2015 winter spring newsletter copy - WordPress.com · 2015-03-04 ·...

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WINTER -EARLY SPRING 2015 PAGE 1 Northern Rocky Mountain Retiree Association Newsletter 2015 Dues In order to keep receiving the newsle3er, it is 5me to pay your $10.00 dues for 2015. You do not need to pay dues if you are a life member. Please use the form on the last page of the newsle3er to submit your dues. Dona5ons are always welcome. We had a few new members in 2014 but would welcome more. Remember, we meet for lunch on the first Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at Jakers. For the past several months we have been joined by a person from the Regional Office who has brought us up to date on various Forest Service issues. This has been greatly welcomed and very informa5ve. We look forward to this link with the Regional Office con5nuing into the future. Remember: The FS Re5rees Reunion is coming up in October in Albuquerque. Visit their website for further informa5on on the reunion and registra5on informa5on: www. 2015.fsreunions.org DC3/BT67 Le3er to Missoulian Please click this link to see the ar5cle Barry is responding to: h3p:// missoulian.com/news/local/firstflightofthefinalyearsmokejumpers lastdc/ar5cle_d7c4bf60a5a95045b6ac116201cefc03.html Rob, nice ar5cle although it would have been more accurate had it been wri3en in 1990 when the originally designed and used DC3 was actually re5red. The pictures of 115Z (or jump 15) in the ar5cle are actually a BT67 rather than a DC3. 115Z came out of remanufacture in 1991 from Basler Turbo Conversions LLC, a Wisconsin company, as a BT67. The Basler Company made modifica5ons to the Douglas DC3 airframe designed to significantly improve the DC3's serviceable life5me. Total flight 5me since remanufacture of 115Z is 5800 hours, which is rela5vely low flight 5me. Basler has remanufactured 65 BT67’s to date and 30 of them have been for government agencies including N707BA a US State Department aircrag. It would be poli5cally untenable to declare the aircrag not airworthy given that the Department of State and the Air Force along with the Military Air Forces of eight other countries are currently opera5ng BT67’s. This makes it very important for the Forest Service to clearly state “why” they have chosen to re5re this aircrag. The BT67 is American made. Using performance as the basis, It is the safest and has the most capacity (16 smokejumpers) of any aircrag in the system. The capacity allows for the ability to put a Type 3 organiza5on on a rapidly emerging fire in the shortest amount of 5me. During this period when fires are larger this relates to improved safety for firefighters. It is the best, most economical smokejumper aircrag in service today. A bigger ques5on is: Has Forest Service Fire & Avia5on management applied pressure to current knowledgeable employees to not share this same public informa5on? If so, is that a good situa5on for an agency that touts its “safety of fire fighters” as a number one priority? Barry Hicks, Re5red Regional Avia5on Officer, Forest Service

Transcript of 2015 winter spring newsletter copy - WordPress.com · 2015-03-04 ·...

Page 1: 2015 winter spring newsletter copy - WordPress.com · 2015-03-04 · modificaons#to#the#Douglas#DCW3#airframe# designed#to#significantly# improve#the#DCW3's#serviceable#life5me.#

! WINTER-EARLY SPRING 2015

! PAGE 1

Northern Rocky Mountain Retiree Association Newsletter

2015  Dues

In  order  to  keep  receiving  the  newsle3er,  it  is  5me  to  pay  your  $10.00  dues  for  2015.    You  do  not  need  to  pay  dues  if  you  are  a  life  member.    Please  use  the  form  on  the  last  page  of  the  newsle3er  to  submit  your  dues.    Dona5ons  are  always  welcome.

We  had  a  few  new  members  in  2014  but  would  welcome  more.    Remember,  we  meet  for  lunch  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  each  month  at  11:30  a.m.  at  Jakers.

For  the  past  several  months  we  have  been  joined  by  a  person  from  the  Regional  Office  who  has  brought  us  up  to  date  on  various  Forest  Service  issues.    This  has  been  greatly  welcomed  and  very  informa5ve.    We  look  forward  to  this  link  with  the  Regional  Office  con5nuing  into  the  future.

