Subject: birding in the Thunder Mt fire
Date: Jun 18 21:59:46 1996
From: Mary Poss - mposs at u.washington.edu


Many of you have visited the area north east of Winthrop where the Thunder
Mt fire burned 2 years ago. We have actively been following wildlife
changes associated with the fire and I've posted some of these on
Tweeters. As you may know, this pristine roadless area is scheduled for
salvage logging and roadbuilding will start next week.It is not too late
to write to the Forest Service about your interest in the area. Enough
input on the multitude of non-destructive uses of this fire area may help
to prevent the offering of the adjacent sale.
This is a sure spot to see both three-toed and black back
woodpeckers. Several other woodpeckers are more recent immigrants. Grouse
are flourishing (both spruce and blue), and raptor numbers are increasing
with the influx of small birds and mammals.Song birds were abundant last
year and Boreal chickadees were very common last winter.There are also
Boreal owls in the vicinity. Wildflowers are stunning and mushrooms are
bountiful.It's truely a special place to observe the rejuevenating aspects
of fire.
If anyone is interested in taking a trip over to the fire, contact
me. I can give directions and several of us will guide trips. I also have
a slide presentation that provides information on the natural history of
the area and the importance of fire in this ecosystem if there are any
gorups that are interested. If you do go over (or just want to voice your
opinion) please write to the forest supervisor, Sam Gehr, and tell him
that you visited the area because of its unique ecology. Feel free to
elaborate on your feelings about the road building and clearcutting, but
do let him know that you visited the area. It's very important that he
hears from "multiple use groups" (not just the timber industry) as to the
value of this very special area. Your letter or (even better) your visit
can really make a difference to what this landscape will look like next
year at this time. Thanks in advance. Address for Sam Gehr is
Sam Gehr
Supervisor's Office
1240 South Second Avenue
Okanogan,WA 98840
(509)826-3275

Mary Poss
Dept Microbiology
UW
543-3376
mposs at u.washington.edu