North Fork, Red Lodge, Yellowstone on fire

Three fires continue to dim the region's skies.

After enveloping Powell in the late afternoon, smoke from the Gunbarrel Fire rolled over Cody last night (Wednesday).

It seemed to come just in time to make anyone taking a summer afternoon stroll or rushing home at five o'clock smell like a fireside camper.

Windy Wednesday weather drove serious fire growth - nearly doubling the blaze's size from roughly 2,100 acres to 4,100. The fire spread substantially again on Thursday - late estimates placed the blaze at more than 7,800 acres.

It doesn't burn alone...

The fire edged closer to the east border of Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday (July 29). Though the sky is thick with the smoke, the actual fire can only be seen with some extra leg work (or, on this webpage, by clicking for a larger view).

The west end of the fire is visible north of the Goff Creek Trail and also the Goff Creek Lodge.

In a Thursday news release, Park County Sheriff Scott Steward said the county is "in the process of planning a possible evacuation of Elephant Head Lodge and possibly a couple others near that location due to the close proximity of the Gunbarrel Fire." Steward said the planning was only a precautionary measure.
The fire has been painting the sky orange with smoke over Park County and the Shoshone River. The smoke has definitely made for some interesting sunsets in the past couple of nights.

The Gunbarrel fire, of course, isn't the only one burning.

The Cascade Fire - only about 6 miles west of Red Lodge - has consumed more than 9,400 acres, burned cabins, and forced multiple evacuations in the area. An precautionary evacuation plan for the City of Red Lodge has already been developed.

In Yellowstone, the LeHardy Fire, north of Fishing Bridge, had burned about 505 acres as of Thursday afternoon. It poses no threat to visitors, though it forced the closure of the road between Fishing Bridge and Mud Volcano.

One Illinois tourist I talked to thought Wyoming sunsets were always this beautiful.

The Tribune Table-Tippers

The Tribune staff ate more than its fair share of food last week.

A large scoreboard was erected here at the office, with 14 or so folks participating to various degrees.

We'll probably never know exactly who won, but we do know that as a team, we gobbled and guzzled a great many gobs of greasy grub.

The shocking totals follow...

Our list of fair fare:

27 Roger’s pork sandwiches
19 sodas
13 1/2 slices of pizza
12 tacos
10 funnel cakes
8 Macho Nachos
8 bags of Mini Donuts
6 Indian tacos
4 iced teas
4 lemonades
3 tamales
3 ice creams
3 bags of cotton candy
3 bags of kettle corn
2 corn dogs
2 energy drinks
2 taco salads
1 pork chili
1 gyro

When you combine those purchases with the, uh, relatively high number of alcoholic beverages consumed by certain members of Tribune staff, the grand total comes out to about 185 items - worth about $550.

As you might guess, the wallets were the only ones losing weight.

Things took a harrowing turn during Friday’s lunch. Around 12:42 p.m., three overfed members of the Tribune team nearly tipped over a table with their combined bulk.

It certainly put the eating in perspective.

“I was embarrassed (for being a fat pig),” said one face-stuffer. “It was obviously a distraction to whoever was on stage.”

There has been no indication if the event will continue next year.

Sylvan decision finalized

It's official: Yellowstone's Sylvan Pass will be managed for avalanches this coming winter. The season will be slightly shorter, going from December 22 to March 1.

On June 3, the Sylvan Pass study group (made up of officials from the National Park Service and state and local government) recommended the pass be managed for avalanches rather than left to the whims of weather.

The group's recommendation was made with understanding that it would be accepted, but things weren't officially completed until yesterday, when regional NPS director Mike Snyder signed the revised Record of Decision (read the press release here).

If you need evidence that the signing was no surprise, look no further than the comments made by Wyoming's Congressional delegation...

The remarks on the date of the study group consensus (available here) and yesterday (available here) are pretty similar.

U.S. Senator John Barrasso, June 3:

“I applaud the hard work put in by our community representatives to find resolution to this issue...Today’s decision to allow access to the Park via snowmobiles and snowcoaches is the right answer.”

Sen. Barrasso, July 21:

"I applaud the hard work put in by the people of Cody to keep the pass open...Continued access to the Park via snowmobiles and snowcoaches is absolutely the right answer."

Of course, Park Service policies never seem to be actually "final." The NPS, environmental groups, and Park County are locked in legal battle over the number of snowmobiles allowed into the Yellowstone each day.

Environmental groups want zero, Park County wants 720, and the Park Service wants 540. Opposing lawsuits from Park County and various environmental groups will be heard in August and September.

If the Park Services' 540 number stands, the East Gate would allow a maximum of 30 snowmobiles (all with Best Available Technology) into the park each day, along with 2 additional snowcoaches.

There will be no limit on the number of buffalo.

Inside the numbers: Park County budget

If you're a Tribune print reader, odds are you've seen sports writer David Dickey's recurring "Inside the Numbers" feature. I've joked with David about putting one together for more mundane topics, like budgets. Today, that joke becomes reality.

The number of Park County budgets Commissioner Jill Shockley Siggins has helped shape. At a work session last Thursday (the 10th), she said working on the budget is the best part of getting elected. "This is why I run," she said.