Remember:    The  FS  Re5rees  Reunion  is  coming  up  in  October  in  Albuquerque.    Visit  their  website  for  further  informa5on  on  the  reunion  and  registra5on  informa5on:

www.2015.fsreunions.org

DC3/BT-­‐67  -­‐-­‐  Le3er  to  Missoulian

Please  click  this  link  to  see  the  ar5cle  Barry  is  responding  to:    h3p://missoulian.com/news/local/first-­‐flight-­‐of-­‐the-­‐final-­‐year-­‐smokejumpers-­‐last-­‐dc-­‐/ar5cle_d7c4bf60-­‐a5a9-­‐5045-­‐b6ac-­‐116201cefc03.html

Rob,  nice  ar5cle  although  it  would  have  been  more  accurate  had  it  been  wri3en  in  1990  when  the  originally  designed  and  used  DC-­‐3  was  actually  re5red.    The  pictures  of  115Z  (or  jump  15)  in  the  ar5cle  are  actually  a  BT-­‐67  rather  than  a  DC-­‐3.      

115Z  came  out  of  remanufacture  in  1991  from  Basler  Turbo  Conversions  LLC,  a  Wisconsin  company,  as  a  BT-­‐67.    The  Basler  Company  made  modifica5ons  to  the  Douglas  DC-­‐3  airframe  designed  to  significantly  improve  the  DC-­‐3's  serviceable  life5me.  

Total  flight  5me  since  remanufacture  of  115Z  is  5800  hours,  which  is  rela5vely  low  flight  5me.  Basler  has  remanufactured  65  BT-­‐67’s  to  date  and  30  of  them  have  been  for  government  agencies  including  N707BA  a  US  State  Department  aircrag.      It  would  be  poli5cally  untenable  to  declare  the  aircrag  not  airworthy  given  that  the  Department  of  State  and  the  Air  Force  along  with  the  Military  Air  Forces  of  eight  other  countries  are  currently  opera5ng  BT-­‐67’s.    This  makes  it  very  important  for  the  Forest  Service  to  clearly  state  “why”  they  have  chosen  to  re5re  this  aircrag.        The  BT-­‐67  is  American  made.    Using  performance  as  the  basis,  It  is  the  safest  and  has  the  most  capacity  (16  smokejumpers)  of  any  aircrag  in  the  system.    The  capacity  allows  for  the  ability  to  put  a  Type  3  organiza5on  on  a  rapidly  emerging  fire  in  the  shortest  amount  of  5me.    During  this  period  when  fires  are  larger  this  relates  to  improved  safety  for  firefighters.    It  is  the  best,  most  economical  smokejumper  aircrag  in  service  today.    

A  bigger  ques5on  is:  Has  Forest  Service  Fire  &  Avia5on  management  applied  pressure  to  current  knowledgeable  employees  to  not  share  this  same  public  informa5on?    If  so,  is  that  a  good  situa5on  for  an  agency  that  touts  its  “safety  of  fire  fighters”  as  a  number  one  priority?  

Barry  Hicks,    Re5red  Regional  Avia5on  Officer,  Forest  Service  

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! WINTER-EARLY SPRING 2015

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A  LONG  STRING  (Jack  Pucke@)

This  story  happened  in  the  early  fall  of  1960  on  the  Powell  District  which  at  that  5me  was  on  the  Lolo  NF.  It  was  a  fall    that  was  dry  late  in  September.  The  back  country  was  open  to  hun5ng  and  wouldn’t  you  know  it  a  fire  broke  out  south  of  Bear  Mountain  Lookout.    It  was  discovered  late  in  the  evening  so  the  district  had  all  night  to  get  organized.    At  that  5me  highway  12  ended  at  the  Warm  Springs  pack  bridge  and  by  morning  crews  were  on  the  way  and  a  helicopter  was  on  hand  to  ferry  them  to  Bear  Mountain  lookout  and  to  hike  into  the  fire  from  there.    The  pack  strings  were  brought  down  from  Powell  to  pack  in  the  fire  camp  and  supplies.    One  of  the  packers  was  on  leave  and  couldn’t  be  reached.

