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Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Red Tape And Blizzards - To Build A Fire 2020



“Fantastic!” 

The man’s first day in the mountains of Whatcom County was already memorable.  Cold despite the best gear available, he looked forward to camp at Glacier Creek; the hot fire, a warm tent, hot food, and whiskey would be welcome.

“Snap!” A strut folded.  The snowmobile tumbled over the edge of a 200’ downslope, the man hanging on for dear life only to be flung away; the machine continuing on, finally smashing against the root-ball of a fallen forest giant.

Consciousness!  Cold!  So Cold!  Dark!  Struggling to stand! Falling hard; the fiery pain of a broken leg.    

Conscious again.  Had it been all night? 

The man slid down to the snowmobile.  The buzz of distant engines! Wishing he’d stuck to the well-marked trails he’d been told to follow!  No one would look for him here!   Just one chance!

The leaking gasoline ignited instantly, fierce heat immolating the root-ball.  Flame and smoke shot into the air.  “They’ll see that!” the man exalted.

Finally!  A chopper!  A rescuer winched down. 

“Hey buddy, you’re in big trouble.”

“Tell me about it!”

“Whatever.  Sign here.”

“What’s this?”

“Citations, summons, stuff like that; Forest Service, Northwest Air Pollution NOAA, EPA, Ecology, bunch of others; burning without a permit, potentially endangering wildlife, air pollution, ground contamination, other things.  Come on, sign, I gotta get out of here, storm’s coming!.”

“What about me?”

“Maybe the next chopper.  Bunch of environmental groups are flying in to serve you with papers for a lawsuit.  Maybe they’ll have room.”   
 

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