READ MORE: Recreating Responsibly COVID-19

Washington state is gearing up for a new challenge this year – fighting wildfires in the time of coronavirus.

Fire season is already here, too — 160 fires have sparked so far statewide, with 30% of them in the western part of the state. Thursday, Dept. of Natural Resources crews were fighting two of the largest fires burning near Arlington in Snohomish County, and Acme, in Whatcom County.
“It’s been challenging to fight fire, and to get people trained up this year,” said Jay Guthrie, asst. region manager for Forest Practice and Fire with the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources.
Spring training sessions have moved online, which makes it difficult to do the hands-on learning of firefighting. Prescribed burns were canceled. Crews are also trying to practice social distancing – keeping at least six feet apart while working in the field.
They do have one thing going for them already:
“Part of normal working safety is to keep 10 feet apart, so any swing of a tool is not within range of someone else,” said Guthrie.
State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said they’re currently working with the federal government to rewrite the playbook for wildfires during a pandemic.  READ MORE

A vast region of the western United States, extending from California, Arizona and New Mexico north to Oregon and Idaho, is in the grips of the first climate change-induced megadrought observed in the past 1,200 years, a study shows. The finding means the phenomenon is no longer a threat for millions to worry about in the future, but is already here.

The megadrought has emerged while thirsty, expanding cities are on a collision course with the water demands of farmers and with environmental interests, posing nightmare scenarios for water managers in fast-growing states.

A megadrought is broadly defined as a severe drought that occurs across a broad region for a long duration, typically multiple decades.

Unlike historical megadroughts triggered by natural climate cycles, emissions of heat-trapping gases from human activities have contributed to the current one, the study finds. Warming temperatures and increasing evaporation, along with earlier spring snowmelt, have pushed the Southwest into its second-worst drought in more than a millennium of observations.

The study, published in the journal Science on Thursday, compares modern soil moisture data with historical records gleaned from tree rings, and finds that when compared with all droughts seen since the year 800 across western North America, the 19-year drought that began in 2000 and continued through 2018 (this drought is still ongoing, though the study’s data is analyzed through 2018) was worse than almost all other megadroughts in this region.

The researchers, who painstakingly reconstructed soil moisture records from 1,586 tree-ring chronologies to determine drought severity, found only one megadrought that occurred in the late 1500s was more intense.

Historical megadroughts, spanning vast regions and multiple decades, were triggered by natural fluctuations in tropical ocean conditions, such as La Niña, the cyclic cooling of waters in the tropical Pacific.

“The megadrought era seems to be reemerging, but for a different reason than the [past] megadroughts,” said Park Williams, the study’s lead author and a researcher at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.

Although many areas in the West had a productive wet season in 2019 and some this year, “you can’t go anywhere in the West without having suffered drought on a millennial scale,” Williams said, noting that megadroughts contain relatively wet periods interspersed between parched years.

“I think the important lesson that comes out of this is that climate change is not a future problem,” said Benjamin I. Cook, a NASA climate scientist and co-author of the study. “Climate change is a problem today. The more we look, the more we find this event was worse because of climate change.”

The study is part scientific grunt work, involving sifting through drought records to find past instances of comparable conditions, and part sophisticated sleuthing that employs computer models to determine how climate change is altering the likelihood of an event like this one.

Cook said the researchers analyzed climate models for the region, which showed warming trends and changes in precipitation. They compared soil moisture with and without global warming-induced trends, “and we were able to determine that 30 to 50 percent of the current drought is attributable to climate change.”  READ MORE

Air Saint Luke’s Membership

Over the summer a 25 year old cotton wood that I planted when we first bought our place in Sweet was looking very poorly, more dead than alive branches. In the fall after the leaves were gone, I gave it a very close look and made arrangements for an arborist to take a look and give me an estimate to remove it that was the right course of action.  Sean McInerney of Boise Tree Service came out in November and agreed that the tree needed to come down before a good wind brought it down.  We sent an appointment for after the holidays and on January 6, 2020 his crew arrived to perform the work.

The tree was ringed by other smaller trees that I wanted to keep and would need to come down in pieces in a controlled fashion. I was interest to see if they would bring a cherry picker or climb.  When they were through, the only thing left was some saw dust, the stump was gone, the branches ground up, the larger pieces load in a trailer. I was very impressed with their sawyer skills and professionalism.

Cleaning a Saddle with Ground in Dirt

Leather Mystery Braid Cuff

Eye splice in double braid polyester rope

https://www.stlukesonline.org/health-services/specialties/programs/air-st-lukes-membership

Air Reciprocal Programs

As of April 1st, 2018

Whether in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, western Montana, northern Nevada, or northern California, you may be covered if transported by a reciprocal partner, subject to the reciprocating program’s membership rules. Life Flight Network’s reciprocal partners include:

• Air St. Luke’s
• Airlift Northwest
• Care Flight
• Enloe FlightCare
• Classic Air Medical

https://www.lifeflight.org/membership/

Air St. Luke’s – Back Country Horsemen of Idaho        FAQ AIR-253 082418      Life Flight Application Form

Christmas Party details 2019

You are receiving this newsletter because you have an active Membership or have purchased a gift membership with Life Flight Network.

