Current bad situation is multi-faceted: 1) It's really hot and dry, and there are terrible wildfires; 2) Rather than trying to solve the problems, the current regime is actively contributing to more human, environmental, and economic tragedies; 3) Our wildfire policies have always been terribly wrong.
On that last note, "fighting fires" is a foundation of our culture, while being mostly stupid. Do we "fight hurricanes"? Major condolences to the three people who died in Knowles Canyon, but helicoptering people with pulaskis into a dead-end canyon that's burning is like telling someone to climb Mt Everest barefoot.
And the critics said the episode of spontaneous combustion that Dickens so vividly describes in "Bleak House" was merely literary exaggeration, an exercise in poetic license that would never occur in real life! I tell you, just reading about Wright & Burgum & all those other greedy idiots is enough to set ME on fire, and the last thing western Colorado needs is a reenactment of the fate of the fictional Mr. Krook. Is it a bad sign when you're grinding your teeth so hard that sparks are leaping out onto your keyboard & scorching your computer screen? Grrrrrr.
Dana Gardunio, Ouray district ranger for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, told the Plaindealer that Forest Service officials closed the forest earlier than planned to try to ward off a surge of people heading into the backcountry for the holiday weekend. She said staff extinguished several campfires that campers left behind in their hurry to leave, despite the fact that campfires outside of permanent pits or grates were banned at the time.
Current bad situation is multi-faceted: 1) It's really hot and dry, and there are terrible wildfires; 2) Rather than trying to solve the problems, the current regime is actively contributing to more human, environmental, and economic tragedies; 3) Our wildfire policies have always been terribly wrong.
On that last note, "fighting fires" is a foundation of our culture, while being mostly stupid. Do we "fight hurricanes"? Major condolences to the three people who died in Knowles Canyon, but helicoptering people with pulaskis into a dead-end canyon that's burning is like telling someone to climb Mt Everest barefoot.
Well put!
And the critics said the episode of spontaneous combustion that Dickens so vividly describes in "Bleak House" was merely literary exaggeration, an exercise in poetic license that would never occur in real life! I tell you, just reading about Wright & Burgum & all those other greedy idiots is enough to set ME on fire, and the last thing western Colorado needs is a reenactment of the fate of the fictional Mr. Krook. Is it a bad sign when you're grinding your teeth so hard that sparks are leaping out onto your keyboard & scorching your computer screen? Grrrrrr.
hmmm. how bout another shot of tequilla?
https://www.ouraynews.com/2026/07/01/fire-surges-cimarrons/
Dana Gardunio, Ouray district ranger for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, told the Plaindealer that Forest Service officials closed the forest earlier than planned to try to ward off a surge of people heading into the backcountry for the holiday weekend. She said staff extinguished several campfires that campers left behind in their hurry to leave, despite the fact that campfires outside of permanent pits or grates were banned at the time.