Pictures taken near Stanley Lake, SRA

by Melanie Vining, Executive Director

Ok, so this could be the title of an article at the end of pretty much any summer lately. Snowpacks melting earlier, heat waves lasting longer and fall rains coming later are the new normal in the West, but with the west central Idaho Lava Fire almost out my backdoor and a recent trip to Salmon, which took me through the Wapiti Fire burned area, thoughts about a big fire season are on my mind. Thankfully, rain drips from the roof as I write this, but that brings its own challenges. More to come on that.

In the face of climate change and its effects- like longer fire seasons and more intense precipitation events- it’s hard not to feel helpless. With access to real time data through apps like Watch Duty, we can see maps of fire perimeters and almost watch them grow on our phone screens. Smoke fills the air, and we picture our favorite trail, lake, or campground blackened.

This overwhelmed feeling got me thinking: what can I- we- do? Not about climate change- that’s a longer blog and well outside my wheelhouse. No, I’m thinking about what we can do, and maybe as importantly, about how we can think about wildfire when it comes to recreating on public lands. Maybe some of you have already achieved enlightenment, but I struggle with this; maybe others out there do too. READ MORE