{"id":99234,"date":"2018-06-11T17:04:32","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T23:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/summer-on-hold-raging-wildfires-and-a-forest-closure-define-the-summer-of-2018\/"},"modified":"2018-06-11T17:04:32","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T23:04:32","slug":"summer-on-hold-raging-wildfires-and-a-forest-closure-define-the-summer-of-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/summer-on-hold-raging-wildfires-and-a-forest-closure-define-the-summer-of-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer on hold: Raging wildfires, and a forest closure, define the summer of 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"
<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They may have seen the highlight of the summer of 2018.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a pessimistic prediction, and we hope we are way off the mark. But with the Burro Fire expanding to over 1,000 acres and burning out of control to the west of the volatile 416 Fire north of Durango, those ominous plumes of smoke may mar the view of our mountain horizon for many weeks to come.<\/p>\n

With the San Juan National Forest\u2019s announcement of a forest-wide Stage 3 fire closure, effective today, it feels as if much of summer \u2013 or much of our summer planning for outdoor fun \u2013 has been put on hold until significant moisture arrives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe closure order will prohibit entry in the San Juan National Forest \u2026 by the general public,\u201d the announcement reads. \u201cThis means that forest campgrounds, day-use areas, roads and trails will be closed, including wilderness areas, and that hiking, dispersed camping and other recreation activities are prohibited.\u201d<\/p>\n

One slim silver lining in the clouds of smoke was the news that the McPhee Reservoir boat ramp and marina will likely remain open, providing a dependable way for county residents with boats to cool off as summer temperatures climb. That welcome will not extend to the shoreline of the lake, however, where the fire danger makes it unwise to permit the usual lakeside summer activities.<\/p>\n

Embedded in all the news is the underlying need for us to be vigilant and exceedingly careful with our use of fire and potential fire sources. Quick cooperation from a variety of ground and aircrews, including the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the Dove Creek Volunteer Fire Department, put out a blaze west of Cahone last week before the flames could spread into the canyon country. And an early Monday morning blaze \u2013 started by a discarded cigarette \u2013 was handled by crews east of Durango before it could threaten a forested hillside and numerous homes.<\/p>\n

Until relief arrives \u2013 we hope in the form of a strong, early monsoon season \u2013 we will join Frances Roach of Mancos (Journal, June 8) in her call for everyone to pray for rain.<\/p>\n

Yes, pray, sing and dance for rain according to your spiritual beliefs, and don\u2019t forget to thank the firefighters and aircrews, both local and from all over the country, who are dedicating their summer to battling the blazes and protecting life, property, wildlife and natural resources here in Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

du1-i-syn They may have seen the highlight of the summer of 2018. That\u2019s a pessimistic prediction, and we hope we are way off the mark. But with the Burro Fire expanding to over 1,000 acres and burning out of control to the west of the volatile 416 Fire north of Durango, those ominous plumes of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5821,5819],"tags":[125],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-99234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-opinion","tag-newsletter-opinion"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99234"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=99234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}