On  that  par5cular  day  the  Forest  Supervisor  (Ross  Leavi3)  and  a  man  from  the  Washington  office  came  over  to  see  what  was  going  on  with  the  fire.  Everything  was  sort  of  congregated  at  the  end  of  the  road.  The  helicopter  was  ferrying  men  and  the  supply  truck  arrived  with  the  50  man  camp.    The  packer  and  the  truck  driver  unloaded  the  supplies  and  the  truck  driver  leg.    There  is  a  mountain  of  supplies,  two  pack  strings,  and  one  packer-­‐-­‐Don  Heslip.    The  man  from  the  Washington  office  asked  the  supervisor.  “Doesn’t  he  need  any  help?”  The  supervisor  said  “he  doesn’t  want  any”.    And  so  they  watched  while  the  packer  loaded  both  strings  of  mules  (18),  pick  up  his  lead  rope  swing  on  his  horse  and  head  up  the  trail  and  not  look  back.  Them,  were  the  good  old  days.

Welcome  New  Members:

Vicky  Maclean  -­‐  Helena  NF  re5reeJim  Olivarez  -­‐  Regional  Office  re5reeGeorge  Weldon  -­‐  Regional  Office  re5ree

Fred  Cooper  is  showing  Barry  Hicks  the  first  crank  variety  mobile  phone.    Imagine  the  convenience  it  afforded  to  be  able  to  carry  it  to  the  field,  tap  into  a  phone  line  and  make  a  call  back  to  the  District.    If  you  used  a  phone  like  that,  did  you  ever  think  it  would  be  replaced  by  our  current,  very  small  cell  phones?

This  phone  will  become  part  of  the  network  of  old  phones  displayed  and  used  at  the  Yellowstone  Nature  Connec5on  in  West  Yellowstone,  Montana.

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! WINTER-EARLY SPRING 2015

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We  Remember

Roger  Allen  Ward,  73,  of  Kamiah,  Idaho,  passed  away  Friday,  Feb.  6,  2015,  at  St.  Joseph  Regional  Medical  Center  in  Lewiston,  Idaho.  He  died  as  a  result  of  an  ice  fishing  accident.    His  passion  for  fishing  began  at  a  young  age  and  had  a  desire  to  move  west.  He  wanted  to  be  near  the  mountains  and  forests.  AVer  graduaWng  from  Kokomo  High  School  (Indiana)  in  1959  he  went  on  to  Purdue.  He  graduated  college  with  a  degree  in  forestry.  He  moved  to  Philipsburg,  Mont.,  and  worked  as  a  forester.  Roger’s  desire  to  serve  his  country  overrode  his  dreams  of  the  west.  He  joined  the  Navy  and  a@ended  NOCS.  Roger  served  his  country  as  lieutenant  on  the  U.S.S.  Bon  Homme  Richard  in  Vietnam.  Following  his  service,  Roger  returned  to  the  forest  that  he  dreamed  about.  He  went  to  Elk  City  as  a  forester  for  the  U.S.  Forest  Service.  Roger  was  transferred  to  Priest  Lake  where  the  fishing  was  much  be@er.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Society  of  American  Foresters  and  while  on  a  study  tour  with  them  he  was  able  to  tour  New  Zealand  and  Australia.  Roger  managed  to  conWnue  his  educaWon.  He  received  his  masters  in  sivilculture  from  the  University  of  Idaho.  Roger  transferred  to  the  Kamiah  office  where  the  Ward  family  made  Kamiah  their  home..  He  worked  at  the  Kamiah  office  for  several  years  before  transferring  to  the  Grangeville  office  where  he  reWred  in  1998.  

Judson  Napoleon  Moore,  93,  passed  away  Thursday,  Feb.  19,  2015,  at  Immanuel  Lutheran  Home  in  Kalispell.    Judson  was  born  in  Memphis,  Tennessee,  on  Jan.  18,  1922.  Judson  a3ended  grade  school  in  Tuscumbia,  Alabama,  Treadwell  Junior  High  School  in  Memphis  and  graduated  from  Central  High  in  Memphis  in  1940.  He  a3ended  Memphis  State  College  from  1940  to  1942.  He  enlisted  in  the  Army  Air  Corps  (which  later  became  the  U.S.  Air  Force)  in  1942  and  served  as  a  navigator/bombardier  in  the  8th  Air  Force,  401st  Bombardment  Group,  flying  in  a  B-­‐17,  sta5oned  in  England.  Following  the  War,  Judson  enrolled  in  the  journalism  school  at  the  University  of  Montana.    Judson  had  various  jobs  following  his  gradua5on  and  in  1962,  he  was  hired  by  the  U.S.  Forest  Service  in  Missoula  to  be  the  informa5on  officer.  He  con5nued  to  work  for  the  Forest  Service  in  Missoula  un5l  his  re5rement  in  1996.  Judson  also  served  in  the  Air  Force  Reserve  for  20  years,  re5ring  from  the  Air  Force  in  1982  as  a  major.

