'A lot of that land is burnt to black toast'

Nearly 100,000 acres have burned this summer in the Flathead National Forest’s Spotted Bear Ranger District, and the resulting land closures are taking a heavy toll on outfitters whose livelihoods depend on late summer and early fall access to the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

“My season is looking real bleak right now,” said Cameron Lee, hunting outfitter for the Wilderness Lodge. “They all know what’s happened, but to be honest I usually have 18 hunters and this year I might have four. They might come next year, but I don’t think they’re coming this year.”

Notwithstanding the uncertainty headed into the fall hunt, South Fork Outfitters owner Pat Clanton said that the fires have already impacted his summer season in July and August.

“Our early season months have been shut down,” he said. “Some people have already been rolled over into next year, and some people are coming later in the season.”

Two fires are responsible for more than 92,000 acres burning near the ranger station and more than a dozen smaller fires are scattered throughout the forest and in the Bob Marshall and Great Bear Wilderness areas. On Aug. 27, forest officials closed the district’s wilderness land as a precaution.

There are 63 outfitters that have permits to operate in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex from the three national forests that manage it, and it’s safe to say that all of them hope this weekend holds true to a rainy forecast.

Lee has already lost at least half his business for the year and maybe more. Both outfitters noted that hunters who booked one- or two-week camping trips earlier in the year are now choosing between canceling their plans or shuffling vacation days and plane tickets around at the last minute.

“Until we can look at it and get approval, it’s hard for us to even tell our hunters if they should cancel or go at another time,” said Clanton.

The losses extend beyond revenues, however.

Until Aug. 20, the Bear Creek Fire had been just one of many burning in the Spotted Bear Ranger District. A round of lightning storms had sparked the fire eight days earlier, and that afternoon it was still creeping around Bunker Creek at about 465 acres.

Then the inversion lifted.

As the fire-dampening layer of smoke dissolved over the fire, strong, dry winds and high temperatures allowed the simmering blaze to erupt into an inferno, tearing across eight miles and more than 17,000 acres of thickly forested territory in just a few hours.

It spread into the area burned by the Chipmunk Fire of 2000, quickly jumping the South Fork and burning through the Gorge Creek and Meadow Creek trailheads.

Al Koss, a fire spokesman for the district, said he was there that day with the fire incident commander who quickly ordered the forest personnel and outfitters to begin getting outfitters, hikers and stock out of the area ahead of the growing blaze.

No one was injured and about 70 animals were safely trucked and herded up the road before the flames reached them.

“Just as soon as they got the stock loaded up and ready to go, the fire was starting to bear down on the Meadow Creek outfitters and trailhead,” Koss said.

While more than a dozen vehicles were spared, several outfitters lost trucks, trailers, tents, equipment and lots of hay.

Typically busy with their own guiding trips this time of year, the local outfitting community —and the Forest Service — have pulled together to help one another during an especially hard year.

“Outfitters have helped move people from one trailhead to another, where their vehicles were at when we were moving people out of the wilderness,” Koss noted. “And [K Lazy 3 Ranch outfitter] Brett Todd donated 10 tons of hay, delivering to those who lost hay in the fire,”

Hay is a precious commodity after the driest summer on record in the Flathead Valley.

The impacts of the historic wildfire season will be felt for years to come.

“Our clients are going to be nervous, thinking that everything’s burnt and there ain’t nothing there,” Lee said. “[Game animals] are not going to be there in a lot of places. A lot of that land is burnt to black toast.”

He noted that the day after the fire blew up, the road between the two trailheads was littered with the charred carcasses of deer, a testament to the speed with which the Bear Creek Fire tore through the area.

This year’s losses could be reversed in future years, however.

The fires burned hot enough to wipe out whole stands of trees, but in their place, forbs and grasses will repopulate the landscape. And even in the massive wakes left by the Bear Creek and Trail Creek fires, Koss said many areas only experienced ground fires or single-tree torching, and healthy islands of forest remain untouched.

“It’s going to absolutely benefit the wildlife,” Lee said. “They can’t eat trees. There’s going to be more browse, more grass and more country they can walk through that’s not downfall 10 feet tall, so the benefits are absolutely great for the animals.”

The long-term problem will be the 113 miles of trails overtaken by the Spotted Bear fires. Where trees and shrubs have burned, roots that once held trails in place will wash out. Hundred-year-old trees, their root systems weakened and dying from the heat, may stand another decade before finally toppling over on a trail.

Koss noted that even before this year’s fires broke out, trail crews had been dealing with trees that were late-falling victims of fires in 2003 and 2007.

“Some of the areas where the trails have been affected, it’s going to be [unknown] whether we can even make it back there,” said Clanton. “We’re going to come along with a string of mules, with a 35-inch tree across the trail and have to decide whether to spend a day or two with an ax or turn around.”

With the break in the weather, Forest Service fire and trail crews are switching from suppression to safety tactics, beginning the long process of hazard tree removal and surveying trails that need rehabilitation.

According to Koss, with less intense fires burning in the southern portion of the wilderness complex, some of those areas may open up sooner than the ravaged landscape around the ranger station. And even a partial reopening of the wilderness can’t come soon enough for the outfitters.

“Our folks up here that work with us and alongside us, they’re impacted just as bad as us. They’re not getting a paycheck,” Lee said. “We’re lucky, because they’ve hung around and helped with that whole situation.”

His wrangler, Doog White, just started a temporary job with the Forest Service, drawing on his trail work experience with the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation and helping out in the fire mess hall while the outfitters wait for the wilderness to reopen.

“I anticipate that ideally, with the weather change, we’ll be able to go in and do some trail work to restore some of the trails that have gotten beaten up,” White said.

But he’s still holding out hope that the season can still be salvaged for hunting guides.

“I’m crossing my fingers that it starts snowing.”

Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.