2017 Spring Rendezvous Final

Te Rendezvous Spring 2017 The Rendezvous The Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Forest Service Association R o s Volume 4 - Number 2 R c r o k e n ck y e io y M n iat ou M ai oc nta ount Ass in Forest Service A Geographic Glimpse at Forest Fires and the Forest Service In this Issue by Tom Thompson 5 Hail Yes! As another fire season begins to unfold, it is a timely opportunity to 7 reflect on what has changed and what has not changed over the last Who Dat? century in our understanding and approach to wildfire. Much has been 8 and continues to be written about the science, impacts, understanding, Scholarship consequences, and costs of wildland fire. Over fifty percent of every Winners dollar that the agency receives now goes to fire. This significant shift has 10 had a huge impact on all the other programs in the Forest Service. France Anyone? Multiple use management on all 193 million acres of land on the National Forests and Grasslands is being reduced as the agency has had to shift Mountaineer 11 emphasis to fire suppression. Every year millions of acres are burned. Meeting Every year it seems like an increasing number of communities NAFSR News 14 are impacted. Every year more and more watersheds are left in a What’s Funny? 16 deteriorated condition. Every year Wapiti 19 more and more acres are in need of reforestation and restoration. Every year more and more homes Memorial Grove 21 are destroyed in what has become a normal expectation. Only in the Remembrances 25 thick of the smoke and evacuations The Last Word 35 does it seem to capture our attention as a society. Certainly it doesn’t seem to be the “news” or the “story” that might have been at “The official newsletter of times over the course of the last the Rocky Mountain Forest hundred years or so. Service Association, National Geographic Magazine has the Rocky Mountaineers.” been published since 1888 and Editions are published Fall, every month there are stories of Winter, and Spring and interest about our country and the posted on-line. world. (continued on Page 2) Page 1 Te Rendezvous Spring 2017 (continued fom Page 1) Even though the focus of magazine in Volume 22, Number these writings is broad and 1. In a sense this writing frames far reaching, on occasion, and foretells what the focus National Geographic has would be for many years to chosen to delve into the come. The emphasis on fire issue of “forest fire” as the prevention and suppression national interest and became a cornerstone of the attention trended in that direction. We thought it might be appropriate to just reflect back and use a few National Geographic magazine references as importance of the subject, has, anchors to capture a few of the hitherto been accorded to it.” general themes over the last He wrote that “It is unfortunate century or so. that our acquaintance with what might almost be called the Even though much has been creative action of forest fire learned in the last century, should be so meager, for only Gifford Pinchot certainly through knowledge of this showed that he had a pretty relation and through the insight good understanding of forest which such knowledge brings fire when he was featured in the can there be gained a clear and Magazine in Volume 10, full conception of how and why Number 10 in October of 1899. fires do harm, and how best they may be prevented or extinguished…” This is the first agency’s existence. The images writing that of the devastation and began to frame destruction of the 1910 fires the challenges became the driving force for that continue to policies and programs to fight Pinchot wrote about “The dominate much of resource fire in whatever way you could. Relation of Forest and Forest management still today. With World War I, the Fires.” It is clear in reading this It was only ten years later that depression, the dust bowl, the piece that even at the end of the the huge fires of 1910 brought CCC days, and then World War 19th century, the importance of devastation to the forests and II, not much was written, at fire to forests needed to be communities in Washington, least in the National better understood. Pinchot Montana, and northern Idaho. Geographic, about forest fires acknowledged that “The study After that national catastrophe, even though from both a policy of forest fires as modifiers of the Secretary of Agriculture James and practices standpoint there composition and scale of life of Wilson wrote of the need to was significant attention the forest is yet at its earliest protect forests from fire in the devoted to the subject and the stages. Remarkable little January 1911 edition of the issue. attention, in view of the (continued on Page 3) Page 2 Te Rendezvous Spring 2017 (continued fom Page 2) in the country, especially the