We know there are many reasons why you have purchased a membership and we thank you for this support. Membership not only protects you and your family members from ANY out-of-pocket expenses when transported by Life Flight Network or a reciprocal partner, it also contributes to the transport costs for patients for whom we receive little or no reimbursement. Your membership fees also support emergency medical services in your community. For instance, last year Life Flight Network provided over 300 education and safety trainings across the Northwest and Intermountain West for EMS, law enforcement, ski patrol, etc., and all was done free of charge. We want to ensure in your time of need, our EMS partners and Life Flight Network are coordinated. Together we are providing the timely and world-class care you deserve.

Are you ready for winter? Whether it’s time to stay in where it’s warm or get out in the great outdoors for some adventure, your decision to remain a member with Life Flight Network is a good one. We have you covered. Throughout 2019 we have continued to focus on the highest levels of Customer Service, Patient Care and Safety.
Life flight 2019 Fall Newsletter

Squaw Butte Signs
615 S. Washington Ave
Emmett, ID 83617
208-365-2285

They have this Squaw Butte Pattern.  These are going on my Truck Doors.

On Monday Aug. 19, the Sheriff’s Office assisted Idaho Fish and Game officers with removing a problem bull elk from the Sweet area. This animal had been had raised by a citizen who assumed that the calf was abandoned.

Fast forward approximately one and a half years and this elk calf had grown into large and very strong young bull with nearly two-foot of antlers. Given his hand raising and close interaction with humans he has no fear of humans; he also has no concept of his size and strength. We had several reports from Sweet residents that the elk was in the road causing a hazard, walking up to people and even one report of a woman being licked on the face while she was seated in her vehicle. This elk had become a hazard and potentially dangerous as well.

With the fall coming and the rut nearing he had begun to show some mild aggression towards people. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game decided that the elk would be captured and released elsewhere away from humans. On the morning of Aug. 19, the elk was located in the front yard of a Sweet residence. After attempts to lead him into a stock trailer failed he became skittish and the use of a net gun was employed. This is a tool that IDFG uses to capture wild animals for collaring or studying. This allows IDFG to capture without harm to the animal or people and without the use of drugs to sedate the animal. The elk was captured and loaded into the trailer unharmed and was later released far from human habitation.

Unfortunately, too often, well intentioned people remove young wildlife from their natural habitat believing the animal to be abandoned or in need of help. Please, if you come across a wild animal that you think is abandoned or in need of assistance do not remove that animal from the wild. Report the information and location to your local IDFG office and allow the conservation officers investigate. Animals that are removed from the wild and allowed to be handled become accustomed to people can become dangerous when they reach adulthood. They also have difficulty associating and assimilating with their own species. Reintegration of these animals is rarely successful.

October 21 Update

A human-habituated bull elk from the Sweet, Idaho area has found a “forever” home in Texas.

After six weeks at a Fish and Game facility, the elk left Idaho early Thursday morning, ultimately bound for Texas A&M University where it will become part of the school’s wildlife management and veterinarian programs.

The elk will join a number of native and exotic wildlife species which roam the university’s animal paddock including white-tailed deer, fallow deer, zebra, addax antelope and ostrich.

“Of the alternatives available, A&M was the best place for this elk to land,” Fish and Game wildlife veterinarian Dr. Mark Drew noted. “He will be well cared for and enjoy a good life at this world-class facility.”

Drew and his staff spent countless hours securing the needed paperwork to get the elk to the lone star state. Brucella and tuberculosis testing, chronic wasting disease certification, veterinary visits, transport and import permits and USDA Veterinary Services approval from Washington D.C all needed to be conducted or in place before the elk could leave Idaho.

The 400-pound bull elk, illegally removed from the wild in the spring of 2018 and raised in captivity, became a potential safety risk to the community of Sweet this summer as it roamed the streets and showed no fear of humans. The elk was captured and released in Bear Valley with the hope that it would integrate with wild elk herds in the area. Instead, the animal sought out humans, resulting in its recapture. That’s when the search began for an accredited facility that could take the animal.

Fortunately, Texas A&M University answered the call.

“This young bull elk is in a good place now,” Drew noted.

