Viridian Note 00186: Wildfires of 2000Bruce Sterling [bruces@well.com]
June, 2000 fire in the Pecos Wilderness
Attention Conservation Notice: Though very alarming and depressing, it's also very far from over. Entries in the Viridian Magazine Cover Contest: http://communities.msn.com/saluviridian http://www.stewarts.org/viridian/a_magazine.htm http://homepage.mac.com/greenmed/PhotoAlbum.html http://www.earthlight.co.nz/~bretts/vmag.jpg http://www.ratsbane.com/viridian/main.htm (((he's still adding entries!)) http://www.unclestu.com/Viridian/Cover/index.html http://www.dcat.net/viridian.htm http://www.accesscom.com/~jerome/viripropbig.jpg http://www.casema.net/~maup/viridian/cover2.html http://users.erols.com/ljaurbach/MagCover.htm http://way.nu/greens/cover.html http://www.gollygee.com/jblocksom/magazine.html http://www.kungfu.net/viridian This contest expires very soon: August 31, 02000.
(((Lest one conclude, as certain spin doctors have, that this is a failure of American federal forest management, I might also point out that Europe is also extensively on fire this summer. (((How long will it be before the American military is permanently deployed to fight climate disasters here and abroad? The military are, after all, the traditional last resort for politics-by-other-means.))) Source: http://www.disasterrelief.org/Disasters/000814westfires7/ "More Military Troops Head West to Fight Fires "Posted on Mon, 28 Aug 2000 20:47:31 GMT "Written by Christina Ward, Staff Writer,
DisasterRelief.org, with news reports
"A weekend of strong winds fueled dozens of raging wildfires across the West, forcing fire crews to focus on protection of homes and people, rather than on containment of the blazes." (((Viridian rewrite: "The American landscape is burning out of control and the Army is fitfully attempting to shelter the interests of insurance companies."))) (((The US Army may be grateful for a working role here.
They saw no action at all during the war in Serbia.)))
"The fifth battalion is due to arrive from Fort
Bragg, N.C., today (Aug. 28), and will be assigned to the
Troy South fire in Montana's Kootenai National Forest.
"There are 84 large fires burning in Arizona,
California, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico,
North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah,
Washington and Wyoming, according to the National
Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)." (((If you live in one of
those states, go out and have a good look at your sky.
Remember when it used to be blue?)))
"This year's fire season in the United States is
the
worst in 50 years." (((And counting, since it's by no
means over yet.)))
(...) "There are about 22,000 people fighting fires in the West." (((And they're losing so badly they had to call the Army in.))) "The cost of fighting the Montana fires so far is estimated at $87.4 million." (((Put it on the coal company's tab.))) (((Now here's the good part. Check out this unintentional poetic litany of web links.))) "Related Stories "Waiting Out the Fires: Little Improvement Expected for O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O |
