| SUBSCRIBE | | Why we charge |
|
|
|
|
 E-mail Story Print Friendly
Most Requested
Who's Blogging?
Fires Snow Helping Firefighters Corral Ojo Peak Fire |
Front Page
Fire Tightens Camp Space for Boy Scouts By Sue Major Holmes
fire
June 8, 2002
The Associated Press
It will be still be Philmont, but it will be different.
Thousands of teen-agers come to Philmont Scout Ranch each summer for 10-day backcountry treks crossing the ranch's 215 square miles and the Valle Vidal, part of the Carson National Forest to the north used by scout trips under an agreement.
But days before Sunday's start of this year's hiking programs, lightning-sparked fires erupted on the ranch, which like the rest of New Mexico has seen little rain for months. By Friday, three fires had combined into a 90,000-acre blaze raging across Philmont's north country and the Valle Vidal, putting a third of Philmont's 137,493 acres off limits.
"It's a huge fire and it's going to take a long time to be out, and we won't send anyone into that area until it is ruled safe, and that's a long time off," the ranch's program manager, Mark Anderson, said Friday.
The challenge: put the same number of scouts into two-thirds of the territory.
But Philmont's camps weren't full before the fire squeezed its territory, Anderson said.
"We've got space for them. . . . The challenge is to make sure we're counting and that on any one night we still have enough campsites," he said.
Philmont, in the rugged Sangre de Cristo mountains of northern New Mexico, encompasses mountains, canyons, meadows and valleys, and offers what the Boy Scouts refer to as "a mountaintop high-adventure experience." Hikers can pass from high desert at about 6,500 feet to alpine meadows at 12,000 feet.
Hundreds of thousands of scouts have come to Philmont since Oklahoma oilman Waite Phillips donated part of his ranch to the Boy Scouts in 1938. This year, Philmont expects to pass the mark of 750,000 visitors.
"We intend to provide the same type of magical experience kids have had for years and years and years, even though there will be different plans on doing that," Anderson said. "The staff is motivated and enthusiastic and ready to start doing our job and fulfilling some dreams."
None of the ranch's campsites had burned as of Friday morning, he said.
"We have not lost any backcountry buildings that we use for camps," Anderson said. The fire burned two sheds where the ranch stored tack for horse programs and an old cow camp facility not used for scout programs.
Anderson, who has taken reconnaissance flights over the fire, said he was surprised how much areas of green dotted burned areas, islands of forest that eventually could be hiked to across charred areas.
The fire affects everyone at Philmont because there will be more crews — groups of seven to 12 scouts — using a smaller space, Anderson said.
"Every crew is going to have some impact because of additional people in the area that they're hiking," he said.
One positive point: "There'll be more opportunity for fellowship," he said.
Philmont normally has 35 "itineraries," the term used for backcountry treks. About 14 routes normally cross the backcountry in the now-closed northern portions of the ranch. However, the ranch already was modifying a few of those because dry conditions had prompted the Carson National Forest earlier to close the Valle Vidal to recreation.
Ranch officials were spending Friday figuring out new routes and campsites for everyone along the 330 to 350 miles of trails, Anderson said. The first 300 scouts and leaders are expected Sunday; 300 to 350 more will arrive daily throughout the summer and will be sent out on treks.
Anderson could not say what percentage of the hiking trails lie in the ranch's north areas.
Philmont tries to balance hikes throughout the ranch, with each route divided by degree of difficulty. Anderson said officials will try to keep that in mind as they shift hikes, "so there are still challenging hikes in the central and south" parts of the ranch.
The smoke from the fire is having little affect. The direction of the prevailing winds means that unless a front moves through to flip winds around, smoke from the north part of the ranch doesn't generally drift to the rest of the territory.
Nonetheless, Philmont's medical staff has warned that due to the possibility of smoke during the first part of the summer, people with respiratory diseases such as asthma or bronchitis should talk to their doctor about the advisability of going to the ranch.
Albuquerque Journal Subscriber Services
Submit a news tip | Place a classified ad | Advertise Online at ABQjournal | Advertise in Albuquerque Journal print products | Subscribe to newspaper
Save & Share
Tag this Page
| 
...go to bookmarks
