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Fire Effects Discussed; Partial Opening of River Imminent; Stranding Study Slated September Sixteenth

Posted by admin on September 13, 2013 | 1 Comment

Good attendance for community meeting on South Fork Boise River

Approximately 75 people made it to the MK Nature Center Wednesday Night to get the low down on the effects of the wildfire that affected the South Fork Boise River. The audience got a dose of information where things stand with the South Fork.

Mountain Home District Ranger Stephaney Church said she is working to open the section of the South Fork of the Boise River from the Cow Creek bridge downstream. Perhaps as soon as this weekend.

Church said the section of the river was less affected than from Anderson Ranch Dam to Cow Creek. This website back on August 21 showed the extent of the fire in the lower section of the river. There were fewer trees burned along the river and therefore less work to be done to cut down the trees that could be a safety hazard. Further upstream its a different story and it will take much longer to assess the safety hazards and do something about them.

One questioner missed badly when stating that everyone attended the meeting just because they want to know when the river will be open again to fish. Visits to this website and discussions among the fishing and conservation groups show otherwise, as there is significant interest in the long-term future for the South Fork fishery and for the river ecosystem.

Dick Frencer of Boise Valley Fly Fishers poses a question to Stephaney Church

Agency staff with the Forest Service, BLM and Idaho Fish and Game described the effects of the fire and the field assessments done so far so a game plan can be developed to address the most immediate needs for emergency rehabilitation. While the meeting discussion was at a more general level, some specifics have emerged. For example, the Elk Complex fire north of the river experienced much severe burning and the effects on soils in some locations appears fairly dramatic. We are keeping an eye on Pierce Creek, Granite Creek and Rough Creek. All three drain into the South Fork of the Boise from the north side. Granite Creek in particular could be a ticking time bomb with a small culvert and a watershed that appears to have seen severe fire effects. Pierce Creek of course no longer has a small culvert but rather a new bridge, so if there is a gully washer one hopes the flows and debris should be able to pass under the bridge.

Meanwhile the stranding study will proceed with government agency staff biologists on Monday, September 16 when the South Fork Boise River flows will drop to 300 cfs. Idaho Fish and Game and the Bureau of Reclamation will have staff on site to ascertain the amount of stranding when the river flows are cut. This information will help inform future management changes with river flows.

South Fork Boise Community Meeting September 11th

Posted by admin on September 7, 2013 | No Comments

In the wake of the Pony Complex and Elk Complex Fires and their destruction of substantial habitat along the South Fork of the Boise River downstream of Anderson Ranch Dam, the Ted Trueblood Chapter of Trout Unlimited is organizing a meeting to serve as an open forum for all those concerned at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 11th, 2013 at the MK Nature Center.

Rock garden and Pine Tree Hole

We believe that it is essential that we work in collaboration and cooperation with our government agency partners in a supporting role. In our view, once they determine the strategy/way forward, priorities of work and requirements, we can then mobilize our constituents and resources to help.

There remain a lot of unknowns and we understand that the assessment of the extent of the damage will not be complete for a number of weeks. As an initial step by those of us in the community, this open forum meeting will include agency representatives to provide information on the post-fire habitat condition of the South Fork of the Boise River. It will provide the opportunity to discuss where we are today, where we think we are going, what we think is needed, and how we might help.

Fire History in the South Fork

Posted by admin on August 28, 2013 | 1 Comment

While wildfire in on the mind here’s an interesting map where we clipped the portion of the Boise National Forest showing the fire history of the South Fork of the Boise River.

Clipped from fire history map of the Boise National Forest 1908 - 2013

Downstream of Anderson Ranch Dam there was a fire on the north side of the River in 1948 but it appears the rock bluffs on the north side were a barrier in that portion downstream from about Reclamation Village to Granite Creek.

Further downstream on the north side there was a smaller fire in 1952 that appears to have affected the lower portion of the Pierce Creek watershed, including the Prairie Road switchbacks where it climbs from the canyon on its way to Prairie. This 1952 fire appears to be on the south side of the South Fork Boise downstream of the Danskin Bridge and through much of the Mennecke Creek watershed.

On the south side of the River just downstream of the dam for a couple of miles appears to be outside any historic fire perimeter. There does appear to be a section that burned in 1935, which may have burned again in 1942. Adjacent to the west is a larger fire area that encompassed the Cow Creek drainage, and the lower portion of the Cow Creek road as it drops into the canyon appears to be a perimeter on the 1926 fire.

