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RE: [RC] Wild Horses - heidiForest that hasn't been cut in 60-70 years is nice, but just doesn't really compare. And it doesn't compare to forest that has been locked up as a wilderness area allowing ladder fuels to accumulate, so that it burns so hot that it sterilizes the soil for the next 50+ years, either. That is what happened in several areas in the wilderness here in 2000. I, too, would like to have my cake and eat it too--I sure wish those lands had been managed in such a way that they might still be enjoyable for my nieces and nephews and their children. Instead, they were locked up, and they all went up in smoke. There are areas in north Idaho where things are just beginning to grow following the fires up there in 1910. You'd think we might have learned something from that, instead of locking the land up so that the same thing would repeat. "The Great Scheme of Things" really doesn't care if the ladder fuels accumulate and the whole thing burns. Some of the rest of us do. No, the choices are NOT between the extreme of completely-locked-up wilderness on one hand and clear-cut on the other. Good logging practices can keep a forest healthy and viable so that it CAN also be enjoyed. I'll use Newberry Crater as an example again. No logging was allowed inside the Monument, and the dead timber (particularly on the north rim) is appalling. One lightning strike in there and the whole thing will be history for several years. But just off of the south rim, as you get back into "regular" management, there has been selective logging. The area teems with elk, deer, game birds, and little critters. There is green grass in areas among the timber, and you can see the view once in awhile. And if it burns, it will go quick through the underbrush, and the big trees will survive, so that in a few years, it will be nice and healthy again. One guess where I'D rather ride... Heidi ============================================================ We are talking about all the tools we can use to keep our horses safe and alive at the rides. Training/conditioning is one of the best tools available. It makes us better horseman and women, it benefits our horses and could quite possibly be the key to preventing most crashes. ~ Lisa Salas - The Odd Farm ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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