This Brian Head fire isn't looking good. Yesterday it swelled up (again). It doesn't sound good for Yankee Meadow Reservoir. Then later in the evening it crested the ridge and started moving down Clear Creek, towards Panguitch Lake.
Aside from damage to personal property, it sure would be a shame to lose that fishery (Panguitch Lake). I think a recovery to Yankee Meadow could happen quickly, but Panguitch would take some time.
It's a little scary to think about what may still to come with this event. The fire is just the beginning. Flash floods will be a major concern for Parowan Canyon for months.
this thing is a beast. With no rain in current forecast, this fire could continue to rage for weeks...
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The Brian Head fire is being fueled in large part by the huge amount of beetle killed pine trees. I believe a more aggressive fuel-reduction program may have mitigated the spread of large fires. In my area, the US Forest Service was limited in the control that could be done due to environmental groups that objected to temporary roads needed to remove dead timber from the Manti. In some areas of the Manti over 70% of the pine forests have been killed by the pine bark beetles. I fear a large fire on the central Manti could be a real possibility in the near future.
Mike
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TopH20 -- you are right. We've been saying for 20 years that this would be the result. It's unfortunate -- if only logging would have been permitted when the beetles first showed up....
I really hope this doesn't get near the Mammoth Creek headwaters, but I fear it already has. I hope that doesn't screw up the cutthroat work.
Flooding is what really worries me.
(headed to Powell next week. You should come. I hear trolling is working really well....)
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I hope to get over to Starvation for a day or two next week. I'm afraid Lake Powell is not on my to do list when the temps are in the 105 range. I like it in the fall. Have fun and say hi to the family.
Mike
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I was in charge of panning our family reunion, and in January reserved two cabins between Panguitch Lake and Brian Head. This is a really scary fire for so many people, and I hope it doesn't hit ruin Panguitch Lake and the small streams.
PBH, what aspects of the fire are the most threatening to the fisheries? Temperature in general, mudslides into stream/tribs, byproducts from the fire itself? Kind of curious to know what the biggest risks are.
You hauling your little bro to Powell before he heads off to Germany?
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So when are we going to ignore the environmentalists and start using sound forest management practices and remove dead and diseased trees from our forests?? It is insane to give in to these clowns who have no idea what sound management practices are, just a "love" for the trees. This is not the only area that has a problem in Utah. Up above Flaming Gorge are acres of dead and dying pines that the beetles have killed. Up AF and Provo Canyons are also problem areas. The forest managers just need to do what needs to be done and ignore these idiots !!
Duckbutter -- in my opinion, it will be months down the road before we see fish kills. Erosion, mud slides / flash floods, ash washing into the streams and lakes (changes pH level), increased nutrient load (increases algae growth and depletes oxygen / "summer kill"), increased temps on streams due to lack of riparian......the list goes on.
Every drainage into Panguitch Lake is affected. Bunker, Deer, Blue Springs, Clear Creek, Ipson. I don't see how Panguitch Lake would not be affected in some way.
Mammoth Creek (headwaters) will also be affected. This is said because of the native fish restoration project currently underway.
Yankee Meadow will most certainly be affected. Numerous other small streams and lakes in that area will be affected.
Therapist: It's not just "environmentalists" trying to save trees from sound forest management, but it's all sorts of different groups "who have no idea what sound management practices are" with fisheries management, wildlife management, and other environment management agencies. How many fish restoration projects (Boulder Creek???) have been put on hold because some group with an agenda has threatened to sue? It's
.
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As a rancher, I have been against the mismanagement of our national forests for decades. Grazing reduces fuel loading, plain and simple! Responsible harvesting of timber increase forest health and limits fuel loading, plain and simple! Allowing natural fires to burn like the planet has done for eons before the USFS and the BLM decided to run and put out every is another fine solution. I recently went to Wyoming and cut 200 pine poles near Lonetree on Poison Mnt. The amount of pine killed timber is staggering! As far as a guy can see, over half the forest is either standing dead timber or stacked up like cord wood dead timber. One lightning strike or camp fire unattended and the north slope will burn. I hope that the Brian Head fire gets some help from mother nature and gets knocked down soon. My heart goes out to the folks who have lost homes, cabins, property. Environmental groups would rather the west burn to the ground than allow logging and soon to be grazing if they have their way!!!
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I wonder if increased elk herd size could help increase grazing to reduce fuel loads?
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Yes it could. But adding elk numbers (which are 10,000 over Utah's own numbers for available habitat) on summer ranges does nothing for what those elk will eat all winter. Cattle leave the mnt by October on most permits. Where would the increased elk herd spend the winter?
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IDK. Maybe down on their winter range? Kinda like the cattle.
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I guess everyone has a differing opinion on this fire, but I strongly disagree with PBH's assertion that the Brian Head fire will impact Panguitch Lake. I predict very little, if any impact. Can anyone name a lake the size of Panguitch Lake that has every been adversely impacted by a wildfire? Sure very small reservoirs and small lakes maybe, but I can't think of a single one the size of Panguitch Lake. Also the biggest threat to Panguitch Lake is over harvest of fish by Southern Utah anglers and Las Vegas bait fishermen. Even if there was a minimal fish kill from flash flooding and ash entering the fishery via runoff, it would be offset because Panguitch Lake, due to the fire, has essentially been closed during one of the heaviest harvest periods of the year. Maybe I am the only one, but to me this fire has been very good for Panguitch Lake because in a twisted way it has reduced harvest considerably.
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Simply Brilliant!
Because there is unlimited habitat available on winter range right?
