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Old 06-22-2013, 02:01 AM
 
Location: CO/UT/AZ/NM Catch me if you can!
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As long as Wolf Creek is closed and tourists perceive there to be fire everywhere in Colorado, it's certainly possible that they may change their itineraries and head for Taos and Santa Fe instead of taking the lengthy detour through Antonita, over Cumbres, and into Chama, then back up to Pagosa to catch 160 again. But once Wolf Creek opens, I'm fairly certain they'll come as before - especially the Europeans who saved us last summer and look to be doing so again this summer. But if Mesa Verde burns again, we're probably screwed. Even if we maintain the status quo of the past two or three years, those who depend on the tourist trade - ie everybody in one way or the other - are in for continued rough times.

Places like Telluride and Durango will get by - if all else fails, they can borrow against their trust funds - but the inhabitants of small towns like Cortez and Dolores or Dove Creek with the drought will end up with their backs even further against the wall then they already are.

 
Old 06-22-2013, 06:03 AM
 
Location: The Brat Stop
8,347 posts, read 7,205,332 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler View Post
^

I'm doing a rain dance this weekend on top of the Uncompaghre Plateau if you care to join me.
I seriously wish you folks luck and be safe out there, and don't take any chances with your personal safety. My spouse and I had to vacate a National Forest Campground several years ago due to wildfires, it hurts to watch the destruction that we all love and cherish so much.
 
Old 06-22-2013, 06:52 AM
 
Location: Jonesboro
3,874 posts, read 4,659,331 times
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This thread has been very helpful & appreciated by those of us on the outside looking in who have friends in the Springs area. It has allowed us to get personal perspectives on the fire to complement what we can gather from the general Springs & Denver media. So thanks to the thread originator.
The fire last year was much more of a threat to my friend's neighborhood but they are now wary for the approach of fire season.
As the Brits said during WW2, "Courage."
 
Old 06-22-2013, 09:08 AM
 
8,317 posts, read 29,365,244 times
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To understand the gravity of Colorado's fire situation, one has to understand the summer precipitation pattern in the state. Draw a line across Colorado roughly from Grand Junction to Castle Rock. In areas south of the line, June is generally the driest month of the summer, with August being the wettest. North of the line, June or July is usually the wettest month, with August the driest. Understanding that, it is no surprise that the largest and most active fires right now are in the southern half of Colorado--and that they likely will persist for several more weeks there. The fact that there are fires starting in the northern half of Colorado this early, though, should be very troubling. When July and August arrive, the fire focus will likely shift to northern Colorado, where hundreds of thousands of acres of beetle-killed timber are just waiting for the right conditions to burn. Those areas contain a considerable amount of the Denver and Colorado Springs watershed. The publicity about the fires in rural southern Colorado remains fairly unreported in the Front Range media--for that media (and much of the Front Range population), southern Colorado might just as well not exist. Watch what happens in the Front Range media, though, when the forests in the Front Range's backyard torch up. Then the fires may "matter" a little bit more to them--especially if the water coming out of their tap starts looking like used motor oil.
 
Old 06-22-2013, 09:46 AM
 
1,978 posts, read 1,543,061 times
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We started going to South Fork area (Fun Valley) almost 10 years ago for a vacation. We all love the area and people. A couple of years ago or so my daughter and family bought a cabin just outside of South Fork. We will be going back soon. Was hoping anyone had some latebreaking news regarding South Fork. That is such a beautiful area in Colorado.
 
Old 06-22-2013, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Jonesboro
3,874 posts, read 4,659,331 times
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jazz
That is great background info for those of us who are away from the situation & trying to understand more aspects of what is going on.
The son of my step sister goes to college in one region of the state, friends live in both Denver & Col. Springs, my step sister lives in Littleton & my brother lived in Fort Collins so I've wondered about the contrasts in weather & fire seasons for a long time.
The point you made about the water coming out of the tap is something that had struck me as a concern. Ouch!
 
Old 06-22-2013, 10:33 AM
 
8,317 posts, read 29,365,244 times
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The only late breaking "news" that I've had from South Fork is from people who were up near there yesterday. The fire "only" ran about 3 miles yesterday because the winds were a little lower and started later. If the weather develops according to today's forecast, the fire may make a much bigger run today. If it does, that will put South Fork at high risk. If the fire jumps US160 and/or CO149, it could burn northward for many miles, potentially all the way to CO114 over Cochetopa Pass. That could make it the largest forest fire in Colorado since the epic fires of 1879.
 
Old 06-22-2013, 11:31 AM
 
Location: CO
2,885 posts, read 7,099,648 times
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Crews battle more than a dozen Colorado fires over dry weekend


A summary and map of current fires from the Denver Post
Quote:
More than a dozen fires continued to rage throughout Colorado on Saturday morning. . .
 
Old 06-22-2013, 11:51 AM
 
Location: Ned CO @ 8300'
2,075 posts, read 5,102,174 times
Reputation: 3049

West Fork Complex Fire: Town of South Fork evacuated | 9news.com
 
Old 06-22-2013, 12:22 PM
 
8,317 posts, read 29,365,244 times
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Default A different perspective

Curious about the West Fork Complex situation, I called a friend who has federal grazing leases in the northward potential path of the West Fork Complex fire. It is his hope that the fire will burn across his entire grazing lease. His perspective--and he is trained in range science--is that the overgrown and dying spruce forest is essentially "sterile"--lacking biodiversity--and that a cleansing fire would restore a lot of biodiversity to the forest. Of course, the fire would also improve range conditions for his cattle, as well as numerous other grazing and browsing animals, such as mule deer and elk. He opined that the fire-fighting strategy should be to save the core of towns such as South Fork, Creede, etc. and to "let all that second-home ranchette bull**** burn"--noting, correctly, that it represents a far greater threat to the long-term ecosystems of the area than the fire does.
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