NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/315021
36 NEBRASKAland • JUNE 2014 JUNE 2014 • NEBRASKAland 37 36 NEBRASKA KA KAla l nd • JUNE 2014 JU JU J NE NE NE NE 201 014 4 • NE NE NE NEBR BR BRAS AS AS AS AS A KA KA KA KAla la land nd nd nd nd nd 37 37 3 in ponderosa pines of northwestern Nebraska – one that scorched 48,000 acres. At the time, it went on record as Nebraska's largest forest fire and was viewed as a tremendous blow to the state's Pine Ridge. Despite the toll that was taken on what many consider to be the state's most scenic area, the fire ignited what would become a wealth of fond memories for James, his family and countless others in the coming years. For, without the fire, there would have been no reason for Boy Scouts of the Longs Peak Council to begin meeting at Fort Robinson State Park (SP) each April. Looking Back As the smoke was clearing from the massive wildfire in the late summer of 1989, Scottsbluff physician Lou Kleager began talks with Nebraska Game and Parks Commission officials about getting Boy Scouts involved in helping the tourist destination rebound. With the support of Rex Amack, Commission director, and Vince Rotherham, Fort Robinson SP superintendent, Kleager began organizing a tree planting effort for the Boy Scouts. About 300-400 scouts and accompanying adults showed up in the spring of 1990 for the first planting. With seedlings in hand, they toed a line at the bottom of Smiley Canyon. After cued, they planted trees southward at 10-step increments. In the coming years, the project picked up steam and the attendance multiplied as Girl Scouts and other volunteers joined the effort. A number of trees from the first year are standing tall today, but future J onathan James was barely a teenager when smoke rolled into his hometown of Torrington, Wyoming, on a hot July day in 1989. As the heavy air descended on the community, worried members of the local fire department drove the county roads to find the source of the smoke, he recalls. The search would turn up nothing. In this case, where there's smoke, there wasn't fire. Southeastern Wyoming residents would later learn the smoke was not from nearby, but rather from a raging forest fire more than 100 miles away 25 for Life Text and photos by Justin Haag For a quarter of a century, Boy Scouts have been growing memories while planting trees at Fort Robinson State Park. They gathered this spring to give it one last shot. Three generations of Fort Robinson State Park tree planters, from left, Jonathan James, Tyler James and Royden James. Jim Schmitt of Dalton hands out ponderosa pine seedlings for planting in the Spring Creek area of Fort Robinson State Park and Wildlife Management Area.