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The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

It has been a fire like no other
By Jim Cornelius

The Booth Fire has left its mark on the Sisters country in a way no other fire has.

The Cache Mountain Fire and the Eyerly Fire last year were severe, traumatic events. After all, those fires took homes and the Booth Fire has not.

Yet last year's fires were, for the general public, short, punctuated events -- a week or so of fire suppression and the major effects were over.

The Booth Fire is different. The fire is much larger than previous blazes and it will burn for a long, long time, throwing smoke into Sisters and the surrounding communities.

But its impact is both broader and deeper than that.

The Booth Fire raged across some of the region's most popular recreation areas -- from Suttle Lake north to wilderness trailheads and popular hunting, fishing and camping grounds.

"The Suttle Lake environment has changed," said Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony.

It could have been a lot worse. At the most furious moment of the blaze on Thursday, August 21, it looked like the lake area would be utterly devastated.

"I left there at 2 p.m. and I thought it was the last time I'd see it green," Anthony said.

It's still green around the lake, but the environment has been affected.

Many trees on the north shore were burned and will have to be cut down for public safety.

"The trail around the lake will probably not be open for awhile," Anthony said.

The bowl that houses Scout Lake is in good shape, but the rim is full of hazards from burned and toppling trees.

The Sisters Ranger District won't allow the public to enter areas like these until they are safe. Some areas could be opened sometime this fall; others won't open till spring.

Wilderness trailheads certainly won't open till spring, Anthony said. Reconnaissance teams have to be sent in to evaluate the damage.

"There's a pretty good chance some of those areas burned really hot," Anthony said.

Some areas will require trail work through next summer. Snags are a risk, but so are burned out stumps. The area around them can house deep, yet well-covered holes.

It's easy to twist a knee falling in and the holes can hold heat for a long time.

Even when areas are re-opened, people may not want to return to areas of blackened trees and ashy soil. That is an ongoing worry for local businesses, camp operators, concessionaires and outfitters who rely on woods-bound tourists.

There are worries in some areas about the long-term ability of the forest to bounce back. The intense fire in some areas may have seared the very soil.

Experts will test the soil during the Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation program that will follow the fire (see related story).

According to Deschutes National Forest Supervisor Leslie Weldon, experts test soil to see if the heat has chemically changed the soil to the point at which it will actually repel water. Soil glazed that way is essentially dead.

When the soil is killed, plants won't grow.

But, Weldon said, it's hard to tell just by looking which areas of blackened forest will have soil problems.

Fires are measured by intensity -- how furious a blaze is -- and by severity --the long-term soil damage it does.

It is possible to have a high intensity/low severity fire.

"You can have a crown fire that runs through the trees and they're all toasted -- and not have a lot of impact on the soil," Weldon said.

That's hopeful news for areas like the ridge south of Suttle Lake, where the fire raged at the highest intensity, destroying all the trees in its path.

Soil testing will tell if the soil there was cooked along with the trees or if the area will green up again with seeding and time.

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