Re: What happened to the website?

The website was much larger and had more information. There was a link to the history of the area, the willow fire, Moss Mill Road, the Bureau of Land Management's activities, etc. These links need to be recreated.

The start of the Willow Fire is "allegedly" shown on a video given to me and others by the Forest Service. A young lady had been rewarded with a free helicopter flight and happened to be flying over when the Willow Fire started. There were two vehicles found in the area on the film. The individuals who were in the area when the fire started were interviewed by Forest Service. The Forest Service decided that there was no evidence that these individuals started the fire.

The first reports across my email was that the fire was started by burning marijuana plants. CAMP (Campaign Against Marijuana Production) was in the area and had found 20,000 marijuana plants in the same area a few days before the fire. After the fire, a hiker went into that area and found the remnants of marijuana plants. The area was bulldozed right after the fire for no apparent reason.

We may never find out how the willow fire started, however, the conduct of the fire fighting is where the questions need to be asked. There are witnesses and evidence that warrant further investigation. I have signed witness statements and will post them shortly.

This was the largest fire in County history and the local Government agencies received millions of dollars in FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funds and additional funding after the fire to put up all those fences, etc. The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service had a meeting on Sept 20, 1999, where it was decided that the area had to be closed. In attendance: Tim Read, Barry Nelson, BAER Staff members, and key staff. When the minutes of this meeting were requested, the response was that no minutes were taken. This meeting resulted in the full closure of the area and millions of tax dollars for the agencies.

The Willow Fire affected our right to access public lands. Most of us were not there when the fire roared through and don't know what occurred during the fire. There were large numbers of outraged citizens who attended meetings after the fire. Many lost their homes and didn't have insurance. The devastation to the environment and the community was tremendous.

Look for a new fire link soon.

The webmaster banned Jennifer for a period of time and then lifted the ban. Jennifer has not been heard from since, her choice. I believe Jennifer is affiliated with WANR (Western Association of Nude Recreationists) and is probably posting her opinions over on that website.

Even though Jennifer asked a lot of questions which resulted in you being more informed, Jennifer's intentions appeared to be mean spirited. Jennifer is free to post. However, I think we can focus more on the future of deep creek without the distractions. The future of deep creek is more important than becoming divided over smaller issues.