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Therapist, instead of finger pointing and name calling, I'd prefer our government address the core of the problem - global warming. Some research has shown that thinning and removing affected trees actually makes the problem worse, not better. Here's an interesting read:
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2...diana-six/
Larry (well known tree hugger and enviromentalist)
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[quote Liprippa]I guess everyone has a differing opinion on this fire, but I strongly disagree with PBH's assertion that the Brian Head fire will impact Panguitch Lake. I predict very little, if any impact. Can anyone name a lake the size of Panguitch Lake that has every been adversely impacted by a wildfire? Sure very small reservoirs and small lakes maybe, but I can't think of a single one the size of Panguitch Lake. Also the biggest threat to Panguitch Lake is over harvest of fish by Southern Utah anglers and Las Vegas bait fishermen. Even if there was a minimal fish kill from flash flooding and ash entering the fishery via runoff, it would be offset because Panguitch Lake, due to the fire, has essentially been closed during one of the heaviest harvest periods of the year. Maybe I am the only one, but to me this fire has been very good for Panguitch Lake because in a twisted way it has reduced harvest considerably.[/quote] what do have against us southern utah angler plus i agree with pbh that it will affect the lake and we will a fish loss in panguitch lake due run off
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It will take 20 to 40 years for the forest to grow back and some of us will not live long enough to see it. However the fires will clear out the dead fall and kill off the pine beetles. I don't know what will get a handle on the pine beetles except fire. Those damn beetles are a plague in our forests right now.
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[quote Liprippa]I guess everyone has a differing opinion on this fire, but I strongly disagree with PBH's assertion that the Brian Head fire will impact Panguitch Lake. I predict very little, if any impact. [/quote]
hehe. dude. OK.
Let's think about this for a few minutes....
what happens when all vegetation in a drainage is burned? Significant increase in runoff and erosion, which negatively impacts water quality. Areas immediately adjacent to fires (hmmmm.....Panguitch Lake?) are highest in erosion, but effects can be seen many miles downstream (100 miles). Increased sediment load following a wildfire is a certainty. Those increased loads affect aquatic habitat, food webs, spawning habitat, and in many cases directly casue fish kills.
Now, the real meat:
These sediments carry other pollutants, most notably phosphorus. Phosphorous is important, but elevated levels in water can overstimulate growth of aquatic vegetation leading to depletion of oxygen levels in fisheries. This is often called "summer kill". This has happened at water bodies in Utah. Minersville is a good example. When water levels get low, oxygen levels also get low due to high nutrient levels and high aquatic vegetation. Anyone remember Utah Lake last summer? Low water, high nutrient load = algae bloom. Toxic.
The deposition of ash into water can also affect fish by clogging gills.
Nitrogen released from plant tissues during and after a fire can leach as nitrate from burned areas and be carried to nearby lakes, rivers, and streams. Retardants (often times ammonia, nitrogen, and phosphorous based) flushed into waterbodies can cause short-term increases in the nutrient levels and [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication"]eutrophication.[/url]
These increases in nitrate, phosphorous and other nutrients can lead to algal blooms, resulting in extreme fluctuations in oxygen or oxygen depletion as plant photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition intensify. Anaerobic conditions stress aquatic organisms and can alter a wide range of chemical equilibria, which may mobilize certain toxic pollutants.
Fires have always been a serious threat to fisheries. Those threats typically don't show up immediately during or after a fire. They show up later, when rainstorms hit those burned areas.
You can think all you want that Panguitch Lake will be unaffected. I like your optimism. Unfortunately I'm not that optimistic. I hope I'm wrong and you're right. Right now, the biggest threat to Panguitch Lake has very little to do with angler harvest. That's crazy talk. This fire is bad for fish.
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[quote Bovineowner]Simply Brilliant!
Because there is unlimited habitat available on winter range right?[/quote]
maybe we could reduce the number of cattle on winter range to allow for higher number of elk?
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Fires and fish have co-existed together a few years. Like back to the beginning of time...Please cite one example where a lake the size of Panguitch Lake has been negatively impacted in such a magnitude as you claim.
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Lip -- there are lots and lots of examples where fisheries (lakes) have been "negatively impacted". Nearly all have negative impacts, as cited in my previous post. Maybe not 100% kills, but negative impacts nonetheless.
I understand that fires and fish have existed together for a long time, and will continue to do so. There is no question that this fire will have a negative affect on our fisheries -- and I still fear that Panguitch Lake will see a negative affect. Summer kills are a concern frequently -- as mentioned previously we have seen summer kills at Minersville in the past. Summer kills are the result of oxygen depletion, and oxygen depletion can come from high nutrient loads (documented). High nutrient loads can come from fires, as cited previously.
To answer your direct question: no. i can't find a cited example for a 1200 acre lake. I can find examples for lots, and lots of streams and rivers, as well as examples of smaller lakes (Nambe Lake). But none the size of Panguitch.
*Edit*
Cheesman Resrvoir in Colorado. 79,000 acre feet - so it's quite a bit bigger than Panguitch. Burned in 2002. 10 years later, they were still having issues with the reservoir due to the fire.
http://www.denverpost.com/2006/11/23/hay...-up-water/
More:
Wallow Fire (2011): Nelson Reservoir increased nutrient load led to substantial fish kill. 9 reservoirs within the boundary, 6 of which affected by fire.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOC...333355.pdf
Again, I hope you're right. I don't share your optimism that Panguitch Lake will not see any negative affects -- and actually benefit due to the decrease in current harvest rate.
Time will tell.
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