Liz Writes Life 10-14-2020

October 14, 2020

Liz Writes Life

She got caught! Early Sunday morning, I watched through my bedroom window as the doe walked purposely past the wimpy morning glories she has been munching and up onto the porch. By the time I walked into the kitchen to peek out the sliding glass door, she had already jumped the three-foot porch railing and was eating the tomato plants. Last week, I noticed hoof prints inside the garden, but couldn’t find a spot that looked like she was jumping the six-and-a-half tall fence, so I had eyed the porch and railing as an entrance.

I spied her also munching green tomatoes and then she enjoyed several mouthfuls of the maroon amaranth, which I also previously noticed was missing branches. Dodging and darting, a yearling was outside the fence looking for a way into the garden. She just ignored the youngster. Thinks she is pretty smart, she does.

Gotta say, I really didn’t get irritated as I did pick a bunch of green tomatoes and the plants are about done. Heaven knows there isn’t much deer food out in the wilds in this dry old October. But, she must not be overly hungry, cuz she didn’t munch on the zucchini. (Neither have I.) And, I pulled-up the bedraggled cucumber plants early last week.

About 10 minutes later, she jumped back over the railing, her hooves clunking on the wooden porch. Hum, yep, that was the noise I have heard a few times – usually well before 7 a.m. The herd must have slept-in after the bit of rain we received on Saturday.

Well, at least the mystery is solved. Now to figure out a plan to keep her out of the garden next year. I know, I know, an outside dog would be helpful to bark away deer and other wild varmints. But, I will likely resolve to the use of netting.

Smiling, I opened the door to see some sprinkles descending around 9 on Saturday morning. I didn’t even bother to put on a jacket as I trotted out to do a little jig and I certainly didn’t get wet. But around 11 a.m., I noticed a steady dripping from the house roof. This time, I did put on a light jacket (no hood) and did a dance of joy. Nope, didn’t get soaked, just a little damp. But, so very grateful for whatever we received. And I did get the typical frost (after an autumn rain) on Sunday morning.

Feel good story

A month ago, a farmer in North Dakota suffered cardiac arrest, while trying to put out a fire that had started on his combine. Lane Unhjem, 57, then spent several weeks in ICU in a Minneapolis hospital. Because harvesting his grain meant economic survival for the Unhjem family, about 60 farmers came together with 11 combines, 11 semi-trucks with trailers, grain carts and tractors to get the job done. With that many workers, 15,000 bushels of canola and 35,000 bushels of durum were harvested from 1,000 acres in about seven hours on Sept, 12, 2020.

The “Harvesting Bee” was organized by a family friend, Jenna Binde, who said that helping out the family was simply the right thing to do. Of course, all the farmers and workers missed a day of their own work. Oh, and Unhjem is also a rancher with cows and horses that need feed. So, about 19 ranchers hauled 714 large round bales on Sept. 19^th for the family.

A week later, friends held a pancake breakfast and silent auction at the local Moose Lodge, in the community of Crosby, raising over $19,000 and set-up a GoFundMe page. Also, neighbor ladies made months worth of meals and filled a freezer for when the family returns home. Another family friend said Lane Unhjem is currently on dialysis with a long recovery ahead.

The Unhjem story was posted to facebook and it went viral with 5,000 likes and comments from people throughout the world.

Told you, this was a feel good story! There certainly are lots of good people in the world!

Fire solutions

I chatted with Ray Haupt, our Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, last week about follow-up from his meeting with President Trump, in September, on solutions to the devastating wildfires. He said the White House administration set-up a phone meeting, for Oct. 2, 2020, that included high-up federal agency directors, so he prepared a four-page outline on the urgency of policy changes regarding firefighting, fire management, leadership issues, budget distribution issues and cohesive frame work strategies for Cal-Fire and USFS to adopt.

“I started talking and didn't stop for 40 minutes,” Ray related. He described in detail the strengths and weaknesses of on-the-ground practices that must change, the enormity of the problems and included the impractical aspects of the Endangered Species Act that has not improved ESA-listed species populations and destroys their habitats.

He said initial attack response, especially from the air, must be beefed-up; federal contracts need to be multi-year, so resources are available when needed; and the Wilderness areas must receive much more fire suppression techniques.

“I know of no Wilderness that is not a threat to a community,” he explained.

So, Ray asked the White House administration and the USFS Chief to immediately stop “managed fire” in the Wilderness. In other words -- put those fires out, because Wilderness fires are a long-term drain on firefighting resources, not to mention the smoky affect to air quality.

Ray then described three focus points.

First: Resilient landscapes must be made and managed – meaning forest density must be greatly reduced to natural-sized stands.

Second: He wanted to dispel the myth of Forest Adapted Communities. Comprehensive landscape work must be achieved, because the forest and brush is so thick that “defensible space” is not doing the job.

Three: Safe and effective wildfire response must be better coordinated and swift. He emphasized that the safety of the public must be the #1 priority.

So there you go, the Trump administration is actively seeking help to stop the destructive wildfires and listened to a Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, who is also a well-experienced forester. Pretty neat! And actively thinning the forests would certainly boost local rural economies.

 

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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