Dear HCN,
Here in my driveway on
Carrizo Valley Ranch, I’m sitting on the tailgate of my pickup
watching the most vicious forest fire I have ever seen. The entire
Patos mountain range is ablaze, producing smoke thermal clouds that
can probably be seen from 150 miles away. Flames are visible
through the smoke leaping at least 100 feet into the
air.
A week of extreme heat and low humidity
before the lightning strike created favorable fire conditions, and
today a brisk wind from the West has given us almost Yellowstone
fire weather. Nothing can stop this onslaught but backfire, and
that will start tomorrow.
I have lived at the
foot of the Patos range for over 30 years. During that time I have
watched the year-by-year build-up of fuel load and ladder fuels
that we all knew had to burn someday. I guess today is the day –
but it didn’t have to happen this way!
Fighting
fire, to most people, is like killing snakes. They feel really good
about it and the pay is great! But what if that money had been put
to use conducting controlled or prescribed burns when conditions
were most favorable? I would be watching the Patos burn all right,
but it would be a much cooler burn that would not be destroying
500-year-old juniper trees and getting the ground so hot that rocks
explode.
How ironic that this is happening at the
same time we in Capitan are celebrating the birthday of Smokey
Bear. Maybe this coincidence will help people realize that fire is
as important as soil, water or sunlight in our southwestern
ecosystems.
Tree-ring research has proved that
this country averaged burning about every 10 years. How could we
expect anything but a wildfire disaster after 80 years of fire
suppression? A little overkill by Smokey, I’m
afraid.
This fire is like major surgery – the
patient is going to look pretty bad for a while, but in the final
analysis, we will all be better off. Biological diversity will
improve, as will wildlife habitat; nutrients that have been tied up
for 100 or more years will be recycled and springs that haven’t
flowed for 75 years will have water again.
The
fire has just reached one of the timbered peaks above my house.
Flame lengths must be reaching 200 feet or more. Majestic
200-year-old Ponderosa pine trees will be only a charred stump now.
I hope you are listening, Smokey – Happy
birthday!
Sid Goodloe
Capitan,
New Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Give Smokey Bear a vacation.
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