Unveiling the Light

Last week we fought off the enemy from the east. We thought we had him stopped but he divided his forces and jumped the Skyway to out flank us both to the north and south, fighting up the canyon and up Neal Road. Our people fought valiantly though. When the enemy tried an end run around by Butte College it gained some initial successes and our losses were severe as all fronts weakened but in the end our troops fought them to a standstill. Victory was ours! But as we were to find out, this is a determined enemy and the war is far from over.

The enemy is busy elsewhere in the state and we were force to par down our troops to support those efforts yet reports of continued activity in our area were steadily coming in. Ariel bombardments continued daily and the psychological and biological warfare is wearing us down. It is hard to breath, to see and to operate in this gloomy atmosphere. The sun, if seen at all, hangs like a dull pumpkin in the dark gray sky in a surreal landscape. Ashes cover everything and it smells like a chimney. It’s dangerous to even walk outside without a mask. We’ve already been under seize for a month and no end is in sight. Sidewalks are nearly empty and those few people seen outside are well covered and protected by life saving masks.

Now the enemy is striking from a new direction. It has completely circled around us and is attacking from the south and east. We have been forced to evacuate our medical facilities and one third of the city’s populace has fled its threat. The ashes are as bad as ever and we all wait to see how our troops will hold out against this latest onslaught. We have set up our defenses along a branch of the Feather River that gives us some advantage against their uncanny ability to leap wide spaces. Meanwhile, life as we know it has virtually come to a standstill. We wait for the results of the current battle.

How did we get to this point? Why did we give up our responsibility to responsibly manage our forest to environmental extremism? Why don’t we have timber roads that would allow firemen access to the fires? Why don’t we allow some cutting that would also bring about a clearing of undergrowth and debris? Why do we let a few people who live in cities dictate how we who live in rural areas manage our forests? Why do we give priority to every species except humans? Fire is nature’s way of clearing away debris or, we could put those forests to use for human consumption as God meant them to be and manage them so humans benefit and fires are not needed.

Well managed forests allow the best trees to grow, cut away weaker trees for consumption and clear away undergrowth as part of that operation. What’s more is that instead of costing the state money, the state actually makes money off the bids for the timber or for Christmas trees. If a fire breaks out, firefighters find easy access through the roads foresters have made and little fuel due to the clearing away of debris. That is the way we used to manage forests and it worked well until the limousine foresters got involved. Now we all suffer, people, forests and animals; while they sip self righteous cocktails in high rise cities. We let it happen. Who did it hurt? Let’s hope that last line of defense holds.