Eagar, Az. I was debating if I would keep this chronicle of my fire adventures up. We closed up the fire camp last night. What else is there to say? But my sister suggested that I keep it up until after the VIP tour. So here it goes. Most people, and some fire fighters, think that once a fire team leaves, that is it. Wipe your hands..game over. Nothing could be further from the truth. In many ways the fire is the easiest part. What is often left is a landscaped that, depending on its location, can be forever altered. Its the land managers responsibility to figure out how to address these lasting effects. Clearly most people know that after a fire there is the threat of flooding and erosion. In some cases the erosion can be more devastating than the fire. A light to moderate burn through an archaeological site, for example, unless its a historic cabin or something of a wooden nature, does not have a major effect on the site. Most have been in the ground a few thousand years and well that means they have most likely been burned over oh say once or twice over the last few thousand years. In my opinion any damage that was to occur from a light to moderate burn to a thousand year old site, probably already happened long before Europeans decided to land on this rock. But what if a major high heat fire comes through and leave a bunch of burned up trees that resemble over sized matches sans the blue sulfur on the top? Soil erosion that can undermine a thousand year old site in just one major monsoon down pour. The Kaibab over the last few years has been managing fires started by natural ignitions (lightning strikes) where and when its appropriate. This has the effect of cleaning up the fuel that would support a high intensity fire if left to accumulate. People hate that by doing this we put smoke in the grand canyon, or heaven forbid, we block the red rocks of Sedona. Is it just me, or do others think that its worth putting up with a few days of predictable smoke, rather than the damage and destruction of a major wild fire? I am just saying.....
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 03:20:32 +0000