DENVER (AP) - With rain hitting most of the state this week as monsoon season begins, some counties on Thursday announced they’re easing fire restrictions. Federal officials are lifting their ban on 3 million acres of land across southern Colorado, including the Pike-San Isabel National Forest. Officials in many counties, including Arapahoe and Summit counties, kept their limits in place, saying they’re worried about future dry spells.
July 7, 2006
Colorado: Fire restrictions lifted on 3 million acres of federal lands
Fire grows to 2200 acres near Park City
PARK CITY — Firefighters braced for winds after a wildfire near Park City flared up overnight and prompted authorities to advise some residents to prepare for possible evacuations.
No evacuations had been mandated for the Benedict Gulch fire, in Stillwater County, or for the Coal Creek fire, which was burning about 12 miles away in Carbon County, said Paula Rosenthal, a fire information officer for the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
No injuries were reported in either blaze, which authorities blamed on lightning from a Monday night storm.
Habitat projects a top priority for elk foundation
http://www.billingsgazette.net/news/wyoming/20-elk-habitat.txt
CODY — In an effort to preserve and improve wildlife habitat across the state, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is helping to fund 22 projects in Wyoming this year, awarding $227,000 in grants.
Working with ranchers, state agencies and other partners, the foundation is assisting with prescribed burns, water development projects, weed control efforts and other programs that may seem small but end up making a big difference.
Arizona - Behind the lines in the Warm Fire
Video at link.
We got word in our newsroom on Monday around lunchtime that a thousand visitors and park employees were stranded at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon due to a wildfire burning along the only road in and out of the area. With the available daylight, we decided to see the effect on visitors to the more accessible South Rim for Monday night’s news and make the trek to the North Rim on Tuesday.
1,000 acres burn near Park City, Montana
Western wildfires tied to climate change ( video )
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13736561/
WASHINGTON - Western wildfires have increased “suddenly and dramatically” since the late 1980s and the wildfire season grew longer — a pattern that appears tied to global warming, according to a study published Thursday.
“The increase in large wildfires appears to be another part of a chain of reactions to climate warming,” said Dan Cayan, a co-author of the paper and director of the climate research division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.