[pct-l] drought and its consequences along the PCT

[jeffmoorehead1 at cox.net (Jeff Moorehead)]

John and Brett,
 Good thoughts about troubling issues. The other scourge of 'forest homes' 
that people seldom consider is the effects of 'low density development'. 
These houses destroy much more wildlife habitat than they appear to since 
animals will avoid the area around the home. All so a single family of 
humans can enjoy their home in the forest. Not good...
 Brett, I didn't mean to imply that native americans are destructive. Only 
that they are not without some adverse effects to the ecology that existed 
before humans made their appearance on the landscape. I know the buffalo 
were deliberately exterminated by the US government in order to gain control 
of the destiny of the Sioux and Cheyenne. And probably a more terrible thing 
in comparison. Perverse even....  well by God let's keep protecting what we 
still have!
Jeff
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Mertes" <jmertes@verizon.net>
To: "Brett" <blisterfree@isp01.net>; "pct-l" <pct-l@backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2005 6:36 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] drought and its consequences along the PCT


In one of the many environmental magazines I get, there was a recent
article about forest fires throughout the west. Main point I remember
from the article is that different forests and parts of forests have
different burn patterns depending on local climate, drought, terrain,
tree species, and so on. Some forests or parts are characterized by
infrequent severe fires where everything burns, other parts may have
milder more frequent burns. The fires are a natural part of the ecology
of the forests. The natural world is always changing, our own desires
not withstanding.


IMHO: Biggest "problem" now is that people want to live in and adjacent
to the forests. Yet these people don't accept the consequences of their
decision -- being burned or having their property burned. In stead they
expect the government (all of us) to put out the fires to protect them
from the consequences of their decision. Also the government (us) to
bail them out when they get burned. Similar situation with people who
live on flood plains and ocean front.

My 2?




_______________________________________________
pct-l mailing list
pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
unsubscribe or change options:
http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l