| Rangers Begin Controlled Burn
Planned in Smoky Mountains
(Note: Ah, yes, the notorious 'controlled burn' -- like the one that consumed both Los Alamos and Cloudcroft, New Mexico, in 2001, set by the hand of a Forest Service supervisor that repeatedly ignored warnings from the National Weather Service, no less! to hold off on a controlled burn. How much of America and her timber will go 'up in smoke' before someone figures out that it's not about 'timber management,' but rather about destroying America's resource independence and her custom and culture of freedom?) March 10, 2003 Gatlinburg, Tennessee (AP) - The largest prescribed fire since the Great Smoky Mountains National Park adopted a burn policy in 1996 began Monday. The fire is expected to continue through Wednesday, covering more than 1,000 acres of forest. The goal is to replicate the role that naturally-occurring fires played in shaping the park's biologically diverse ecosystem. This week's burn is intended to help the recovery of yellow pine in an area where the tree was once the predominant species. The pines are expected to benefit from the sunny openings created by the prescribed burn. Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. |