SMOKEJUMPER, ISSUE NO. 47, APRIL 2005 I Say Thank You to Both of Them for ISSN 1532-6160 Pioneering the Way for the Rest of Us
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TheThe NationalNational SmokejumperSmokejumper QuarterlyQuarterly MagazineMagazine SmokejumperSmokejumperAssociationAssociation AprilApril 20052005 Inside This Issue: Smokejumpers to the Ravens Part II ..................................................... 15 Frank Odom Remembered .................................................................... 28 Tribute to Roy Wenger .......................................................................... 42 CONTENTS Message from Message from the President ......................... 2 Run Ins with Wildlife and Other Critters ...... 3 The Whiskey Bet .......................................... 4 the President Sounding Off from the Editor ....................... 6 The Forest Service—A Bureaucracy or a Ranch? ................................................... 7 large moneymaker; however he The View from Outside the Fence ................. 9 wants to back away from this, while Smokejumpers to the Ravens ....................... 9 still maintaining his position as A Home for Smokejumper Stories .............. 14 Odds and Ends ........................................... 15 editor of the magazine. So, if you are More on Willi Unsoeld ............................... 17 interested, please come forward. 4) Maryland Marine ....................................... 18 Lastly, find volunteers to spearhead Cascade Folly ............................................. 19 the next National Reunion in Boise McCall’s Class of 1958 ............................... 20 2007. If you have any interest in A Hurricane Story ...................................... 23 being a member of this team, give us Smokejumper Stew .................................... 24 Checking the Canopy .................................. 25 a call. The 2004 MSO committee Remembering Frank Odom ........................ 28 has kept quality records with Memories From The Start Of recommendations for the 2007 Smokejumping ..................................... 29 committee which should make it Items from the Fire Pack ........................... 30 by Doug Houston easier. Apocalypse Now-Fairbanks Edition ............ 31 It’s going to be a great year. So, Humor on the Yukon ................................. 32 (Redmond ’73) Off the List ................................................. 34 PRESIDENT until next time, Hook up, the door We ‘Doff Our Hats’ to Roy Emerson is yours. There is a 100 yards of Wenger ................................................ 35 HAPPY NEW YEAR. BY THE time you drift and the whole world is a jump Save The Jump Records ............................. 36 receive this magazine, we will be spot. Lights are on But Nobody’s Home .............. 37 three months into 2005. Hiring for Letters ....................................................... 38 new smokejumpers will have taken Touching All Bases ..................................... 39 Today Is A Good Day .................................. 43 place, trail projects for the upcom- Please Tell Us A Tribute to Our Pioneers—“Let ’er Buck” 44 ing NSA program will have been Jim Allen—Give Credit Where Credit is Due45 prioritized, and we will have topped When You “Get Everyone Out of the Aircraft” ............. 47 130 life members for the NSA. Not Blast from the Past ..................................... 48 bad for a 2005 start. During two Change days in January, I had the opportu- Address nity to visit both Earl Cooley and Fred Brauer at their homes. It was The postal service very educational at both places. Earl does NOT forward is now 93 and Fred 87. Both still are your copy of Smoke- very sharp and remember the events jumper when you move of their jumps a lot better than I do. or leave home for an SMOKEJUMPER, ISSUE NO. 47, APRIL 2005 I say thank you to both of them for ISSN 1532-6160 pioneering the way for the rest of us. extended time period. Smokejumper is published quarterly by: As for 2005, my goals as presi- It is returned to us and THE NATIONAL SMOKEJUMPER ASSOCIATION dent are: 1) Invest money assets, in the NSA is charged an C/O 10 JUDY LANE excess of minimum working capital CHICO, CA 95926 additional first class requirements, to provide income to The opinions of the writers are their own and postage fee. With 30– do not necessarily reflect those of the NSA. supplement other income sources for achieving the NSA mission. This is 40 returns per mailing NSA Web site: http://www.smokejumpers.com it gets expensive and Managing Editor: Chuck Sheley currently being evaluated, with Editing: Bill Fogarty, Emmy Haynes, Jill Leger, recommendations to come, by an takes a lot of time. K. G. Sheley, and Denis Symes Investment Committee of four Please let Chuck Illustrators: McElderry Books, Nick Holmes, board members. 