Ager  his  re5rement,  Judson  volunteered  extensively  at  numerous  chari5es  in  the  Missoula  area  including  Missoula  Food  Bank,  Missoula  Public  Library,  10  years  with  Miss  Cox's  fourth-­‐grade  class  at  Lewis  and  Clark  Grade  School  and  others.  Judson  also  kept  physically  ac5ve  in  his  re5rement,  running  in  many  road  races  in  the  Missoula  area  and  walking  the  family  dogs  un5l  all  their  dogs  had  gone  to  heaven.    Judson  was  a  quiet,  unassuming  Southern  gentleman.  He  was  a  faithful,  trustworthy,  ethical,  honest,  industrious  and  dependable  man.  He  was  a  man  of  sterling  character  and  ethics,  a  conscien5ous,  hard  worker.

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Heaven  welcomed  a  gentle  soul  on  Sunday,  Feb.  15,  2015,  when  Ormie  Walter  Nei,  77,  passed  away  peacefully  in  his  sleep.  He  was  residing  at  Surprise,  Arizona  at  the  5me.    Ormie  received  a  general  science  degree  from  the  University  of  Montana  in  1960.  Shortly  thereager  he  went  to  work  for  the  Department  of  Defense  as  an  ammuni5on  inspector.      Through  Ormi’s  career  with  the  DOD  and  Forest  Service  he  lived  in  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  New  Mexico,  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  California,  Montana  and  Arizona.

Ormie’s  ul5mate  goal  was  to  get  back  to  Missoula  to  raise  his  children  and  he  did  so  in  1975.  He  re5red  from  Region  I,  USFS  as  a  personnel  officer.  For  several  years  thereager  he  inves5gated  personnel  complaints  against  government  employers.  These  inves5ga5ons  took  him  to  places  like  Alaska,  Hawaii  and  Puerto  Rico.

Le3y  Harrington  Schiweck,  86,  of  Missoula,  passed  away  Jan.  22,  2015..

Le3y  went  back  to  work  and  eventually  became  a  key  punch  supervisor  and  a  documents  clerk  for  the  U.S.  Forest  Service.  She  worked  there  for  approximately  30  years  and  re5red  in  1993.

Le3y  was  known  as  a  gentle  and  kind  person  who  faced  life’s  challenges  with  acceptance,  perseverance  and  quiet  determina5on.  She  enjoyed  being  with  her  extended  family  at  many  gatherings  at  the  ranch,  at  her  sister  Doris’  house,  at  Flathead  Lake  and  at  the  Orchard  Homes  Country  Life  Club.

Donna  Genevieve  Tubbs  Huguet,  84,  a  lifelong  Missoula  resident,  died  peacefully  in  her  home,  on  Dec.  3,  2014.    Donna  graduated  from  Missoula  County  High  School  (now  Hellgate  High),  in  1947  and  a3ended  the  University  of  Montana  for  one  year  before  being  hired  as  a  secretary  for  John  Toole  Insurance  Agency  and  then  for  the  U.S.  Forest  Service.  Donna  con5nued  working  at  the  Forest  Service  un5l  the  birth  of  her  fourth  child,  then  devoted  all  of  her  5me,  a3en5on  and  care  to  her  growing  family  which  eventually  grew  to  six  boys  and  three  girls.    As  a  mother  she  was  a  natural,  making  sure  her  brood  was  happy  and  healthy.  When  the  youngest  of  the  family  was  safely  off  to  school,  Donna  returned  to  work  at  the  USFS,  re5ring  in  1992  ager  22  years  of  service.  

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! WINTER-EARLY SPRING 2015

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Place:  Gravelly  Range,  (old)  Madison  Range  District,  (old)  Beaverhead  Na5onal  Forest,  MT.

