From: CHUCK BRAMLET (chuckb@AZTEC.ASU.EDU)
Date: Tue Aug 08 2000 - 16:29:37 CDT
Well folks, we have another fire burning in Mesa Verde National Park.
I am sad to report that this time the fire went over sites that we
had just visited, on Wetherill Mesa. The fire has apparently burned
around Step House, but left Mug House and Jug House by yards. The
fire was also in the canyon around Long House, although the ruin was
not damaged. I have seen nothing to indicate whether or not Step
House was damaged.
All this has happened since early Friday.
There are maps, press releases, and daily activity reports, as well
as progressive maps of the fire available at
http://www.ponyfire.com/
If I can be a bit political, here, these fires demonstrate what
happens when man, in his arrogance, believes that he can control or
defeat nature. Stopping the minor fires and eliminating logging has
created a situation where the forest floor is rife with fuel for
these fires.
If you can imagine a house that normally would not be a big fire
problem, then pack newspapers floor to ceiling in all the rooms and
building up over the years, you would have a similar situation for
the firefighters.
While a young Scout taking conservation, I learned about renewable
resources, and the need for using some of the resources to leave room
for others. Now, we have many people calling for the elimination of
any usage of these resources, for any reason. As the USFS and NPS
consider fire to be an enemy, the fuel will build up on the forest
floor, until another small fire gets away. Then, we have another
Yellowstone on our hands.
I wish that I could convey to you what I saw on my visit: Dead and
dying trees and brush, with old dry logs clogging the area beneath
them. I wrote a letter to the MVNP superintendant that has not yet
been mailed, describing my worry that exactly this may soon happen.
When will some realize that we can be our own worst enemy?
YiS,
Chuck Bramlet -- I "used to be" an Antelope! WEM-10-95 Member DNRC
ASM Troop 323, Firebird District, Grand Canyon Council, Phoenix, Az.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to
be free." -- Charles Evans Hughes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct personal replies to ----- mailto:chuckb@aztec.asu.edu
