View topic - NWT 2014 Forest Fires

In a reply to one of my NWT trip report posts, HOOP asked if 2014 had been the worst fire year ever. I haven't found a definitive answer to that yet, but it was certainly the worst in a long time. The area burned, almost 3.4 million hectares, was 13 times the 10-year average, with the area north of Great Slave Lake being the hardest hit.

Many traditional canoe routes - including Pike's Portage - burned this summer. These fires, and their impact on winter range, can hardly be good news for the struggling caribou herds.



If you are a visual sort, here's a picture.

-jmc

Lots of north-blown smoke from mainland NWT this summer when I was paddling on Victoria Island.

_________________
Brian
http://www.JohnstonPursuits.ca

 

I paddled from Yellowknife to Old Fort Reliance. Smoke was in the air most of the way. Fire damage was evident from Talthelei Narrows on, although the map does not show it. The lodge at Hoarfrost River burned. I hiked over the first part of Pikes Portage. All was burned except the first half km. The moss was dry from lack of rain and it burned, leaving most of the trees still standing. With their roots gone some of the trees had fallen across the trail. Pikes Portage gets a lot of winter use, so there was a plan to come down the trail with two canoes next summer from Artillery Lake and fall and buck every tree within 50 ft of the trail. One consolation; there should be plenty of driftwood for future paddlers.

While the NWT was burning, my home town Fairbanks was drowning in record summer rain. I left one weather extreme and wound up in another one. Drat.

Douglas