Time:  Summer,  1954.

This  is  my  story  of  riding  sheep  allotments  on  the  “Gravelies”  ager  gradua5ng  from  the  School  of  Forestry,  University  of  Montana.    District  Ranger  Ron  Schultz  had  a  schedule  when  the  sheep    were  to  move  onto  the  Forest  and  which  bands  were  to  be  counted.    He  suggested  that  I  ready    some  warm  clothes,  buy  groceries  for  several  weeks,  and  have  my  saddle    gear  ready  for  the  summer.    

In  early  July  Ron  and  I  trucked  three  horses  to  the  Crocke3  Lake  Cabin,  unloaded  my  gear,  and  checked  and  mended  the  pasture  fence,  and  turned  the  horses  in.    Ron  spent  several  hours  showing  me  maps  of  the  sheep  allotments,  grazing  schedules,  and  providing  informa5on  about  my  job  and  answering  my  many  ques5ons.    We  then  cooked  up  some  dinner  and  filled  the  kerosene  lanterns,  unrolled  our  sleeping  bags,  and  got  ready  to  turn  in.    I  was  already  liking  the  job!

Crocke3  Lake  Cabin  was  the  first  of  three  cabins  I  would  be  working  out  of;  Black  Bu3e  and  West  Fork  cabins  would  come  later.    Now  we  had  to  get  the  sheep  and  tomorrow  was  going  to  be  a        day  of  learning  as  I  had  no  experience  with  sheep.

Ron  and  I  drove  to  the  sheep  corral  and  inspected  and  repaired  as  necessary.    Ron  taught  me    how  to  count  the  sheep  through  the  gate...don't  count  the  lambs,  only  the  ewes...click  the  tally-­‐whack  when  the  5th  ewe  went  out  the  small  gate.    When  the  corral  was  empty  one  could  take  the  count  on  the  tally-­‐whack  and  mul5ple  by  5  to  get  the  total  ewe  count  of  that  band.**    Not  all  the  sheep  had  to  be  counted  each  year;  about  1/3  of  the  bands  every  year  were  counted.

My  job  as  Grazing  Guard  was  to  inspect  the  sheep  grazing  to  see  that  the  herders  were  staying  on      their  allotment,  were  bedding  the  sheep  in  a  different  area  each  night,  were  sal5ng  in  rocky  outcrops*,  had  any  ques5ons  about  the  rota5on  or  grazing  pa3ern,  and  establishing  good  will  with  the  herders  and  camp  tenders  .    In  late  agernoon  or  ager  dinner  I  would  map  my  route  and  mark  where  the  sheep  were  observed,  and  make  notes  of  significant  departures  from  that    allotment's  grazing  plan  that  Ranger  Ron  should  know  about.

Ron  had  briefed  me  about  a  camp  tender  on  an  allotment  that  had  a  cabin  and  invited  the  Grazing  Guard  to  come  to  the  cabin,  stay  overnight,  and  ride  his  two  allotments  the  next  day.    He  was  a    good  friend  of  the  Forest  Service.    When  the  5me  came  to  ride  his  allotments  I  rode  over,    found  the  cabin  but  nobody  home.    Ager  puwng  my  horse  in  the  corral  and  saddle  gear  in  a  shed,  I  stoked  the  stove  and  made  some  coffee  and  peeled  some  spuds  while  awai5ng  his  return.    We  got  acquainted  and  prepared  dinner  while  talking  about  his  two  herders  and  two  bands  of  sheep  he  was  responsible  for.    We  lit  the  Coleman  lanterns  and  he  said  “you  crawl  in  first  (to  a  double  bed)  as  I  will  be  gewng  up  early  to  check  the  herders.    You  can  get  up  and  have  some  breakfast  ready  when  I  get  back.”    Well  that  didn't  leave  me  any  choice  for  sleeping  quarters  so  I  peeled  off  my  clothes  down  to  my  shorts  and  crawled  in,  all  the  way  across  the  bed  to  the  wall!    He  doused  the  lanterns  and  crawled  in.    Well,  I  stayed  awake  quite  awhile  with  a  5ght  pucker  string  un5l  falling  asleep!    I  never  heard  him  leave  in  the  early  morning  and  slept  un5l  the  sun  came  up.    I  got  up,  stoked  the  stove,  put  the  coffee  on,  and  started  frying  some  bacon.    He  soon  arrived,  had  a  coffee  while  I  cooked  four  yolks  over  easy,  and  we  con5nued  our  conversa5on  from  last  night.    We  then      washed  the  dishes,  made  a  sandwich  and  grabbed  an  apple  and  candy  bar  for  lunch  while      watching  the  sheep  graze.    The  herder  joined  us  and  in  broken  English  told  the  boss  he  killed  a  black  bear  near  the  sheep.    That  evening,  back  in  the  Black  Bu3e  cabin,  I  so  noted  in  my  record.

