750 lb hammerhead

[Hank49]

well, no.. time began with the Big Bang some 15 billion years ago...

What was there before the BIG BANG?

And yes, burning forest underbrush is natural. Many pines don't germinate until about 140F. They NEED a fire. It happens every dry season here in Belize. hundreds of acres flare up and burn off the grass underneath, turning the lower part of the pines black for a while. After a while, everything is fine and you don't even know where the fire was.

 

[H2Andy]

What was there before the BIG BANG?

ain't nobody knows the answer to that, and if they say they do, they're lying



to paraphrase somebody (forget who) "of what which you don't know,
remain silent."

we do know what happened from the first millisecond of the Big Bang forward,
and it's an interesting story -- leading to me, 15 billion years later, typing
away on the internet

ah... progress...

 

[RonFrank]

Ron,
Not to step away from the thread here, BUT, the whole ecosystem is tied together. My Fathr and grandfather cut timber for decades, and the last 30 years of USFS management of the Forests, along with the "greenpeace push" have left our forests overgrown, choked, and now when they burn, THEY BURN. I watched some of the best hunting areas in Idaho go up in smoke due to the inability to thin the fuel out of them. Look at private land used to grow timber, it is well managed and beautiful(back east for the most part).

Umm, the USDA has had a "Let it burn" policy for decades? One reason that Yellowstone burned... The whole tree owl, don't cut the forests thing did not start until the 90's, so the forests did not become *choked* in just 16 years?

Most of the negative things I've seen as a result of NOT cutting are due to LumberJacks starting fires to enable cutting.

As for Private land, it's a good thing more of our Redwoods are NOT on private land. For the most part they have destroyed the forest by clear cutting, and over logging.

Back east where? They certainly have a lot of hardwood East, but the heart of the timber industry is in the Pacific NW.