Crunch, Crunch

     That’s the sound my feet make when walking around in the woods right now.  The forest is drier than a "popcorn fart" as Grandma Darlene would say.  We haven’t had any significant rainfall since July and we’ve had plenty of sunshine, warm temperatures and wind to dry things out. 

     I’m still jumpy from last year’s Ham Lake Fire.  I made a call to the USFS last week because I thought I smelled smoke and the week before I called them because one of our employees thought they saw smoke.  We even ran our sprinkler system for a while the other day to make sure it was operating correctly. 

     I guess we have reason to be concerned.  There was a small fire on Loon Island of Saganaga yesterday.  It was found and put out quickly and the USFS has things under control.  The USFS agrees the forest is dry and as of tonight at midnight there will be a fire ban.  No open campfires, charcoal or wood-burning stoves will be allowed in the BWCAW.  Thank you USFS! 

     Now we just need Mother Nature to give us some wet weather.  Heavy dew, rain, snow, whatever will quench the thirst of the forest would be nice.  Hopefully everyone in the area will be careful with any open flame until we can walk through the forest without making a crunch, crunch sound.