News Release USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region

Campfire Ban at Marion Lake Area to Begin March 1

January 27, 2003

Contact: Julie Cox, 541-225-6301; Ray Crist, 503-854-4205; Abe Quihuis, 503-854-4222

Eugene, OR -- In an effort to reduce fire-related impacts such as abandoned and escaped campfires; the near total loss of woody debris, snags and vegetation near campsites; and garbage left in fire-rings, the Detroit Ranger District will implement a decision to ban campfires in the Marion Lakes area beginning March 1.

Marion Lake is located at an elevation 4,100 feet in the southwestern portion of the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area. At 360 acres, it is one of the last protected large lakes in the high Cascades Mountain Range. The Marion Lake Area also includes the 18-acre Lake Ann and Marion and Gatch Falls, both located near the Marion Lake outlet.

The campfire ban will encompass areas within a quarter mile of both Marion and Ann Lakes. While visitors may continue to use portable camp stoves for cooking or lanterns for light, they may not have a campfire of any sort. Notice of the campfire ban will be posted at trailheads and at various points around the lakes. Those who choose to build a fire would be subject to stiff fines.

The purpose of the ban is to restore the natural growth of vegetation and accumulation of woody debris and snags to meet management direction in the Willamette National Forest Plan. The ban should also reduce the amount of garbage that wilderness managers need to pick up and pack out.

AREA HISTORY

Congress passed the Wilderness Act in 1964; however the Marion Lake Area was left out of the original Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Proposal due to the high numbers of users and existing facilities, which included a Forest Service guard station, a boathouse, docks, rustic cabins, campground facilities and numerous boats stored in the lake by being chained to trees. Congress included the Marion Lake Area in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area upon its establishment in 1968, calling the lake "an outstanding primitive mountain lake with significant wilderness qualities."

In 1971, the Forest Service was required to remove the permanent structures at Marion Lake. However, people continued to bring in boats and other heavy items using bicycles and carts. A special order enforced in 1985 stopped this practice. With the removal of most permanent structures and continued education, the once semi-developed area slowly began transitioning into a semi-primitive state.

CURRENT USE

Many visitors easily access the area via a relatively short 2.5-mile hike beginning at the Marion Lake Trailhead. The easy access as well as excellent fishing, diverse hiking, and the unique lake have added to the popularity of the site according to Abe Quihuis, wilderness leader for the Detroit Ranger District.

Quihuis and other District employees have been informing visitors since the summer of 2000 about the possible upcoming campfire ban. "We've tried educating people who go there in the hopes that they would recognize the problem and use patterns would change," he said.

While many people do take great care when they camp in the area, others use the area in a way that clashes with the intent of the Wilderness Act of 1964, Quihuis said. That Act states that Wilderness should be managed "to preserve its natural conditions" and should appear "to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable."

The continued collection of firewood in already degraded areas and the cutting of large snags for use as firewood have denuded many areas. Cutting of snags is not only dangerous, but poses a safety concern for others in the area, Quihuis said.

Issues with abandoned and escaped campfires have risen in the past as well. The conditions of thick duff layers and often compacted soil have led to even small fires burning down into the roots of trees. Such fires are dangerous and often entail digging out portions of the forest floor in order to extinguish them.

Many visitors accept or at least understand the reason for the campfire ban, Quihuis said. During the 2002 summer season, researchers questioned over 300 individuals to determine their opinion on the ban. Of those, 22 percent felt it was a positive thing to do, 64 percent were neutral, 7 percent did not support the ban and 7 percent did not have a response.

In other outreach attempts, which have included an informational brochure, comment card and on-site interviews, visitors have expressed a variety of opinions about the ban. Quihuis said those visitors who have been camping at Marion Lake for the longest period of time tend to reflect a less positive view than those who are relative newcomers to the area. Many visitors implied they would not be affected by a campfire ban.

FUTURE OUTLOOK

While Quihuis hopes that visitors will begin to see Marion Lake as a true wilderness area, he said that further management changes may occur if problems continue.

Sanitation also continues to be a problem in the area. Although two pit toilets are located near the lake, the toilets are often filled with trash causing unnecessary site impacts and pollution. In the past, toilets have also been vandalized to be used as firewood.

High rates of unburied human waste and toilet paper continue to be a problem in the area. Education efforts have been marginally successful at best, Quihuis said. In 2003 education efforts will continue, with emphasis on user support in order to avoid restrictions like a "pack-it-out" system, which is used in other areas with similar issues such as high use river areas.

The human waste issue could be resolved with a little effort, according to Quihuis. "If users would bring some sort of small garden trowel in their pack and bury their waste, we would not have to go to other extreme measures," he said.

Other changes could include designated campsites, which would allow areas not designated for camping to be closed for rehabilitation. Quihuis said that past experience with creating designated campsites in wilderness areas does help reduce garbage and human waste issues.