Re: [gardeners] Iced Tea Weather
Margaret Lauterbach (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 23 Apr 1998 07:17:24 -0600
At 04:43 PM 4/22/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Margaret, I am interested in the things you brought up.
>
>Do you know the reasons for the controlled forest fires?
>Do you feel that this procedure is necessary for the good
>of the forests, and thus for the good of the nation? And
>do you mind telling me near which city this is taking place?
>Does it happen every spring?
>....................................
The fires are being set "to improve the health of the forest." If that
turns out to be right (and the fires continue to be controlled), I suppose
it is best for the good of the nation. I'm not happy about being forced to
make a sacrifice and stay indoors for days on end when we have beautiful
weather, however. It is taking place near Boise, Idaho. No, it doesn't
happen every spring, this is the first year. Usually we have smoky days
like this when a for real forest fire is burning. Last year when a "good
for the nation" Army national guard sharpshooter (not very smart) - cop
practiced his shooting skills by shooting tracer bullets into forest
tinder, we had a foothills fire (DUH!!) that blackened several thousand
acres, fire "shellacked" the soil so that the city was vulnerable to floods
had we had a frog drowner of a rain, and taxpayers had to shell out several
thousands of dollars to try to prevent that anticipated flooding. Couldn't
recover any of the costs of fighting the fire because he's a National
Guardsman, and the gummint doesn't choose to be sued.
>Since my Missouri daughter was poisoned almost to the point
>of death by a poisonous mushroom choice -- and she happens
>to be a mushroom hunter -- I would like to know, if possible,
>what kind of mushrooms people roam the woods for, in your
>area. Almost all of the mushrooms here on the East coast come
>from those delightfully fragrant barns down in Delaware and
>Pennsylvania. We've been known to make the 3-hr run down
>there, to pick up some spent mushroom soil. Of course, I am
>aware that the "old folks" who knew what they were picking in the
>"old country" will go wild mushroom hunting hereabouts. But
>anything with good flavor comes to us from out of state.
>.........................
The only kind of wild mushrooms I eat are morels, puffballs or shaggy manes
that I have collected myself.
>Yes, I do know that National Forests have gone commercial, but
>I thought that meant that they were getting government permits
>to do logging, and/or access road building. I'm fighting that
>situation as hard as I can...
You're fighting a losing battle there. They've permitted logging and
ranching in national forests for as long as the forests have been
considered "national." I'm talking about the Feds' selling public
campgrounds to private parties, who then enforce their own idiosyncratic
and arbitrary rules. Round up "errant" campers who pitch a tent in the
woods, telling them that's not permitted.
>As a family (5 kids) we spent 25 years tent and trailer camping
>throughout the U.S. We've covered 30,000 miles this way. In the
>forties, when we started, camping was primitive but rewarding.
>There were no reservations at public campgrounds at all. By the
>fifties, bicycles entered the campgrounds. My kids thought that
>was great, but we sure didn't! By the sixties, other people brought
>boom boxes, motor bikes, golf clubs, AIR CONDITIONERS, and
>compressors which cycled the whole day and night through. We
>finally gave up. Of course, camping was no longer as safe a
>hobby as it had been in the past, which helped to tarnish the
>enjoyment.
You couldn't do any of that today.
>
>Yes, I can see how you became a Grump. Let's hope that it is
>only a temporary situation.
>
>
>Penny, NY
>
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Margaret