Cassi Creek: Today is
reasonably mild in temperature. The
expected high is to be in the low 80s.
The air is as clear as it gets in the Great Smokies and Southern
Appalachians.
We’ve had a
wet spring and summer. There have been
some forest fires but not nearly as many as in the past several years.
Look westward
and it may seem that the nation is aflame.
Last year the Colorado fires were disastrous. This year Arizona fires have been
lethal.
Now the
western tier of states is dotted with its annual crop of fires made worse by
Santa Anna winds. California is a
desert, made habitable only by bring water from out of state. Every state west of middle Kansas qualifies
as a desert.
Many of the
prairie grasses have evolved to be dependent upon fire to release seeds for the
next generation. Many of the pines
reproduce in the same manner. When the
current fires burn out, it will be time for a new growth cycle. Unfortunately, human intrusion into these
desert regions requires that they must be fought, turned, and extinguished,
often at cost of firefighters’ lives.
Yosemite
National Park is burning now. It isn’t
the first time, and if we don’t allow growth to destroy the park, it won’t be
the last. The scars from the Yellowstone
fire are now overgrown for the most part.
Fire on the mountain is not a bad thing unless you own property on the
mountain.
No comments:
Post a Comment