|
NEWS RELEASE |
USDA Forest
Service Salmon - Challis National Forest Rural Route 2, Box 600 Salmon, Idaho 83467 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kent Fuellenbach (208) 756-5145 or Gail Baer (208) 756-5100
Unit
28 Closure modified
The Panther Creek Road
#055, from Morgan Creek Summit to the Silver Creek Road turnoff, and the Silver
Creek Road #108, will be re-opened to public access at 12:01 am Friday
September 15. The portion of Unit 28
bounded by those roads will also be open to public access, see map insert.
This action re-opens a
portion of Unit 28 closed earlier due to the fire activity of the nearby Clear
Creek Fire. By re-opening the Silver
Creek Road, forest users now can access the Meyers Cove area and those portions
of Unit 27 accessed through this area of the Forest. The Camas Creek Trail #044, from Meyers Cove is also open to
public travel.
The remainder of Unit
28 is still closed to public access due to the hazardous conditions for travel
created by the Clear Creek Fire.
District Ranger Terry Hershey asks hunters, hikers and other outdoor
recreationists to remain patient during the mop-up and rehabilitation phase of
this years unprecedented fire season.
The area is closed for
public safety and protection from hazards associated with wildfire suppression,
rehabilitation and logging activities.
There is still a lot of fire-related traffic on the narrow forest
roads. More than 1,500 firefighters are
still working along the fire lines and along roads and trails mopping up hot
spots. Hunters would would be unaware
of nearby fire crews that could be in the line of fire.
Forest supervisor
George Matejko is evaluating the closed areas of the forest as quickly as
possible for consideration of re-opening them to public access. “Firefighter and public safety is still the
number one priority” said Matejko.
For further
information on the closure modification or on fires on the Forest, please call
Fire Information at (208) 756-5283.
Information can be found on the Forests’ fire web page at http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/sc/fire2000.
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