Yes you are correct. The mountain pine beetle has been around here for years and has killed millions of trees. In many areas, as far as the eye can see, there are huge swaths (1000's of acres) of brown dead trees caused by the beetle. It is almost unfathomable to believe that such a small beetle can wreck so much havoc.

These dead trees do contribute to forest fire situations, however right now the biggest problem is lack of rain. Any little rain in the summer months is usually accompanied by thunder/lightning which then causes more fires...it is a viscoius cycle that does not usually end until mid to late September when the rains are heavy and more frequent enough to slow the fires so that the crews can get them under control or the fires die out naturally.

Grrr. I hate those things. They seem like they're everywhere I go. They've decimated trees here in California. I rember huge swaths of brown in the Colorado Rockies when I visited there. Now, they're in Canada too. Grrr.

HJ

Since Hiking Jim asked and you answered him about the 30/30 rule I thought I would add a link to the National Weather Service page on lightening safety.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/lightning/lightning_safety.htm
It is just intended as info for anybody who hasn't heard of it already.

Good advice, and I thank you for posting it, but its directive to seek shelter won't do me much good as a hiker where there's no shelter to be had.

The advice I've heard for hikers is:
1) Stay the heck off of the heights in a thunderstorm. Plan your hike such that you start early enough to be off the heights before noon. Thunderstorm activity tends to be at its highest in the afternoon.
2) Don't take cover under an isolated tree. An isolated tree is a target for lightning. Take cover in a grove of trees, preferably a grove that has trees of a relatively uniform height.
3) Don't shelter under rocks or in shallow caves. Rocks and caves can intensify the lightning.
4) Spread your group out so that a lightning strike won't affect everyone simultaneously. If one person is hurt, the remaining members of the group can render aid. CPR skills would be very helpful if someone were to be struck by lightning but not killed outright.
5) Sit on top of your pack. Let no part of you touch the ground if you can avoid it.

That's the standard advice I've heard. Anyone else have tips?

HJ

Here are a few I learned over the years.

- If you have trekking poles (aluminum or carbon fiber) ditch them at least 50 feet away and do NOT leave them standing and upright in the ground and also ensure that the poles ends are not directly facing you.

- If on a mountain bike, drop it and get at least 50' away from it
.
- Ditch (if possible) any type of mountain climbing gear. This not practical if your climbing out on face of a cliff that you cannot readily get down off the cliff face.

- Sitting on a backpack that has any type of fuel stored in it is NOT recommended....self explanatory.

Backpacker Magazine says that the trekking poles thing isn't really that big of an issue.

http://www.backpacker.com/august_2000_survival_lightning_superstition_tips/nature/919

http://www.backpacker.com/june_2001_skills_survival_lightning/nature/2105

HJ

I am not a big fan of those in theory vs in actual practice discussions.

I'll keep ditching the poles. The way I look at, any way to lessen the odds of being fried is always a plus!

Agreed, particularly since the main advice in the 2nd article is to get into a car or "substantial" building. Gee, what practical advice that is when you're on a week long back pack and a lightning storm hits when your three days from the nearest trail head. Maybe that would work for car camping, but it's clueless advice for horse packers, hikers, canoe enthusiasts, kayakers, backpackers, cross country skiers, hunters, etc. Hello?! What part of "outdoors" don't you understand? lol

HJ