Bastrop State Park to reopen in December

When September wildfires whipped though the plains east of Austin, more than 1,500 homes vanished. What else was lost? The famed, "Lost Pines," of Bastrop State Park. Genetically different that your average Texas pine, these loblolly pines were part of an ancient forest that has been shrinking for centuries.

The pines, like much of the of the 5,900 acre park, could not withstand the fierce firestorm that visited the area, reducing much of the park to what some describe as a moonscape. Estimates say 70% of the parks trees are gone.

Yet park officials and volunteers are not giving up.

Roads are being cleared, debris removed, and on December 1, park officials say they will begin reopening campgrounds to visitors. At the park's center, a green oasis still remains where firefighters made a stand to save 13 historical cabins.

Campers may find things somewhat challenging. Ongoing demolition and replacement of two restrooms may re-route facility users to alternative restrooms and showers that will be made available. Campers will find resealed or new roads, parking areas and RV pads being paved by the Texas Department of Transportation.

“Bastrop will soon reopen and in many ways will be like a new park,” Park Superintendent Todd McClanahan adds. “Park management asks for its customers’ continued patience as we work to restore this national landmark.”

Wildfires threaten Texas, campers advised to forgo campfires

Five fires have burned at least 100,000 acres each in Texas in the past two weeks and fires still rage. Most of the state is in extreme drought, and wildfires in the past week alone have burned more than 1,000 square miles of parched Texas ranchland — an area that combined would be the size of the state of Rhode Island.

The Possum Kingdom Lake fire about 70 miles west of Fort Worth has grown from 63,000 acres to nearly 150,000 acres in just one day according to the Texas Forest Service. More than 30 homes have been confirmed destroyed in the Possum Kingdom area, and the forest service says that number will grow.

Temperatures are expected to return to the mid-90s with wind gusts of up to 35 mph. Of the 1.5 million acres burned in Texas this year, 90% were started by humans. 90%!

"The public just needs to be mindful that any use of outdoor fire should not be considered," said a Texas Forest Service spokesman on Tuesday. Campers and especially boondockers should avoid building a campfire until the fire danger is declared over by forest service officials.

Texas drought continues, fuels wildfires

Drought-like conditions and the threat of wildfires continue in much of Texas, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service and Texas Forest Service personnel according to Hay and Forage Grower.

On Tuesday, the Forest Service warned of “extremely critical fire weather conditions west of Big Bend, San Angelo and Wichita Falls, including major cities such as Lubbock, Childress, Abilene, Midland, Odessa and Amarillo.” The elevated threat was due to higher-than-normal temperatures and winds, low relative humidity and a plentitude of dry grass in pastures and rangeland.

Meanwhile, much of the rest of the state remains dry, including South Texas.

“Coming into March, South Texas received less than 25% of the normal rainfall,” says Megan Dominguez, AgriLife Extension range specialist in Corpus Christi. “A lot of the farmers and ranchers are concerned, and there's been some delay in crop planting.”

The Southwest Texas region is about 8” below the long-term average for moisture accumulation since Aug. 1, and some counties in the far western part of the state haven’t reported measurable rainfall for more than 165 days.

Campers and boondockers should be extra careful with campfires and camping near expecially dry brushland.

Wildfires scorch 88,000 acres in West Texas

Wildfires sweeping across West Texas destroyed dozens of homes, the Associated Press reported, forcing evacuations and closing an interstate after heavy smoke caused a fatal accident Sunday.Winds driving the fire were not expected to lessen overnight.

The fires blackened almost 88,000 acres and destroyed 58 homes from the Texas Panhandle to the southern plains. Heavy smoke from a wildfire near Midland, about 330 miles west of Dallas, was blamed for an eight-vehicle accident along Interstate 20 that killed a 5-year-old girl. The roadway was shrouded in smoke when a tractor-trailer hit the pickup truck she was riding in, said Trooper John Barton of the Texas Department of Public Safety. A man and another child were injured.

One firefighter suffered second-degree burns fighting a blaze near Colorado City, about 250 miles west of Dallas, but no other injuries were immediately reported. The largest fire burned about 30,000 acres in the Panhandle northeast of Amarillo, destroying 27 homes and damaging seven others, Kearney said.

If you are camping anywhere around the hill country, be extremely careful with campfires as the windy conditions can pick up a spark and set the dry brush into a wildfire in short order.