FIRES
TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT
For the past two weeks the air in the Santa Ynez Valley has
been filled with smoke and ash from the Rancho fire on one end and the Zaca
fire on the other end. This all started before June was even over which
validates my earlier concern that this summer had the potential to be one of
the worst fire seasons in many years. I was here when the Painted Cave fire
started, in fact, my father who lived on the Santa Barbara side at that time, was
the last person to make it down the Pass before it was closed. Many frightening
days and nights passed while the fire raged on through chaparral, homes and
businesses. We all wondered if the only thing that would stop it would be the
Pacific Ocean. At long last, the firefighters got it under control and,
eventually, out. It was a very scary time for everybody.
This summer, due to the severe lack of rain this past
winter has all the earmarks of being hot, dry and the attendant extreme danger
of fires. I do hope residents, visitors and commuters alike will have the good
sense to practice fire safety by not driving on or parking on dry grass areas
and not throwing cigarettes or other burning material out of the car windows.
We can do nothing about lightening strikes but they are not very common in this
area like they are in the Mid-West and back east. I would appeal to your caring
of the beautiful landscape and the wildlife that thrive here to be very careful
until our first rains begin this fall.
Something else all of us can do is to look at public
policies which dictate that all dead and fallen plant material be left as cover
for certain animals. I believe that a public discussion must be held to
determine the validity of the assumptions that forest managers have been
required to follow. It has occurred to me, admittedly not an expert on the
subject but having a lot of common sense, that while some plants seeds need
fire to help them germinate, the amount of fuel that years of dead and decaying
matter have produced is tantamount to wanton destruction of our forest lands.
Fires with this fuel load burn so hot that the soil is literally cooked to
death. All of the organisms that normally would participate in healthy growth
are destroyed and cannot functions for many years to come. What is the sense of
this? If homeowners are asked to clear areas around their homes to keep them
from burning in the event of a fire, doesn’t it make sense to clear dead trees
and at least some of the dry debris (not the normal dry grass that occurs in
Western states in the summer) that has been allowed to accumulate for years? I
went to Yellowstone National Park a couple of years ago for the first time. I
know there were some horrible fires in the recent past but what really horrified
me was the enormous number of dead trees left lying between the living ones to
a depth of six feet. Not only does this amount of fuel spell disaster for the
park in the next fire, but now animals cannot navigate the pixie sticks of huge
trees in their path. It was pathetic. I wrote to the Park Manager about my
concerns but never received an answer. The public’s parks are being managed by
people who have no clue about the out-of-doors and yet they are allowed to
dictate public policy. It is time for the public to speak up and demand that
their tax dollars be spent taking care of our national treasures rather than
the laissez-faire treatment they have received in recent years. So many states
have been burning each year, New Mexico, Montana, and now Utah. How long does
this senseless destruction have to go on before we change policies? I know that
controlled burning is a positive management tool to deal with the problem of
too much fuel load so why do our forest managers not use it more often to
lessen the catastrophic fires we see every year?
Have you seen the press coverage of Knut the German polar
bear cub lately? He’s the little cub who was rejected by his mother and is
being raised by zoo personnel despite protestations from the radical
“environmental” community who said he should have been killed rather than
raised by humans. This extremism has to be stopped in its tracks before more
ridiculous ideas come forth.
It is popular these days to want to “restore” public
properties to Pre-European conditions. Such is the mandate of the National Park
Service. What this means is a policy that requires “non-native” plants and
animals be removed from the property and replaced by whatever the authorities
decide existed before people arrived on this continent from Europe. There seems
to be a couple of problems with this concept starting with the fact that since
no one currently exists who would know what was in existence then. It ignores
the essential fact that change is a part of life. Plants and animals migrate due
to a myriad of factors which we barely understand much less can replicate.
Recent scientific studies on various plant communities have indicated that many
“non-native” plants are much more hardy than native varieties. Perhaps the same
thing that has happened to mankind in historical development is the same path
plants and animals have taken. They all change through history due to factors
currently unknown to us. Furthermore, current policies do not reflect changes
that occurred prior to European arrival which complicates the picture. It is
unfortunate that more scientists and policymakers are not more interested in
the truth rather than their agenda to “remake” history in the image of the
moment. There are those in our community who hope to bring back large
carnivores to the area- check out The Wildlands Project at Conceptioncoast.org.
I personally think there was a reason that dinosaurs disappeared and wouldn’t
want to try to exist among them. So too, saber-toothed tigers would not be an
asset to my cattle and horse operations or even my existence. There are
numerous ranchers in other parts of the country who are battling to save their
livestock from introduced wolves all because of people who want to go back in
time to a decidedly unfriendly environment. I truly believe that if the general
public was aware of these sorts of radical policies that are taking hold in our
government agencies, they would not be supportive. What to you think?
An
Old Friend
I lost another old friend this week, only this time he had
four legs, not two. Hug Me Too was 39 years old when he finally succumbed to
the toll of time. He was a magnificent horse who taught me more than I could
ever express. He was a proud son of the great cutting stallion Hug Me Chick who
I purchased at the age of 18. I was told by numerous people that I was foolish
to buy such an old horse because he would give out shortly and then I would be
stuck with him. I was also advised that the $5000 dollars I spent was way too
much money. A year later when the previous owner asked to buy him back because
he had not won anything since he started riding a new horse, I had to tell him
that I would not sell him for $1,000,000 dollars because he was so perfect for
me.
Hug Me, as I called him, was indeed just right as I had
never learned how to ride as a child and thought if I was going to run a cattle
ranch I had better learn quickly. When I started out, I was not even aware that
stirrups had a function other than to rest your feet on. As Hug Me was a very
proficient cutter, I soon learned otherwise! I believe that he had a
thoroughbred somewhere in his background as his neck was a bit longer than the
average quarter horse. This was a really good thing because on more than one
occasion I needed various parts of his body for support to keep me from falling
to the ground. In fact, I don’t believe there was much of his body that I did
not land on from time to time in my struggle as an adult to learn how to ride
and ride a cutting horse at the same time. I did provide a number of people
considerable entertainment on various days until I finally learned to ride.
This horse had a behavior and personality that every person
learning to ride a cutting horse needs. When I was first starting out, when the
cow we were working moved quickly, Hug Me would move in a mirror fashion like
cutting horses do. It’s very much like a dance between the horse and cow where
each mirrors the other and you have the best seat in the house. As a beginner,
it is hard to stay in the saddle until you learn to let the horse carry you,
trusting that he or she will come back and pick you up on the way back even
though you seem to be suspended way out there on one stirrup. When Hug Me
sensed that I was not going to make the turn with him, he would stop, wait for me
to get centered again and then, without any signal from me, catch up to the
cow, place himself in correct position and then we were off again working the
cow. What a magnificent teacher he was! He gave me the skills and the
confidence to advance to showing in cutting on a much more difficult to ride
horse. I even won a bit of money in competition. I am forever indebted to Hug
Me for his gift of kindness, education, and the many thrills we experienced
together. I will miss him and he will remain in my heart until we can be riding
together again in that great cutting arena in the sky.
This week has a Friday the 13th in it. Common
folklore has it that this is an unlucky day for many people. I used to worry
when I went to horse shows, the results of which are often related to one’s
luck rather than skill when cattle are involved, that a date such as this would
bring my horse, trainer and myself bad luck. Much to my surprise, I have
discovered that almost always I had very good luck on those days. So I, consequently,
don’t believe in the curse of Friday the 13th. Here’s to a happy
Friday the 13th to you all!