I was at D&B the other day and a U of fence panels with a arched roof caught my eye. The roof was called a corral shelter and covered a 12 x 12 space, they were storing pellet stove fuel in it.  The price seemed reasonable and I had seven unused regular panels and a gate panel and got the idea to build a 24 x 24 feeding and shelter area.  I purchased two corral shelters and an extra panel to divided the area into two 12 x 12 feeding areas.
I assembled the first shelter frame in place on top of the supporting panels spending a lot of time standing on a ladder,  it took me about three hours and was sort of a pain. To build the second one, I contacted Terry MacDonald who came over and we had the second one build and placed on top of the fence in a bit over an hour. As only one frame could sit on top of the center fence panel, the other one had to be bolted to the first with some spacers, this approach seems to be working quite well.  I needed enough space between the two shelters for the covers.
Side panels are available, but sort of $$ so for this winter I used 12 x 10 plastic tarps.I have about 8 hours total in putting it together, and hope my stock will enjoy using it when it is raining or snowing this fall/winter. // Rob Adams

After Jefferson County Open Space officials posted signs asking bikers to exercise caution, a vigilante trail user posted more etiquette signs — for everyone. And it was glorious. READ MORE

Emma Froelich – Wilderness Ranger Intern

Click on the picture to view on-line.

Trainees and instructors discussing Visitor Use/Campsite Monitoring during the Northern Rockies Wilderness Skills Institute 📷Verena Gruber

Henry Vaughan – Wilderness Ranger Intern

The College of Idaho

Orientation/Training

May 13 – May 27

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest

Our first two weeks as Wilderness Ranger Interns has had us housed and training at Powell Ranger Station in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. Each day, we dip our toes, feet, ankles, knees, bit by bit into wilderness until we are totally submerged: acclimated as much as possible for our fast approaching hitches. We went from staying in beds and bunkhouses during the first week—where we could avoid the worst weather at night by turning up the heaters in our rooms and closing the blinds—to sleeping in our own tents and bags during the second. Before long, we’ll be spending our nights in the wilderness with the only comforts available to us being those which we can carry in on our backs.

We’re developing important skills for working in the wilderness this summer: becoming familiar with our primitive tools, testing out our gear, learning how to navigate in a land without Google Maps; but I’m also recognizing an important new way to perceive nature. Around Powell (particularly outside of the bunkhouses), nature gets up in our face. Deer wander daily between the buildings. One intern encountered a wolf on an early morning trail run. Oyster and morel mushrooms regularly provide a free dinner to those with watchful eyes. These natural displays: such abundances of vitality, fecundity, and productivity from the trees to the insects to the uninhibited Lochsa River flowing right by our tents show a land community with greater agency—where it is difficult to keep humanity and civilization at the forefront of the mind. Closer to wilderness, nature has more room to breathe and speak and (aided greatly by a lack of cell phone service) we are forced to become a listener. And, though we have little say in it, I have yet to meet anyone at the ranger station who isn’t made happier by that prospect.

The closest wilderness area to us (the Selway-Bitterroot) is a hundred feet away—right across the river. In between the banks of the Lochsa, as a sort of gateway between a developed Powell and an undeveloped wilderness, is a small island where the Lewis and Clark party is said to have camped as they made their way over the Bitterroot Mountains. On the far bank is the beginning of a land which can make a visitor feel as if they are stepping back even further in time to before the first American presences. The wilderness areas, where signs of civilization are intentionally minimized, are spaces where nature is most free to speak and where humanity, when present, is most likely to hear a clear and individually unique message. I, for one, am excited to see what this particular wilderness has to share with me.

Some families have to dig hard to find the love that holds them together. Some have to grow it out of the ground.
Bruce Kuipers was good at hunting, fishing, and working, but not at much else that makes a real father or husband. Conflicted, angry, and a serial cheater, he destroyed his relationship with his wife, Nancy, and alienated his three sons-journalist Dean, woodsman Brett, and troubled yet brilliant fisherman Joe. He distrusted people and clung to rural America as a place to hide.

So when Bruce purchased a 100-acre hunting property as a way to reconnect with his sons, they resisted. The land was the perfect bait, but none of them knew how to be together as a family. Conflicts arose over whether the land-an old farm that had been degraded and reduced to a few stands of pine and blowing sand-should be left alone or be actively restored. After a decade-long impasse, Bruce acquiesced, and his sons proceeded with their restoration plan. What happened next was a miracle of nature.

Dean Kuipers weaves a beautiful and surprising story about the restorative power of land and of his own family, which so desperately needed healing. Heartwarming and profound, The Deer Camp is the perfect story of fathers, sons, and the beauty and magic of the natural world.

Dean Kuipers has studied and written about the field of environmental politics and the human-nature relationship for decades. He is the author of Burning Rainbow Farm and Operation Bite Back. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Outside, The Atlantic, Men’s Journal, Rolling Stone, and Playboy. He lives in Los Angeles.

This event is co-hosted with the Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation

When the Phone Says “No Service” – Satellite Messengers
May 13, 2019

When the Phone Says “No Service”
When you’re out in the wild and need to call for help, don’t be surprised if your cellphone reads “No Service.”
Losing your cell signal while outdoors can be annoying — but if you’re out riding or camping your cellphone signal can mean the difference between life and death. Injuries, being lost, and any other number of hazards can mean we need to call for help — but if there’s no signal to carry your message, then what do you do?  READ MORE