Statewide burning ban

[beamer_ball]

http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tr...0-18-0030.html

Virginia Governor issues statewide burning ban

Thursday, Oct 18, 2007 - 02:16 PM

BY Office of Governor Timothy Kaine


Governor Timothy M. Kaine today declared a statewide emergency and enacted a ban on open fires beginning Friday, October 19.

The statewide burning ban is the result of drought conditions that have created a serious risk of widespread and dangerous forest fires in every region of the Commonwealth.


"We have looked at all the current data and reviewed the projections for the fall fire season, and everything points to a significant threat to public safety,"? said Governor Kaine. "I have declared a state of emergency to exist within the Commonwealth to try to minimize the risk of forest fires that could threaten lives and property."?


The burn ban will remain in effect until existing weather conditions improve with significant rain or snow. Violation of the law is a Class 3 misdemeanor with a fine of not more than $500.


Governor Kaine has authorized the Virginia National Guard to assist the Virginia Department of Forestry in fighting and mitigating the effects of wildfires. The Coordinator of Emergency Management, Secretary of Public Safety, Adjutant General of Virginia, the Commissioner of Health and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services will coordinate efforts to provide assistance in dealing with potential or actual drought-related issues.


"Most areas in Virginia have not received adequate rainfall for several months. Rainfall deficits range from nearly six inches in the Richmond area to more than 14 inches in the mountains of Southwest Virginia,"? said State Forester Carl E. Garrison III. "With such extremely dry conditions, any escaped fire would have the potential to become a major wildfire very quickly. And, since debris burning is already the number one cause of fires in Virginia, a prohibition on all burning will reduce the threat."?


The declaration does not have a direct impact on hunting season, but will prevent the use of warming or camp fires on all state-owned and privately owned lands in Virginia in addition to the prohibition on open burning.


Virginia has records which date back to 1925, and the 30 year average is 1,449 forest fires and 8,338 acres per year. The most fires in one year occurred in 1941 when 3,697 fires were fought. The most acres - 333,023 - burned in 1930.

[plantsman]

God bless Gov. Timmy - here he stands alone again at the threshold od common sense.

[BlueWahooChambordDevil]

still not as bad as atlanta......3 months of water left

[plantsman]

Those Atlanta folks are hoping for a hurricane to bring their reservoirs back up to full pool.

[beamer_ball]

Here's some pictures from the NWS taken of some areas in eastern, TN, includes Cherokee and Douglas Lakes.....and these were back in mid September.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mrx/hydro/dr.../drought07.php

Alabama..
http://vortex.accuweather.com/adc200...0928031692.jpg

[plantsman]

Those pics bring things into perspective. And undoubtedly, things have worsened alot since they were taken.

[NotSoSilentBob]

Those photos of Cherokee and Douglas have to be pretty recent although neither lake has dropped much in the last week or two.

Douglas is down about 25-30 feet since the the first weekend of August.

I took these Tuesday.

Main boat ramp at the 25E bridge on Cherokee.



That ramp was good to go the first weekend of August.

TVA ramp on Douglas in Dandridge





Dock was floating and at least halfway up the ramp a month and a half ago.

[plantsman]

Didn't realize things were this serious. But I did hear that TN is about 28" short over the past 2 years. How will this affect the fisheries?

[NotSoSilentBob]

Also, Norris is in the same pickle. Driving south on 25E from Middlesboro to Morristown, the portions of Norris that you see from the road are drier than what you see of Cherokee from 11W.

Fishery-wise speaking of lakes, there shouldn't be much of an effect. I'm more concerned about the rivers. The Guest is as low as it has been in the 11 years I've been observing it. The Clinch is completely un-navigable and has been so since late July. Bark Camp Lake is as low as I've ever seen it. Wise Reservoir is down almost 8'.

The only lakes that are in decent shape right now are Boone and Ft Pat. Boone has been a little lower than normal all summer and is now starting to go down a bit. Ft Pat never drops thanks to the discharge from South Holston and Boone.

Now if we don't get a decent amount of rain over the winter/spring, next summer could be very interesting on local waters.

[plantsman]

I cross the Clinch twice per day, and in 11 years, I don't recall it being that low. You had a hard time putting fish on a pattern in this drought?