To the west is a fire from 1986 was that was probably a reburn of some of the 1926 fire area.

Underlying this area is the 1992 Foothills Fire, extending from the Cow Creek road and along the south side of the South Fork Boise through the meadow area and approaching the rick garden and Pine Tree Hole near Granite Creek. So it encompasses much of Cayuse Creek, a small tributary on the south side.

This is the light green area sandwiched between the 1926 fire area to the east and the 1945 fire area to the west. The 1945 fire appears to have been in Mennecke and Bock Creeks. By the 1970s both Mennecke and Bock Creeks were noted to be tributary spawning sites for the South Fork fishery.

Stream Gages destroyed by Wildfire

Posted by admin on August 27, 2013 | No Comments

Here is a video from the USGS with the story about the Pony & Elk fires destroying the stream gages on Dixie Creek and Pierce Creek, two tributaries of the South Fork of the Boise River downstream of Anderson Ranch Dam.

In addition, the end of the video has links to the stream gages click here for Dixie Creek, or check out this link for the gage at Pierce Creek.

Roads Open but Forest Closed

Posted by admin on August 22, 2013 | No Comments

The current status of public access to fish the South Fork of the Boise requires some explanation. The short story is the roads are open but the Forest remains closed. The land between the road and the South Fork of the Boise River is part of the Forest.

The longer story is more complicated and deserves some detangling.

With the Elk Complex Fire a large closure on the Mountain Home Ranger District (and adjacent portions of the rest of the Boise National Forest) went into effect as the fire spread to its current 131,258 acres. The roads from Highway 20 leading to the South Fork are under the jurisdiction of the Mountain Home Highway District. As the fire involved much BLM land in the 149,384 acre Pony Complex, the road closures were extensive. Fire maps show the South Fork Boise River downstream of Anderson Ranch Dam constituted a shared border between the two wild fires. So the south bank of the South Fork is the Pony fire and the north bank is the Elk fire, if the maps are correct.

On Tuesday August 20, with the fires reaching close to containment, the closures were adjusted. Despite different government jurisdictions involved, a single announcement was issued and stated in part, “On the Pony Complex, all areas and roads affected by the fire will reopen, including all Elmore County roads.” The roads leading to the South Fork Boise from Highway 20 which were involved in the Pony fire were opened to the public at 5:00 p.m.

The news release announcing the changes stated in its lede, “With the reduction of fire activity on the Pony and Elk Complexes, the current Forest closure area has been revised and will be significantly reduced effective Tuesday afternoon, August 20 at 5 p.m. In addition, all Elmore County roads and several Boise National Forest roads will reopen on the same date and time.”

However, despite conflating a smaller forest closure area and reopening of Elmore County roads in the same announcement, the fact is the areas where the Forest reopened is in a different location, mainly in the Middle Fork Boise River country well to the north. The National Forest lands in Elmore County along the roads leading to and along the South Fork Boise River remain closed.

The closure order at the Boise National Forest website is at http://prdp2fs.ess.usda.gov/detail/boise/home/?cid=STELPRDB5035663 and sometimes it does not appear to function on some browsers. It is also available at http://www.inciweb.org/incident/article/3616/20527/. And better yet a closure map is here:

Previous blog posts document the variety in the extent and severity of the wild fire along the South Fork Boise River. Many places did not burn. Yet others did and there are many trees damaged by the fire along the streamside riparian lands that constitute a potential safety hazard to the general public.

In addition the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have extensive areas to assess where emergency stabilization and rehabilitation may be needed. The Granite Creek watershed, tributary to the South Fork Boise near the Pine Tree Hole, is one example of such an area. The agencies plan to complete a field assessment of the burn areas prior to changing the closure order. This assessment reportedly could take up to two weeks, and it is not clear if the 11.3 mile long corridor from Anderson Ranch Dam to Danskin bridge (an area that equates to approximately 2,000 acres) will come early, middle or late in the assessment process of the 280,642 acres affected by the two fires. Or, if areas will be opened in stages as they are assessed, versus the closure being in place everywhere until the entire assessment is complete.

So at this time anglers who are interested in visiting the South Fork are presented with the shopping equivalent of “look but don’t handle the merchandise.”