New Mexicans are quick to recall last year’s Hermits Peak, Calf Canyon, and Black Fires – the biggest in state history. Here we are at the door of yet another worrisome dry spring. We are not alone as many Western states suffer the duress of protracted drought and big fires. It’s reasonable to call it a crisis.
Yet, through the ashes and charred trees, I see opportunity. During my 35 years working for the U.S. Forest Service, I learned about the “law of holes” the hard way. The first law: if you’re in a hole, stop digging. The second: when you stop digging, you’re still in a hole. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management stopped digging their way through the country’s ancient forests last week when they issued their first-ever inventory and report on America’s surviving mature and old-growth forests. They still have a long way to get out of the hole.
Protecting old-growth forests best way to fight climate change
Yet, through the ashes and charred trees, I see opportunity. During my 35 years working for the U.S. Forest Service, I learned about the “law of holes” the hard way. The first law: if you’re in a hole, stop digging. The second: when you stop digging, you’re still in a hole. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management stopped digging their way through the country’s ancient forests last week when they issued their first-ever inventory and report on America’s surviving mature and old-growth forests. They still have a long way to get out of the hole.
Protecting old-growth forests best way to fight climate change