Members—Save provide tremendous value for the cost. Their skills will be needed more than ever. This Information It has been an honor serving as your president. Be- Please contact the following persons direct- coming a smokejumper was, and still is, the proudest ly if you have business or questions: accomplishment of my life. I was trained and sup- Smokejumper magazine ported by the best, my role models have been smoke- Articles, obits, change of address jumpers, and I am happy that the bonds between Chuck Sheley 530-893-0436 smokejumpers are lifelong and irreversible! My best [email protected] to you. 10 Judy Ln. Chico, CA 95926 Membership John McDaniel 785-668-2093 [email protected] P.O. Box 105 MeMbership Falun, KS 67442-0105 Corner Historical items John McDaniel (CJ-57) Photos, letters, documents NSA Membership Chairman Larry Longley 360-654-1720 hen you order smokejumper items ON [email protected] THE WEB, you are asked to set up an 16430 Marine Dr. W account. The account is your email address and Stanwood, WA 98292 the PASSWORD IS THE ONE YOU USE ALL All else OF THE TIME. NSA President Better to pay by check. Jim Cherry 641-927-4428 Frequently, we are asked to verify member- [email protected] ship data. The best way to acknowledge this is 2335 300th St. via email. Unfortunately, a large percentage of Ventura, IA 50482-8502 members’ email addresses on file are incorrect. If you want to receive needed info, send the correct address to J. McDaniel at jumpercj57@hotmail. Smokejumper base abbreviations: Anchorage .......... ANC Grangeville ........ GAC Redding .............RDD com OR update your info on the website. Click Boise ................. NIFC Idaho City .......... IDC Redmond ............RAC on “Update Jumplist Form” on the right side of Cave Junction ........ CJ La Grande .......... LGD West Yellowstone WYS the Home Page. Fairbanks ............ FBX McCall ...............MYC Whitehorse Yukon YXY Fort St. John ........ YXJ Missoula ............MSO Winthrop ......... NCSB Check the NSA website 3 www.smokejumpers.com 1949 – Gates Of The Mountain Or Mann Gulch? by George B. Harpole (Missoula ’49) he spring of 1949 was a good spring for the on Squaw Peak Mountain. Skip Stratton was our spotter. grassy meadows in the Idaho and Montana for- Arriving at the jump site, we could see a wisp of Tests. The meadows and slopes produced thick smoke rising vertically. Great! This meant no wind, and covers of grasses and wildflowers from the abundance of our forward movement, when coming in for a landing, rain – until the summer heat and dryness of July dried would only be from the air jettisoning from the two slots the forest openings into
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