A NIGHT WITH A (SHEEP) CAMP TENDER (Charles R. (Dick) Joy)

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! WINTER-EARLY SPRING 2015

! PAGE 6

Request  for  help

Tom  Schenarts  received  the  following  request  from  Zane  Smith:

“I  recently  received  a  request  from  a  church  camp  located  in  the  Idaho  Panhandle  NF  for  informa5on  on  water  rights.    In  the  19950’s  I  was  among  a  number  of  forestry  students  at  the  University  of  Montana  who  spent  summers  working  for  the  FS  at  Shoshone  Work  Camp  on  the  Wallace  District.    A  few  years  ago,  Be3y  and  I  visited  the  camp  which  was  under  special  use  permit  by  the  FS.    In  2009  they  were  able  to  purchase  the  camp  and  land  and  are  now  trying  to  establish  water  rights  related  to  camp  use.    The  well  providing  drinking  water  and  domes5c  use  has  been  accomplished.    The  irriga5on  right  for  water  pumped  from  the  creek  has  not  been  established.    Apparently  they  need  to  establish  that  the  Forest  Service,  in  fact,  had  irrigated  with  a  pump  from  the  creek  prior  to  1971.    I  believe  that  it  probably  did  in  the  1950’s  but  can’t  say  for  sure.    I  have  contacted  other  students  of  my  era  and  they  came  up  with  the  same  thoughts.

What  will  be  necessary  is  for  someone  who  does  remember  that  irriga5on  occurred  prior  to  1971  be  iden5fied.    The  camp  only  needs  a  notarized  statement  from  such  an  individual.    It  is  my  hope  that  the  re5ree  organiza5on  for  R-­‐1  could  ask  if  anyone  would  have  the  answer  and  be  willing  to  so  state.    Clint  Kunze  is  the  Camp  Director  and  can  be  reached  at:    [email protected]  or  208-­‐667-­‐3459  #114.    I  would  greatly  appreciate  if  you  or  someone  who  communicates  with  re5rees  could  ask  if  anyone  could  help.    I  know  the  camp  would  be  forever  grateful.”

The  rest  of  the  summer  was  quite  unevenzul  but  most  enjoyable  to  be  able  to  ride  horseback,  chewsome  tobacco,  watch  some  awesome  sunsets  and  a  few  sunrises,  climb  Black  Bu3e  Mountain,  and  listen  to  Mother  Nature.    The  best  of  this  summer's  experiences  related  to  riding  the  near/same  areas,  living  in  the  same  cabins,  and  drinking  mountain  water  as  did  my  father,  Chic  Joy,    from    1924      1931.    I  do  believe  I  found  a  few  of  his  footsteps  to  follow  “up  on  the  Gravellies.”

Sal5ng  the  rocky  outcrops  was  the  responsibity  of  the  herder  or  camp  tender.    They  put  salt  out  for  the  sheep  on  rocky  areas  so  as  to  not  damage  forage-­‐growing  areas.

**  Here  is  a  side  story  of  my  learning  experiences  that  summer.

One  day  ager  coun5ng  through  a  band  I  looked  up  and  my  eyes  focused  on  a  green  FS  vehicle.

“Over  here,  Dick”,  called  a  familiar  voice.    I  walked  over  and  recognized  Carl  Simpson,  Range/

Wildlife  Staff  from  the  office  in  Dillon.    “How  many,  Dick?”    

“Just  a  minute  while  I  tally,  Carl.    Looks  like  we  had  1,225  total.”    

