Fire Information

This news release comes from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and provides some information that hunters may wish to review.   BLM News Release Owyhee Field Office, Idaho and Malheur Field Office, Oregon DATE: September 19, 2016 CONTACT: Cindy Fritz (208) 284-3416   Treatments Continue on Soda Fire

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game will host a public meeting on Tuesday, September 27 to seek input from landowners, sportsmen and other interested public concerning plans for habitat restoration and management of wildlife populations of the Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area.

With the reduced risk of wildfires due to cooler temperatures and precipitation in the area, state and federal wildfire officials will lift Stage 1 Fire Restrictions within the West Central Idaho Mountains effective Thursday, Sept. 15, at 11:59 p.m.  

Idaho Fish and Game is fired up about increasing elk populations in its Lolo Elk Zone in the headwaters of the Clearwater River. Through a cooperative effort with Forest Service and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the two agencies and RMEF are proposing controlled forest fires known as “prescribed-fire treatments” to improve habitat for elk and other wildlife. 

Cooler weather along with fire fighter's efforts have helped with the handful of fires in Idaho over the labor day weekend. Always check-in with the forest or management agency for the destinations you're heading to. Additional online resources include:

Much of the areas where big game animals are present in the fall were either totally unscathed or burned in a mosaic pattern that left patches of forage and cover.  The bigger problem facing biologists will be how to prepare for the transition to winter range after the hunts are over.  Much of the WMA that is traditionally used by deer and elk to overwinter was hit extremely hard by the fires.

IDAHO FALLS – With some of the worst wildfires in recent years still burning across the Upper Snake Region the situation is creating more questions than answers for wildlife managers and hunters.