Fire Bans

[kaiman]

Speaking of fire bans, San Juan National Forest will be going to a Stage 3 fire ban beginning tomorrow (Tuesday, June 11th) which prevents public access by anyone to Forest Service lands for any reason. This area covers NFS land from East of Silverton to west of Durango, South towards Pagosa Springs and north towards Delores including the access points for the Chicago Basin 14ers and nearby 13ers in Vestal Basin, etc.

http://www.pagosasun.com/san-juan-natio ... ure-order/

Also Chafee County will be going to a Stage 2 fire ban which means no campfires or white gas/alcohol stoves (canister stoves are still okay).

https://m.facebook.com/Chaffee-County-F ... oup_header

The Chafee County ban does not effect Forest Service lands though, including the 14ers in the Collegiate Peaks. That being said, I strongly agree with Chicago Transplant that people should NOT make campfires even in areas where Stage 2 bans are not in affect, it’s just too risky this year.

Kai

[Chicago Transplant]

And just to further expand on what the different classes mean, keeping in mind they can vary slightly by jurisdiction, as its not just fires you have to be concerned with. For example, in a stage 2 restriction you have to watch where you even park your car as you can't park in vegetated areas.

This is for the Upper Colorado River Basin:

https://gacc.nifc.gov/rmcc/dispatch_cen ... ctions.pdf

[madbuck]

HOWEVER, If people can't take the 5 minutes to understand what county they are going to be in, and understand that county has a sheriff's department with phone number they can, oh my gosh, dial, to figure out the fire situation... well then, they have no business being in the woods in the first place.

It's that trivial, if you spend any significant time actually camping in the mountains, especially if you're flexible and dynamic about where you are staying the night.
Check out Chaffee Co right now, for example:

Effectively immediately and by order of Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze Chaffee County, which includes all state lands and unincorporated lands, will move to Stage II Fire Restrictions IMMEDIATELY. This does not include federal lands such as the national forest and BLM Lands. Both the City of Salida and the Town of Buena Vista have their own ordinances that pertain to fire restrictions and they should be consulted as to their restrictions. At the time of this press release our partners in the U.S. Forest Service and BLM are still under Stage I Fire Restrictions.

Sure, if you know exactly where you plan to camp, you might be able to get the information.
Maybe even easier to call the KOA directly

But ever drive dirt roads, exploring a new place, going across incorporated vs. unincorporated city and county limits, BLM land, back onto private land, then NF land?
Remain flexible as you check out different NF areas that may or may not be occupied?
Backpack along a long trail, and cross jurisdictions?
This year, I camped outside of Canon City and was surprised by a fire ban that wasn't online, and wasn't Fremont County. In April.
Last year, there were times where we could have campfires in developed NF campgrounds in Larimer County, but not in undeveloped campgrounds or in city limits of Fort Collins and Loveland.

I don't think a statewide fire ban is necessary just because it's confusing -- why punish Kiowans and Julesburgians unfairly? It's a necessary sacrifice to due environmental conditions, but it's not 'easy' to figure out the patchwork of arbitrary manmade land jurisdiction rules, and it's a bit of a loss for the mountain wanderer to have to plug in regularly to get the latest updates.

[Tigerbear]

Exactly!!!

[Chicago Transplant]

Which is why my suggestion to just not have a fire if you don't know. If you want to have a fire, its your responsibility to know what the current regs are in your exact location. And even then, if you are camped for multiple days out of service, they may change between day 1 and 4. So in my opinion its best to just not have a fire and eliminate the risk.

I would hope that people can learn to live without a campfire for a few weeks or months given our tinderbox conditions right now. Seeing as there is an active wildfire 10 miles from my house, I hope that is not too much to ask. Thanks!

[LURE]

HOWEVER, If people can't take the 5 minutes to understand what county they are going to be in, and understand that county has a sheriff's department with phone number they can, oh my gosh, dial, to figure out the fire situation... well then, they have no business being in the woods in the first place.

It's that trivial, if you spend any significant time actually camping in the mountains, especially if you're flexible and dynamic about where you are staying the night.
Check out Chaffee Co right now, for example:

Effectively immediately and by order of Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze Chaffee County, which includes all state lands and unincorporated lands, will move to Stage II Fire Restrictions IMMEDIATELY. This does not include federal lands such as the national forest and BLM Lands. Both the City of Salida and the Town of Buena Vista have their own ordinances that pertain to fire restrictions and they should be consulted as to their restrictions. At the time of this press release our partners in the U.S. Forest Service and BLM are still under Stage I Fire Restrictions.

Looks like the Chaffee press release tells everything one needs to know to navigate the issue, and the county sheriff can basically always lay it out that way. It's still not that hard, Federal and County, they often reflect each other. If there is a fire ban, don't have a fire. Calling will always reveal things that often don't get put on the internet.

http://chaffeesheriff.org/fire-restrictions/

Sure there are nuances, but to the degree that, on foot, someone is navigating some big maze of complicated jurisdictional differences is not really the case. In planning, it's very simple to know how many jurisdictions you'll be dealing with on a backpacking trip and it'll more often than not be one.

It's still pretty simple, know where you are going, and call the sheriff and ranger; they'll lay it out for you and could even speculate if a ban is forthcoming.

[Tigerbear]

The sheriffs office is way too busy in dispatch for people to call to ask this question...... Not everyone is hiking or BP.
There are beer drinking ATVers hauling butt on every dirt road they can !
I see it in Chaffee County.......
Dispatch pays about $17 an hour and the position is always being refilled.

STATEWIDE FIREBAN

[madbuck]

Which is why my suggestion to just not have a fire if you don't know. If you want to have a fire, its your responsibility to know what the current regs are in your exact location. And even then, if you are camped for multiple days out of service, they may change between day 1 and 4. So in my opinion its best to just not have a fire and eliminate the risk.

Agree with this suggestion.

[Trotter]

And just to further expand on what the different classes mean, keeping in mind they can vary slightly by jurisdiction, as its not just fires you have to be concerned with. For example, in a stage 2 restriction you have to watch where you even park your car as you can't park in vegetated areas.

This is for the Upper Colorado River Basin:

https://gacc.nifc.gov/rmcc/dispatch_cen ... ctions.pdf

good info!

[Chicago Transplant]

To give you all a hand in your research, from my neck of the woods...

Eagle County and Pitkin County - Stage 1 Fire Restrictions effective immediately
https://www.facebook.com/EagleCountySO/ ... 85/?type=3

White River National Forest - Stage 1 Fire Restriction effective 12.01am June 15 (Friday):

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 583380.pdf

There are also several trail closures around the Buffalo Mtn Fire in Summit County: N. Tenmile, Meadow Creek, Lily Pad, Salt Lick, Buffalo Mountain, Mesa Cortina, Willowbrook trail system, and the Gore Range Trail (South Willow Creek drainage).

Mesa and Garfield County BLM - Stage 1 Fire Restriction since June 8:

https://gacc.nifc.gov/rmcc/dispatch_cen ... .06.08.pdf

[OtisbDriftwood]

Man let these places heal! Quit worrying about lines! This is not in the area affected! “ Oh the National Forest Bans end here” but I can climbs few feet away! Leave them be! Find something else to do!

[HikerGuy]

This should be the only page you need, it has direct links to each entity in the state:

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dfpc/f ... strictions

Having hiked in the San Juans, Sangres, Sawatch and Mosquitos the past three weekends, it would be incredibly irresponsible to have a campfire right now even it were allowed.