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Only You
I still remember Smokey Bear’s warning me, “Only you can prevent forest fires!” Never is this statement more true, as global climate change continues to highlight the issue of how my actions impact this planet. While wildfires are a natural and critical part of the ecosystem, how we have managed forests and knitted our communities in and among these forests have changed dramatically over the recent decades. Growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, lightening strikes and man-started fires were sporadic but big news; however, the burn acreage and financial losses were a small fraction of the impact of today’s fires.
2020: Year of Fire
A lightning strike on July 31, 2020 just north of Grand Junction, CO initiated the Pine Gulch Fire in July that I saw a few days later as I drove on I-70. And just a few weeks later the sunset at our camp was eerily orange from yet another fire – the Grizzly Creek Fire that burned 10 miles along I-70 in Glenwood Canyon.
Hanging Lake Trail
Sparks from a car along I-70 started the Grizzly Creek Fire. A month later 86 firefighters continued to work on containing the fire. It was finally declared fully contained after several snow storms and continued management efforts through much of October. Acreage burned: 32,631.
It shockingly missed most of Hanging Lake Trail. The trail was designated a National Natural Landmark in 2011 and is also personally important to me. It was one of my favorite family hikes that I took as a girl and where I took my own girls when they were small.
Fire Burning Ever Bigger Acreage
I searched the archived records (which went back to 1924) for Colorado fires as big as the Grizzle Creek Fire. I couldn’t find one until 2002’s Hayman Fire. The data supported my memory that big fires sometime happen, but weren’t such a fundamental part of the summer season as they are now. But since 2002, there have been 17 bigger fires! However, in 2020 it barely made state news as the four other fires exploded across Colorado that were magnitudes bigger. Even more horrifying was that nationally wildfires up and down the west coast were even more devastating.
Spring 2021
After a winter of beautiful snow and blue skies, I went back to hike the Dotsero Ute and Coffee Pot Trails. The scrub, juniper and piñon pines were beautiful, especially with the white snow peaks in the distance.
Aftermath
However, I quickly approached the eastern side of the post-Grizzly Creek Fire. It was a surreal experience. The black skeletons of trees standing in silent repose among the ash. This is the next concern –erosion and landslides from spring and summer rains.
Charcoal Sculptures
Across the stark landscape, some charcoal tree remnants mimicked the look of sculptures like this one I titled “Cartwheel Wind and Fire”
What Can Be Done
While we can’t stop all forest fires, the goal would be to mitigate the damage through:
- Forest restoration: Tree thinning / removing dead wood / erosion protection
- Changing local zoning laws on what and how much is built where
- Existing home and structure perimeter clearing
- Increase the number and size prescribed burns
