Odds and Ends

A few short blurbs:

Fire Starter Identified — The alleged fire starter of the 1500 Fire was arrested after he turned himself in. From the Salem Statesman-Journal (here):

[Polk County Sheriff’s] Deputy Brian Dunkin said that Larkins was target shooting in a rural area close to where the fire began Saturday, Van Laanen said.

Larkins was with three to five other friends shooting a military-style .50 caliber sniper rifle when three shots were fired into a tree stump.

The bullets were described as armor-piercing, incendiary, tracer-type rounds.

When the group saw smoke from the stump, they tried to extinguish the fire, but it grew out of control. They fled and called 911 but did not claim responsibility.

One of the 911 callers in the shooting party said a black SUV was involved. That information later was released to the public as a tip. Van Laanen said investigators later determined that was misinformation.

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Wolf Kills Calf in WA — The first confirmed wolf depredation on livestock in Washington State is under investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. For more information see Wolf Crossing (here).

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Meat Bees — An excellent discussion of yellow jackets and paper wasps may be found at the Rogue Pundit (here).

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Live Fire Cam — The Domke Lake and Tolo fires near Lake Chelan are being monitored by live web cameras from the University of Montana (see here). Thanks and a tip of the hardhat to Mark of Ellensburg  for the headsup.

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Fire Stats — 2007 is shaping up to be another record or near record fire season. Nearly 7.8 million acres have burned nationally in wildfires this year, so far. These and other stats are available at the National Interagency Fire Center - Wildland Fire Statistics webpage (here).

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New Forest Science Blog — SOS Forests is undergoing mitosis and will splitting off a new “daughter” site soon. The new site will concentrate on cutting-edge forest science, history, and related scientific disciplines, leaving fire, politics, and the daily news grind to SOSF. The new site is as yet unnamed. Your suggestions will be appreciated, or possibly not, depending on what they are.

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Bear Hunting – The delightful Mr. Bear Bait, or “Bear Belly” as his friends call him, has gone off to mortify large ungulates. His elk-hunting method is to challenge the critters to hard whiskey drinking contests. The last one standing gets to mount the losers on his wall. We shall soon see how effective this hunting strategy really is.

In his spare time Mr. Bait runs a combo Veterinarian/Taxidermy service. His motto is “Either way, you get your dog back”.

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That’s all for now, but frankly, it’s enough, isn’t it?