Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 8/13/15

Northwest:

--An individual has confessed to starting the Hull fire in Idaho that broke out Wednesday. Carrie Bilbao, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management in Boise, said the fire was caused by a mountain biker who burned toilet paper after making a restroom stop. To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--California officials say a child camping in Yosemite National Park fell ill with plague and was sent to a hospital. The state’s Department of Public Health said Thursday that the family from Los Angeles County camped at Yosemite’s Crane Flat Campground in mid-July and visited other places in the Stanislaus National Forest. No other family members became sick, and the child is recovering. To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--The federal Land and Water Conservation Fund may expire soon. The fund supports projects at conservation areas across Southern Nevada, such as Red Rock Canyon and the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Over five decades, the fund has paid for some $100 million worth of conservation efforts in Nevada. To read more, click here.
Colorado:

--Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) is looking towards the future, and the future means a major expansion of 500 acres for skiing, riding and biking. Their proposal calls for two new chairlifts, a replacement of the North Face surface lift, more snowmaking on current ski terrain, and 15 miles of singletrack trail to add to the resort’s Evolution Bike Park. Recently, the resort received a letter from the US Forest Service’s Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest District Office initiating an environmental review of the project, stating that they are “officially accepting project proposal components [in accordance with] the 2013 Master Development Plan”. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--Two employees of an Alaska backcountry lodge startled an adult grizzly bear while running on a trail in Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. The bear stepped out of thick brush and mauled one woman while the other ran for help. Gabriele Markel, 20, was recovering last week at an Anchorage hospital. Her wounds, which authorities described as bites and scratches on her head, back and arm, weren't considered life-threatening. To read more, click here.

--Access Fund has been awarded land trust accreditation from the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance. "Land Trust accreditation is an important milestone for the Access Fund," says Access Fund Executive Director Brady Robinson. "It helps strengthen our land acquisition and protection program and it illustrates to local climbing organizations, landowners, and partners that Access Fund is the leading organization in land conservation standards, tools, and resources when it comes to protecting and stewarding America's climbing areas." To read more, click here.

--The remains of two young Japanese climbers missing on the Matterhorn mountain since a 1970 snow storm in the Swiss Alps have been identified through DNA testing of their relatives, police said on Thursday. Human bones spotted by a climber last September on a shrinking glacier at an altitude of 2,800 meters were sent to the medical examiner for identification, cantonal (state) police in the Valais said. To read more, click here.

--The U.S. Forest Service projects that the cost of fighting wildfires could rise to $1.8 billion in the next decade, reflecting fire seasons that "have grown longer and more costly," the agency said this week. The wildfire season is now an average of 78 days longer than it was in 1970, the agency said, and the frequency, size, and severity of those fires has also increased. The report attributes that to climate change. To read more, click here.

--Camp has recalled two types of crampons, the Blade Runners and the Nanotech crampons. To read more, click here.

--This is a cool portaledge.