For fire updates, >>CLICK HERE.

Hey, fishers, the East Fork area and East Fork Road are closed today, so it’s a good idea to stay off Highway 39. Last night, although Camp Williams wasn’t evacuated, area hikers and campers were, so the situation is once again very hot and dire for our mountains, the visitors who frequent them, our firefighters, the fish we all love and hopefully, not for homes and residents. News reports, as I write, say 300 acres have burned so far, CalFire has called in air support, and containment is at zero.

Don’t we all dread these times? Biologists say that fire is natural and a good thing, but that the burn cycle is 20 years between events. Ash fertilizes the ground for seeds to grow, Giant Sequoias have a natural fire retardant in their bark and the jack pine depends on fire to release their seeds, according to the National Forest Foundation.

If an area continues to burn, say every three or four years, the habitat becomes less able to support the rich land and aquatic life we all enjoy. Wildlife die or flee in search of better habitat and food. Even worse in long term, grasses and shrubs colonize what used to be a forest of trees. Invasives can then get a leg up as well.

If you’ve been to the WF recently, you’ve noticed that the flow is way down because of construction efforts to control the Bobcat Fire debris in Cogswell Dam. The water clarity is not great, and it is way hot.

We are in the fourth year of a five-year emergency debris clean-up project, and because of the turbidity, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s surveys on the West Fork in the last two years haven’t been completed.

“CDFW has just recently completed a 2024 annual survey of the WFSGR and results are still pending,” CDFW Environmental Scientist Joseph Stanovich said in an email. “There has been internal discussion regarding the status of the wild trout populations and plans to help it rebound, but with the current conditions and keeping the wildlife resources in mind, it doesn’t seem to be feasible right now.”

I know we’re all anxious to take a look at that report when it is released.

You can keep an eye on local flows >>HERE. I’m not sure if the West Fork gauge is broken or what, but taking a look at the flow, it ain’t good.

I’ve been hearing much better things about fishing the EF, so let’s all hope that firefighters get the Fork Fire out soon and that these precious habitat treasures for wild trout and all our animals come out of this all right.

See you on the river, Jim Burns