Hi Lou,
Of course the squeeze of development and forest plantations has left
us with only small islands of natural forest habitat compared to what
we had just 150 years ago. So fires today, even overlooking increased
fire intensity due to fire suppression, will have a far greater
overall impact on remaining ecosystems and habitat.
John Hartog
--- In Lou Judson <> wrote:
>
> I was just reading a book about the history of lighthouses in the Bay =
> Area, and there is mention of the seasons as observed from the
> Brother lightstation and how dry years are often smoky - over the
> last 150 years! So the fires this year are intense due to artificial
> fire suppression, but the fire season can be bigger or smaller just
> naturally. And droughts are certainly not human caused...
>
> Just thoughts, as I look forward to your report.
>
> Lou
>
> On Jul 2, 2008, at 6:39 AM, Bernie Krause wrote:
>
> > I'll be heading up to Sugarloaf (Sonoma Valley) early next week and
> > even though there's a natural drop-off of density this time of hear,
> > there should still be a decent dawn chorus. There is a drought =96 a
> > serious one (we've had about 40% of total normal rainfall this past
> > season and things are quite dry). All these permutations play a role
> > in how natural theatre plays out. As Paul Shepard once observed, the
> > natural world is quite slow to reveal her secrets. And we need to
> > come to terms with the likelihood that we'll never know all of 'em.
> >
> > Will give a report.
> >
> > Bernie
>
>
>
>
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