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National Forest Restrictions

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It doesn’t matter whether the season is closed or not if the forest is closed to all public use. I can remember one yearn for sure when this happened.
 
Kinda like “monitoring “ one for 13 days, in record drought conditions.


Maybe, maybe not...that's the trouble with fire, you don't know, what you don't know.

Burning in Wilderness (could be a NF mandate to let them burn) and safety concerns for crews, could be a good decision.

Easy to second guess and easy to make a decision when you're not the one risking anything to put them out.
 
It will be interesting. I guess I would be very surprised by a closure of hunting seasons in Montana. Though, if landowners in Block Management justifiably demanded closures of their properties, and the feds shut down the Forests and BLM lands, then where else is there to hunt for 90% of folks?

I keep trying to remind myself that a lot can change between now and September, but I also tell myself that in 1910, 3 million acres burned in 2 days. I'd wager there is more fuel out there now than then, and it is desperately dry. In many places we are approaching the unprecedented. A wind event following widespread lightning in another month could be wilder than a grizzly's dream.
 
Years back one evening while scouting near Dolores CO, bout this time of year, we watched the plume and supercell weather system the South Fork fire created. It's 103 crow fly miles. Those things do not mess around.
 
I keep trying to remind myself that a lot can change between now and September, but I also tell myself that in 1910, 3 million acres burned in 2 days. I'd wager there is more fuel out there now than then, and it is desperately dry. In many places we are approaching the unprecedented. A wind event following widespread lightning in another month could be wilder than a grizzly's dream.
This.
 
Maybe, maybe not...that's the trouble with fire, you don't know, what you don't know.

Burning in Wilderness (could be a NF mandate to let them burn) and safety concerns for crews, could be a good decision.

Easy to second guess and easy to make a decision when you're not the one risking anything to put them out.
I’m well aware of the risks. They are tangible and completely voluntary.
 
Montana has NEVER canceled a hunting season because of fire danger.
They have closed areas or implemented a lot of restrictions and extremely limited vehicle travel.
AT worst you have to walk-in only.
I think I read they actually DID close the first half of archery season because of fires some years back… I’ll look for the article…

Edit. Apparently you can’t look that kind of info up while it’s currently fire season… 😅 But it sounds like Buzz and others recall the year. 88? I wasn’t even a twinkle in the eye of my mother yet. I knew that I had read about it though.
 
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They may have and still can close areas, The season IN THAT AREA may have been temporarily been restricted. BUT a general season shut down has never occurred to my 67-year recollection.
 
I hope they don't shut down the forest simply for the fact that I'll have to listen to Mike Lee's cronies talk about the government overreach and how the states could handle it better. Yes, I know that there isn't much of a backing to the PLT crowd, but people are easily swayed one way or another right now. The last thing we need is a bunch of people deciding that the states would never do that and pushing that issue. It won't be a big deal right now but as soon as the next election is here we will hear about it.

I know conditions are awful and there are places where a closure makes sense.
 
They may have and still can close areas, The season IN THAT AREA may have been temporarily been restricted. BUT a general season shut down has never occurred to my 67-year recollection.
FWP absolutely did shutdown part of general archery season in 1988.
 
Did they ever convict the kids who started that?
"Three 18-year-old men pleaded guilty to starting the fire in a plea agreement that required them to pay 10% of their income through this tax year and complete 100 hours of community service for three years.
Edson said he and others didn’t think the sentence was enough for the damage that was caused. He continues to struggle with that fact.
Ravalli County Attorney Bill Fulbright said two of the three men, Tyler Johnson and Cody Knez, have complied with every part of their sentence. The other, Steven Banks, has found himself back in the justice system.


“They screwed up and started a fire,” Fulbright said. “I have been impressed with the way two of them have manned up and handled it. They have done everything that’s been asked of them.”
When the full restitution is paid, Fulbright said his office will determine how its distributed."
 
FWP delayed opening archery season in 2000 also. It was only about a week delay, but that happened and it was statewide. It does appear we have a drier scenerio than we did that year, and that year fires were pretty bad. I think it could get pretty ugly if some rains don't come in.
 
They may have and still can close areas, The season IN THAT AREA may have been temporarily been restricted. BUT a general season shut down has never occurred to my 67-year recollection.
Which is entirely irrelevant to the point of this thread. It’s not about season closures, it’s about public land use restrictions and closures.
 
They may have and still can close areas, The season IN THAT AREA may have been temporarily been restricted. BUT a general season shut down has never occurred to my 67-year recollection.
With all due respect...I can't recollect what I had for breakfast yesterday and you are relying on recollection of the last 67 years?
 
FWP delayed opening archery season in 2000 also. It was only about a week delay, but that happened and it was statewide. It does appear we have a drier scenerio than we did that year, and that year fires were pretty bad. I think it could get pretty ugly if some rains don't come in.
I can’t remember if it was 2000 or 2001, but not me of those years the majority of the national forests in western Montana were closed to all public access. Bow hunters from as far away as Libby and Thompson Falls were driving to hunt the Custer by Ashland.
 
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