As if 2020 wasn't bad enough, with the pandemic, contentious politics and racism running rampant, literally hundreds of forest fires have decimated millions acres of timberlands and grasslands. Many homes located in 11 Western states, including Oregon, Washington and California are witnessing an unprecedented fiery maelstrom.
With most people in these areas already quarantined due to the coronavirus, it is yet another good reason to stay indoors to avoid poor air quality. Those who would dismiss the fires as an unusual situation that will pass are only fooling themselves. These fires are the result of the Earth in distress at an alarming rate.
Fires continue to spread across the western United States. More than 40,000 Oregon residents -- approximately 10 percent of the state's population -- have evacuated their homes and are seeking shelter in Springfield, Eugene and other Oregon cities. The rest of the West is experiencing the same situation.
Climate change and global warming are the cause, and with the current administration backsliding on environmental commitments at home and abroad, we are currently on the fast track to hades. States usually send firefighters to help, but "we're all in the same soup of cataclysmic fire," says Washington Governor Jay Inslee.
Millions of residents smothered in toxic air, rolling electrical blackouts and triple-digit heat waves are pervasive at this moment of time. Climate change, in the words of one scientist, is smacking us in the face. Climate change scientists have long worried about this sort of cascade effect in which a series of disasters overlap.
These scientists say the mechanism driving the wildfire crisis is straightforward: human behavior, chiefly the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil, has released greenhouse gases that increase temperatures, drying forests and priming them to burn, in many cases near cities and towns with vulnerable residences and businesses.
We have but one choice: take advantage of the upcoming election and vote for politicians who will be dedicated to the environment, restoring the many agencies responsible for public lands and environmental issues, protecting our lives and livelihoods. We need to rectify the situation. If not, there will be hell to pay.
In the early part of the 20th century, the fledgling lookout system seemed to make sense for the vast forests of the American West. Most were built by the U.S. Forest Service, and at one point, they numbered in the hundreds. None of these lookouts were chosen for ease of access or safety. Virtually all have impressive views.
As a seasonal employee of the USFS for nine seasons, I spent most of my time as a wilderness ranger and firefighter. However, on occasion, I was asked to fill-in for lookout employees, so they could take their four-day weekends to refresh and resupply. It was always a delightful assignment, and I appreciated the opportunity.
On the Malheur National Forest, my job was wilderness ranger for the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, but once in a while, I staffed lookouts on Antelope Mountain and Dixie Butte. Many, but not all, lookouts were female, and most seasonal Forest Service employees were college students who would return to school in the fall.
The Europeans had years of experience protecting and managing their own forests. Gifford Pinchot, a Yale graduate, attended schools of forestry in France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. When he came back to the U.S., he brought some conservation ideas learned overseas. His arrival on the scene was timed perfectly.
President Teddy Roosevelt shared Pinchot's enthusiasm for forest conservation, and appointed him as the chief of the U.S. Forest Service. Soon, trails and lookouts would become a permanent part of the federal fire protection system. Some were built in extremely inhospitable places, like Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams.
Over the years, lookout cabins themselves went through several architectural periods. The first were free-form: anything that could be constructed to serve a dual purpose of a place to live and an observation point. That approach produced some odd-looking structures. None of the earliest posts seemed to survive.
The most important piece of equipment in a lookout was a rangefinder, which was used to to determine precise bearings on any fire or smoke spotted by the lookout. If more than one lookout could acquire a reading on the same fire, the district ranger station could triangulate the exact location.
In a typical lookout, the firefinder was placed in a two-by-two foot space in the center of the cabin, with telephone or two-way radio mounted beside it. Bed, table and stove filled three corners, with a door on the fourth side. Cupboards below the windows stored supplies. Firefinders were manufactured in Portland, Oregon.
Because many forest fires were lightning-caused, the buildings were protected by lightning rods grounded to all sides, and the telephone also had a grounding switch. On peaks subject to numerous lightning strikes, lookouts could protect themselves by standing on a low stool with glass insulators on short legs.
Many lookouts were artists or artisans who practiced their crafts in their spare time. One I knew transported (by road) a loom for weaving rugs and other projects. Today, lookouts are a dying breed. Most have been replaced by helicopter or airplane surveillance and infra-red heat sensors to determine the location of a forest fire.