reduce the likelihood of west. It described what life lightning. was like and what the daily routines were in keeping a A 1968 issue entitled“Forest look out for fires on the Fire: The Devil’s Picnic” horizon. focused on the As the agency Northwest turned fifty fires in 1967 years old, the including the magazine Hoodoo Butte captured the and Sundance spirit and fires in Idaho, challenges of the and all the Forest Service in other fires in their article Oregon, “Our Green Washington, Treasury, the Idaho and After the war ended in 1945, National Montana. It National Geographic did Forests”. Fire mostly covered publish an article about the lookouts, all the aspects “Forest Lookout” in the July smokejumpers, of firefighting 1946 issue. This article mostly and Smokey and the painted a picture of the Bear were “ultramodern” methods by importance of fire lookouts symbols of the important place which the U.S. Forest Service across the forested landscapes fire had taken in the agency’s seeks to control wildfires with mission. There helicopters, smokejumpers, seemed to be a dozers, hotshots, back burns, fascination with new engines, and even had a photo ideas and the growing of an exploding fire tower on interest in Lookout Mountain in the technological solutions Wallowa-Whitman NF. to problems. It was suggested that a solution to forest fires was to reduce the occurrence of lighting by undertaking the seeding of clouds to (continued on Page 4) Page 3 Te Rendezvous Spring 2017 (continued fom Page 3) In July 2008 National the road back ninety years ago Geographic featured a close when the agency decided to look at what it was like on the aggressively put out all fires no fire line battling a raging fire in matter what or why. Or perhaps a piece called “Under Fire”. It there should have been a story tried to answer the question about the fire fatalities at Mann “Why the West was ablaze?” Gulch in 1949 or South Canyon and focus on why wildfires were in 1994. Certainly the features burning bigger, hotter, and and stories that National closer to home. It featured Geographic has published have dramatic photos, like the one raised the awareness of the issue below, taken by photographer and hopefully they will continue Mark Thiessen of fires and to delve into the natural firefighters. resources issues facing our nation. The magazine has done a great job of capturing the stories behind the scenes and the References: challenges faced in dealing with forest fires since Pinchot wrote Clark, Ella E., “Fire Lookout,” the first piece on the subject in National Geographic, July 1946 The article closed with the 1899. statement that "Through its Jeffery, David. “The Great prevention program the Forest Yellowstone Fires”, National Service strives constantly to Geographic, (February 1989), remind Americans that fighting 255-277 forest fires is a dirty, dangerous Johnston, Jay and Stuart E. Jones. business, sometimes exciting, "Forest Fire: The Devil's but always expensive - in dollars, Picnic," National lives and resources.” Geographic (July 1968), 100-127. With the fires in and around Kenney, Nathaniel T., “Our Yellowstone in 1988, fire was Green Treasury, the National center stage for weeks on the Forests,” National Geographic evening news. Never before (September 1956), 287-324. had the country been so exposed to everything that was Pinchot, Gifford. “The Relations happening with this major of Forests and Forest Fires,” National Geographic, (October complex of fires and firefighting 1899), 392-402 policies were questioned and debated with the public Shea, Neal, “Under Fire,” watching. Gary Cargill, then National Geographic, (July Regional Forester, explained the 2008), 116-43 challenge very well when he said The quality and timing of the “if you can’t explain your fire stories has been very good. One Wilson, James. “Protecting policy in 15 seconds, you don’t could argue that there perhaps our National Forests from have a fire policy.” should or could have been Fire”, National Geographic, stories written about the fork in (November 1911) Page 4 Te Rendezvous Spring 2017 All “Hail” the new Regional Ofce By Dana Coelho, RO Liaison to the Rocky Mountaineers A short two weeks after the Regional Office move and two days after a heart- warming Memorial Grove Honor Ceremony, our honeymoon at the Photos by Susan Alden new office location ended. May 8 brought strong wind, rain, and clementine-sized hail to the Regional Office and our neighbors in Golden and Lakewood. Though the building itself was unscathed, many trees and cars were damaged and RO External A employees are still working through insurance Lawrence Lujanff lendairs employeesa hand to careJace forRatzla a coworker’ff and claims, car repairs, and car replacements.

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