2) Recruit and Sheley know if you Chris Demarest, Ken Morris, Dan encourage current and recent Veenendaal, and Eric Rajala smokejumpers to become NSA have any change in Printing: Heidelberg Graphics, Chico, CA members. 3) Find someone to take your mailing address. www.HeidelbergGraphics.com over the Merchandizing Director Contact information is Cover photo: Gene Hamner Laos 1971 (Cour- position. Chuck Sheley has done an on page three. tesy Gene Hamner) excellent job in establishing this as a Check the NSA Web site 2 www.smokejumpers.com Run-Ins with Wildlife and Other Critters by Denis Symes (McCall ’63) hen jumping into backcountry forest lands, you can run into all kinds of things, some fun and Wsome a surprise, some with fur and some with scales. Every jumper has stories of such run-ins; here are some of mine. On a 1963 fire-jump on the Council Ranger District of the Payette Forest, the landing spot was to have been a large meadow (about 400 yards long by 100 yards wide that fell off into a steep 75 foot-high slope of rocks and boulders). The fire was about a half-mile away, down the boulder- ridden slope, across a small clearing (about 30 yards across), and then up the side of the mountain. Running water had eroded the smaller clearing so that two deep creeks were 123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789NSA Members — Save 0 123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789This Information 0 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Please contact the following persons di- 0 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789rectly if you have business or questions: 0 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Smokejumper magazine and merchandise 0 12345678901234567890123456789Articles, obits, change of address, orders 0 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Chuck Sheley 530-893-0436 0 123456789012345678901234567890 [email protected] 0 123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678910 Judy Ln 0 12345678901234567890123456789Chico CA 95926 0 Denis Symes (Courtesy Denis Symes) 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Membership 0 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Fred Cooper 503-391-9144 0 123456789012345678901234567890 carved about 10 yards apart, forming an “island” with very [email protected] 0 steep sides. 123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567891445 Ranier Loop NW 0 The jump ship was a Beech C-45 that carried 4 jumpers 12345678901234567890123456789Salem OR 97304-2079 0 and the spotter (Ray Beasley, MYC-52), plus the pilot. 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789All else 0 Between the time of the streamer release and the jump time, 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Doug Houston 406-821-3450 0 the wind shifted dramatically, both in velocity and direction. 123456789012345678901234567890 I exited the plane, checked the canopy (we jumped FS-5A [email protected] 0 123456789012345678901234567890 chutes), and then started steering the chute to the large 12345678901234567890123456789NSA President 0 meadow. No matter how I steered or held into the wind, I 12345678901234567890123456789P.O. Box 29 0 123456789012345678901234567890 just kept backing up. I knew I was not going to make the 12345678901234567890123456789Sula, MT 59871 0 large meadow. The second choice was the small clearing that 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Trail project 0 lay below the large meadow. 123456789012345678901234567890 While descending toward the small clearing, I saw a cow 12345678901234567890123456789Jon McBride 406-728-2302 0 123456789012345678901234567890 elk grazing precisely where I wanted to land, clear of the [email protected] 0 123456789012345678901234567890 stream. To avoid landing on her and getting ridden out-of- town on an elk, I shouted, “Hey, get out of there.” She Smokejumper base abbreviations: Missoula ........... MSO visibly tensed and looked around to see who shouted. I Anchorage ......... ANC Grangeville ....... GAC Redding ............ RDD Boise ................ NIFC Idaho City ......... IDC Redmond ...........RAC shouted again, and then a third time – each time she rapidly Cave Junction ....... CJ La Grande ......... LGD West Yellowstone WYS looked around to spot the intruder, never looking up. Fairbanks ........... FBX McCall .............. MYC Winthrop ........ NCSB Finally, I turned right and aimed for the island. The “island” Check the NSA Web site 3 www.smokejumpers.com was about 20' by 30' in size, not too large,