My friend Riley had her house burn down and lost everything in Fort Mac a couple of days ago. Another friend Darren from our local firehall, is fighting structure fires there as I post this. My partner Denise just received her 10 year service medal for being a volunteer fire fighter in our local hall. In my life, climate change and wild fires are not just remote events that are dangerous for folks you don't know. Forest fires and their attendant dangers hit rather close to home for me, given my partner and many of our friends are fire fighters.
Things are changing. I have lived in a heavily treed forest for almost 40 years. There are some very large trees here. I have refused to log or clear larger areas because I have a special close relationship with all beings that live here, including the thousands of trees on this property. I have closely watched climate change in action. The river that runs through the middle of the property, which for decades had an abundance of water all year round, now has side channels that completely dry up for 2 or 3 months of the year. The river still has water running in it all year round in the main channel, but with much less volume. Insects that rarely troubled us in the past, have moved in and have killed pine, spruce, and birch trees. In the last 5 years I have noticed a few insect infested large Larch dying as well. It is obvious to me the environment has changed, and not for the better.
I will probably be dead and gone before the real **** hits the fan so I will likely get to live out my life with most of this incredibly beautiful ecosystem still intact. But unfortunately the kids and grand kids will not be so lucky.
Published on Jun 2, 2015
Fires are more frequent, larger and more devastating than ever. In Colorado, firefighters are repeatedly putting their lives on the line responding to record-breaking wildlfires. Human caused climate changes are transforming the state's fire environment, bringing higher temperatures, drier fuels and diseases to forests creating a volatile situation for fire fighters and communities. " On a day-to-day basis, we're being surprised," says Don Whittemore, a career Colorado firefighter. "And in this business, surprise is what kills people." The Story Group takes an inside look at what it's like to battle some of the biggest wildfires we have ever faced.
Things are changing. I have lived in a heavily treed forest for almost 40 years. There are some very large trees here. I have refused to log or clear larger areas because I have a special close relationship with all beings that live here, including the thousands of trees on this property. I have closely watched climate change in action. The river that runs through the middle of the property, which for decades had an abundance of water all year round, now has side channels that completely dry up for 2 or 3 months of the year. The river still has water running in it all year round in the main channel, but with much less volume. Insects that rarely troubled us in the past, have moved in and have killed pine, spruce, and birch trees. In the last 5 years I have noticed a few insect infested large Larch dying as well. It is obvious to me the environment has changed, and not for the better.
I will probably be dead and gone before the real **** hits the fan so I will likely get to live out my life with most of this incredibly beautiful ecosystem still intact. But unfortunately the kids and grand kids will not be so lucky.
Published on Jun 2, 2015
Fires are more frequent, larger and more devastating than ever. In Colorado, firefighters are repeatedly putting their lives on the line responding to record-breaking wildlfires. Human caused climate changes are transforming the state's fire environment, bringing higher temperatures, drier fuels and diseases to forests creating a volatile situation for fire fighters and communities. " On a day-to-day basis, we're being surprised," says Don Whittemore, a career Colorado firefighter. "And in this business, surprise is what kills people." The Story Group takes an inside look at what it's like to battle some of the biggest wildfires we have ever faced.