“  How  did  you  count  them,  Dick?”    I  explained  to  Carl  the  process.    Carl  then  asked  who  taught  me  that  and  I  told  him  Ron  had.    He  said  he  was  going  to  skin  Ron  for  leading  me  astray.    

“How  do  you  count  them,  Carl?”  I  asked.    

“Dick,  you  count  the  legs  and  divide  by  four!”      

A national smokejumper reunion will be held in Missoula, July 17-19, 2015. Festivities will be held at the University of Montana. To get additional information, clink on the link: http://smj2015reunion.wordpress.com

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! WINTER-EARLY SPRING 2015

! PAGE 7

No  EIS  (Tom  Schenarts,  USFS  ReMred)

The  snow  lies  late  in  the  spring  in  the  North  Fork  of  the  Clearwater  River  in  Idaho  and  the  elk  carcasses  provide  plenty  of  feed  for  the  predators.    It  is  steep,  tough  country  for  man  and  beast.    The  occasional  benches  along  the  narrow  bo3om  provided  winter  forage  for  the  elk  herds  for  centuries.    The  last  fire  to  sweep  the  bo3om  of  the  North  Fork  was  1928.    Every  igni5on  since  was  quickly  stamped  out.

Joe  Bross,  Idaho  Game  Warden,  stopped  by  the  Bungalow  Ranger  Sta5on  for  coffee  and  news  one  day  in  the  summer  of  1966.    The  subject  came  up  about  the  diminishing  elk  herds  in  the  Weitas  country,  a  drainage  of  the  North  Fork.    The  ouzi3ers  were  complaining  about  fewer  elk  and  Joe  agreed  this  had  become  a  problem.    He  pointed  out  that  the  poor  state  of  the  winter  browse  in  the  bo3om  of  the  North  Fork  was  a  key  factor  because  there  had  been  no  fires  in  the  winter  range  for  about  40  years.    We  took  a  drive  up  the  river  and  looked  over  winter  range.    It  was  in  very  poor  condi5on.    It  needed  a  burn.

The  next  April,  shortly  ager  moving  back  to  the  Bungalow  from  our  winter  quarters  in  Orofino,  Clark  Fuller,  Fire  Control  Officer  and  I  drove  along  the  river.    There  were  lots  of  dead  elk.    The  snow  s5ll  covered  the  hillsides  except  for  a  narrow  band  along  the  bo3om  of  the  drainage  which  was  bone  dry.    This  was  the  winter  browse  zone.    It  was  a  good  opportunity  to  burn  out  the  bo3om  and  the  fire  would  only  go  to  the  snowline.    We  filled  out  a  1300-­‐4  project  work  form,  put  it  in  the  file  and  made  plans  for  the  burn.

The  next  day  was  clear  and  warm  and  when  the  sun  reached  the  bo3om  of  the  North  Fork,  Clark  and  I  with  our  propane  torches  started  igni5ng  the  dry  brush  along  the  south  facing  slopes.    One  of  us  would  start  burning  and  the  other  drove  ahead  about  a  half  mile,  leg  the  pickup  and  started  burning  ahead.    We  leap-­‐frogged  our  way  for  several  miles  along  the  river  and  soon  had  the  en5re  bo3om  on  fire.    The  fire  burned  hot  and  clean,  right  up  to  the  snow  line.    We  put  out  a  few  snags  and  went  back  to  the  sta5on.    The  whole  opera5on  took  only  a  few  hours,  a  couple  gallons  of  propane  and  about  one  man  day.    There  was  virtually  no  paperwork  involved.

Joe  Bross  was  elated  and  within  a  few  years  the  elk  herd  exploded.    The  ouzi3ers  were  having  great  success  and  their  business  increased.    About  40  years  later  at  a  mee5ng  in  Missoula,  I  was  asked  by  a  Clearwater  employee  who  knew  I  had  been  the  Ranger  in  the  60’s,  if  I  knew  anything  about  what  caused  the  elk  herd  to  expand  back  then.    I  told  him  this  story  and  pointed  out  to  him  that  there  was  no  EIS,  no  public  mee5ngs  and  no  lawsuits.    It  was  the  Ranger’s  decision  to  act  when  the  need  presented  itself.    Those  were  the  good  ole  days!

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Northern Rocky Mountain Retiree Association

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