Amount requested by Sheriff Scott Steward for a new radio, after dropping his on the floor Tuesday. He was joking, but as commissioners looked to slash $1.2 million from the budget, county employees made sure he was sitting at the front of the room - noting that Steward was the only one wearing a bullet-proof vest. It was not enough to immunize the sheriff's budget - Steward volunteered to give up one new vehicle out of his 2009 budget.

The money Park County will spend on copying supplies (paper, ink, etc.) in 2009. It would probably be inaccurate to call them "duplicate charges."

Money spent on county employee wages in 2008. Commissioners plan to give all non-elected employees a five percent raise in fiscal year 2009.

Spreadsheet cells occupied by the 2009 preliminary budget (roughly). When printed, it will probably occupy around 70 pages. If your personal finances are spread over that many cells, it's a strong indicator that you need a life.

Property taxes the county will pay in 2009 on its Park County Complex (the old Marathon Building). The county has to pay taxes just like anybody else when a property is being used to make money. (The county is leasing offices to private entities -including Marathon - on the building's second floor.) Doing some rough journalist math, about $2,100 will end up back in county funds, while the other $12,200 will end up in school district, city, hospital, fire, and cemetery coffers.

Lunch money cut from the county museum board budget. Generally, the county does not pay for meals, but it had -apparently - been paying for the museum board's. "I want to send a strong message," said Siggins.

Number of times Commissioner Bucky Hall faked hara-kiri with a letter opener during last Thursday's budget work session. Apparently, Hall isn't as big a budget fan as Siggins.

Garage ablaze

At around 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, the Powell Volunteer Fire Department responded to a garage fire at 927 Lane 11H. The garage was quickly doused, but the owner, Jerry Danko, decided to let it burn. So, the boys from the fire department obliged him.


In a few minutes, the garage was ablaze.

“We’re just going to let it go,” said Chief Joey Darrah, “and use it as a training exercise for our guys.”

Capt. Sam Rodriguez pointed a thermal imager at the building as the heat intensified — 600 degrees Fahrenheit, 800, 1,000...With each passing moment, the heat grew more intense.

In the imager, the fire looked like an big orange teardrop.

Soon the garage was engulfed in flames, assaulting the sky with a thick, inky column of smoke.

To prevent surrounding vegetation and a power pole from catching on fire, Devin Self hoses it down. Self’s partner, Delray Jones, steadies the high-pressure hose behind him.

Wyoming Department of Agriculture: Public protectors or cookie monsters?

The Wyoming Department of Agriculture has proposed a new set of rules and regulations for folks who sell things like baked goods at places like farmer's markets.

In a nutshell, the Department would start treating home-based goody-bakers (called "cottage food establishments") more like restaurants. The goal is to increase food safety, but at least one local vendor is afraid the new requirements would force most cooks to stop baking.

Are the regulations too burdensome? Check them out for yourself:

The changes would apply to two sections of law: the Wyoming Food, Drug & Cosmetic Safety Act (those proposed changes can be found in this PDF) and Wyoming's Food Safety Rules (that proposal can be found in this PDF). If that's too confusing, the PDFs can also be found on this page.

For those interested in the issue or interested in commenting, there'll be a public meeting in the Barling Room of the Park County Courthouse this Wednesday (the 16th) from 7 to 9 p.m. You can speak your piece there, or you can send your comments via email to Dean Finkenbinder at dfinke@state.wy.us.

If you do have thoughts, now's the time to say so: the public comment period closes this Friday (July 18th).

The dirt on fair deadlines

Don't forget: if you want to get your handiwork or wrestling team in the Park County Fair, Friday (July 11) is last day for most entries. So, get your prized pigs, pickles or poultry signed up before 5 p.m. - elsewise, you'll have to wait until next year. 

Entries can be submitted at the Fair Office in Powell, or the Extension Office in Cody.

Arts and crafts are due Monday (July 14).

wild ride

It was a wild ride for this cowboy, Derry McLane of Bozeman, Mont., During the Cody Stampede rodeo July 4. McLane somehow got caught up in his rigging and was unable to free his hand after the ride. It took quite an entourage of people to get the horse stopped, even after it was roped by the one of the pickup men. Everyone certainly breathed a sigh of relief when McLane was able to walk out of the arena.

Exploding sky

Night was transformed to day when the Powell Volunteer Fire Department fired-up their annual Fourth of July fireworks.

The boys let it rip — BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Like lightning erupting, the sky was torn apart in radiant colors.

In the pit where the firefighters sparked their ordnance, the earth shook from explosive concussions and spent gunpowder hung in the air like dust from passing cars.

Between deafening blasts, the crowd cheered. Within the pit, exuberant firefighters whooped. It was a night of explosive pageantry befitting any Independence Day celebration.

Nice job, guys.

Trailers toasted

Around 4 p.m. Friday, Powell Volunteer firefighters responded to 814 Lane 6-3/4 for a controlled burn that got out of control. Blowing embers from about 100 yards away reached two trailers sitting side by side.

The mobile homes were quickly engulfed, but the owner was not worried. He was concerned about a nearby haystack and barn, said Capt. Sam Rodriguez. The hay and barn were kept saturated.

Firemen Mike Meeker and Doug Leichner keep a close eye on one of the trailers that burned to the ground.

Video: One noisy library

"Noise Guy" Charlie Williams visited the Powell library on June 26 to show off his sound effect skills. It was pretty cool.

Runtime: 3:18

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