Two fast burning fires near Rockland, ID (SW of Pocatello)

Several days ago a suspicious fire began in the Deep Creek Mountains near Rockland, Idaho, and burned fast — the Rockland Fire. It is now 4000 acres.

Yesterday another suspicious fire broke out about 10 miles SW of Rockland at the base of the Sublette Range. It is burning hard. It is 3000 acres and no containment. It’s the Green Canyon Fire. These are two nice Great Basin mountain ranges near the Idaho, Utah, Nevada border that have seen little fire activity in recent years.

Cloud from Rockland Fire from 60 miles away. Sunday

Location of the Green Canyon Fire.

Sept. 6. Rockland fire map.

One of Idaho’s first wolf packs is rediscovered

The Chamberlain Basin Pack, deep in the Frank Church Wilderness, was relocated and a radio collar put on a pup last week.

In 1996, the first three Idaho wolf packs formed — Chamberlain Basin, Selway, and Landmark. All contact with the Chamberlain Basin pack was lost in 2001, but this year there they were at their traditional rendezvous site. I should add that last fall, there might have been a sighting of the original alpha male, still alive.

How long the collar will last I don’t know. It could be chewed off quickly or broadcast for years. Hopefully it was not fitted so tight that the pup will choke when it reaches full size this winter.

As the Idaho Fish and Game Commission gets closer and and closer to full management authority of Idaho wolves, I expect they will order a big wolf reduction, and radio collars on wolves will lead Wildlife Services, (a federal agency) that is in bed with all the local anti-predatory elements, will shoot them from their helicopter gunships.In my view, a wolf hunt is much better than a Wildlife Services wolf reduction.

Idaho’s gubernatorial election is critical this year. One candidate is in bed with all the reactionary forces in Idaho. The other is a moderate, and a man with a long historical view of Idaho outdoor issues. He remembers the days of Cecil Andrus, and Frank Church, men with a broad understanding of Idaho’s lands and waters.