That line in an article in Evergreen Magazine (www.evergreenmagazine.com) definitely caught our attention.
The article, “Mapping The West’s Almost Unimaginable Wildlife Crisis” shows a sobering picture of the conditions across the West, including Idaho.
The article, in part, states: “This Forest Service map (see PDF) illustrates ecological conditions in the West's national forests. Fire ecologists use “condition classes" to describe the likelihood that a forest will burn and to what severity. Forests in Condition
Class 1 are said to be healthy and able to recover naturally from wildfires that fall within what is called “the range of natural disturbances." Forests judged to be in Condition Class 2 are not as healthy, and will suffer far greater damage than forests in Condition Class l. Condition Class 3 forests are in poor condition and are likely to suffer catastrophic damage. Virtually all of the West's national forests are in Condition Class 2 or 3.
“Most of ldaho and western Montana—the pathway followed by the Great 1910 Fire—is in Condition Class 3. Short of a massive forest restoration effort, these forests will be lost in a stand replacing wildfire unlike anyone living in this region has ever seen. The region's highly prized four-season outdoor lifestyle will be lost for at least a century.”
