Montana air is now dirty from Idaho wildfires

All last summer Montana’s air was filthy from forest fires in Idaho.  This year has been much better, but enough fires have now been started by lightning in central Idaho and central Oregon that Montana is getting pretty hazy.

Smoke from wildfires turns air ‘unhealthy’ in region. By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian

You can view the air quality in much of Idaho, western Montana and western Idaho on my web cam page.

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Update. Aug. 21. There have been some very wet storms over northern and north central Idaho and NW Montana the last several days, and continuing today. These have dented and perhaps will end the fire season in those areas. That would be great news of late summer travelers.

Sockeye numbers reach highest level in decades in Idaho’s Sawtooth country

This is very good news!! They were almost extinct 15 years ago.

Sockeye numbers reach highest level in decades. A total of 386 sockeye salmon had arrived in the Sawtooth Valley by Tuesday [August 19]. By JASON KAUFFMAN, Idaho Mountain Express Staff Writer

20 years after Yellowstone fires: Black Saturday’s lessons still debated

Rocky Barker has written extensively about the Yellowstone fires and fire policy in general with a book (Scorched Earth) on the role of forest fires fighting and the history of the public lands.

Today he has a feature article on how the lessons from ’88 have been learned and applied and also not learned or applied. He discusses the response to the current fires of 2008.

20 years after Yellowstone fires: Black Saturday’s lessons still debated. Response to this year’s blazes shows how policies spawned by the fires of ’88 have been disregarded – or carried out. By Rocky Barker. Idaho Statesman.

How wildlife fared in the Yellowstone fires of 1988

There have been a number of retrospectives on the great fires of ’88 on their 20th anniversary.  Here is one from the Salt Lake Tribune summarizing the effect on wildlife.

How wildlife fared in the Yellowstone fires.