The Scouting Report: A weekly digest

Canadian smoke, bounty hunters, the last chemical weapons, more obesity money

The crisis at the northern border intensified this month as Canada continued to spew wildfire smoke into the United States. Smoke-filled skies greeted South Dakotans on what has otherwise been a pleasant month. Through mid-July, the average high temperatures in the area were about 4 degrees below their normal, according to the National Weather Service.

But the Canadian smoke menace has forced some to stay indoors and curtailed other activities. NWS issued air quality warnings for the Upper Great Plains.

As of mid-July, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center was reporting 881 active fires in the country, with 577 of those out of control. Fires have burned about 25 million acres. So far this year, 4,157 fire starts have been reported in Canada, more than the 10-year average. The largest number of Canadian fires in any calendar year since 1980 came in 1989, when there were 10,998 wildfire starts.