Raking

Over many decades, a “hands off nature” policy has turned the forest floor of western America into thick, dry, dead tinder, resulting in the accumulation of plenty of fuel for fires to persist and grow, becoming hot enough to overtake the tall, living trees. What the Native Americans did was to set fire to the slash as they returned every autumn to their winter quarters. This would allow fires to scour the floor but not grow hot enough to overtake the more resistent trunks of the living trees. The white settlers, of course, thought this practice simply “savage”, failing to understand the ecological wisdom gained through centuries of interaction with nature. The long absence of “maintenance” has left us with a daunting, and likely unsolvable problem. “Raking” would hardly be an answer, contrary to what our president tells us. Nonetheless, we ought to give him a chance and send him out there with a rake. He can check in every three years or so. Moreover, he may as well take his wife with him, for her valuable experience with gardening in high heels.