The Fire of 1910

[JohnFitzgerald]

http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Pol ... Fires.aspx

[Swede]

Interesting article John. There were some monster fires in the early 20th century in the northwest.
Fire management had changed a lot since I started with the Forest Service in the late 1960s. Both prescribed burning, and wildfire suppression have seen major rethinking. The ecologists I listened to, are predicting that the Blue Mountains of Oregon and Washington will all burn over within the next 40 years. The fuels are steadily building up. There are 300,000 acres of dense standing saw timber on the Malheur N.F. alone, that was non-forest at the start of the 20th century. Much of the Forest is much denser that it was even when I first hunted it as a kid. The fuel loads in the area I hunt are extreme. As a matter to note, there were almost no elk on the land that is the Emigrant Creek Ranger District where I hunt, through the 1960s. Now it is considered one of the better areas for elk in Oregon.