TOO MUCH GOING ON
Fourth Of July Fishing Locations Tomorrow
.. The forest is on fire - it must be August! No; still June. The fire north of town has drawn national attention. It has burned hotter than the 1988 fires in spots. It's not out yet. It's not in the park yet. The Gallatin National Forest office is the best source of accurate news for this fire and the Stage I Restrictions... There are a few bits of news that have escaped the journalistic frenzy to report a "Yellowstone Fire:" a black bear wandered into town while avoiding the fire, (yes it's that close,) poor thing posed for camera phone pictures in an apartment complex for an hour. It was tranquilized and removed.
.. A borate bomber lost an engine and had to dump it's load over Hebgen Lake to reduce weight and get safely to the runway at the West Yellowstone airport... Travel on highway 191 north of West Yellowstone is subject to closure at any time. For road information call the Gallatin National Forest-Hebgen Lake District office, (406)-823-6961, or the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce, (406)-646-7701.
.. The cause of the fire is still under investigation but the crews on the line have intimated that it was an illegal campfire by illegal campers - we'll see.
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.. Terry McEneaney, Yellowstone's ornithologist has reported that the Trumpeter Swans of Yellowstone are dwindling in numbers. So too, the Ospreys... The ospreys are losing ground because of fire and diminished cutthroat numbers. An article in the Casper Star Tribune has the details; money quote:
One of the biggest problems for the osprey is that Yellowstone cutthroat trout, a key food, has been hit hard by nonnative lake trout in recent years. At one spot on the lake where more than 70,000 cutthroat were counted in the 1970s, just 471 were tallied last year, the lowest number since record keeping began in 1945. There are other factors, too, including a 2003 wildfire on Frank Island, in the middle of the lake, that burned 570 of the island's 600 acres, wiping out nearly all the old-growth trees that were a popular spot for nesting ospreys.
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.. Time to get some biscuits and gravy. The folks at the horse's mouth have provided us with a lot of conversational fodder.
