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Cowboy’s Quill: Gary Ferguson
Published
7 years agoon
Posted By
Outlaw PartnersOn conflagrations
By Doug Hare EBS Staff
Red Lodge, Montana author Gary Ferguson has written a thoroughly researched, timely book with “Land on Fire: The New Reality of Wildfire in the West.” With the precision of a surgeon, Ferguson carefully dissects the issues that have led to the rise of mega-wildfires and the extension of fire season in our region. With a delicate touch, he deftly presents the increasing destruction these conflagrations cause, while also tempering the negative effects with a more objective, scientific perspective on the benefits of wildfires and their role within our ecosystems.
With clear-eyed focus, Ferguson’s book urges readers to confront the fact that increasingly intense wildfires will be our constant companion for the foreseeable future. Interspersed with stunning photographs, “Land on Fire” lays bare the interconnectedness of ecological, social and economic issues surrounding the burning of large swaths of our forests and our ability to prevent, control and contain these blazes.
In the last half century, there have been four years when over 9 million acres have burned across the United States, and all of them have occurred since 2006. One need not be a data scientist to extrapolate that wildfire season has become more extreme than ever before, and that this trajectory shows no signs of slowing down. The immediate questions arise: “Why are they burning hotter and faster than before?” and “How do we deal with this reality?”
It is important to recognize, as Ferguson does, fire’s role in maintaining healthy forests. It is naive to think of wildfires, Ferguson stresses, solely as forces of destruction that we might somehow eradicate completely. They also sow the seeds, both literally and figuratively, for rebirth and rejuvenation in areas where they burn the most fiercely.
According to Ferguson, under many circumstances wildfire can be “a mighty wand that wipes the land free of disease and insects and fallen timber to create a stage for healthy, altogether magnificent new flushes of life.” Nevertheless, the progressive severity of wildfires complicates these “natural” benefits.
From a historical perspective, the book traces how eight decades of overzealously suppressing wildfires have led to extraordinarily flammable forests, with over 300 million acres of western forests currently suffering from unnaturally heavy fuel loads in the form of dead timber. The rise of wildland-urban interfaces (WUIs), human-caused climate change and the resulting chronic droughts in the arid regions of the West, and the increasingly technological means to predict and combat fires all coalesce into complex issues about how we should proceed to live alongside these seasonal infernos.
While Ferguson doesn’t have all the answers, here is a book that, like a lightning strike from above, might be able to spark a much-needed conversation about the future management of federally protected wilderness and how to prevent loss and suffering in rural areas prone to catching fire.
What is most needed, Ferguson writes, is to “marry the most rigorous science we can muster with a kind of genuine humility and commitment that until now has too often been in short supply.” In the end, he makes clear that Westerners must work together to bring our values and actions in line with ecological necessities, or we will pay the price eventually.
It’s hard not to come away from this book with a better understanding of the complex realities that need to be faced head on, and a deeper appreciation of the beauty and terror of flames. While there aren’t any easy answers, this book clears the ground for a fresh conversation about how we can be better prepared for the fires next time.
Doug Hare is the Distribution Director for Outlaw Partners. He studied philosophy and American literature at Princeton and Harvard universities.
The Outlaw Partners is a creative marketing, media and events company based in Big Sky, Montana.
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Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by
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Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by GAS for ride information.
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August 12 (Monday) 6:00 pm - October 21 (Monday) 6:00 pm
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Hike Big Sky is a FREE guided hike for our community and visitors alike. A different trail will be featured each Monday at 9 a.m. Visit BSCO.org for trail description
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Hike Big Sky is a FREE guided hike for our community and visitors alike. A different trail will be featured each Monday at 9 a.m. Visit BSCO.org for trail description information. Please wear layers, bring water and snacks. Bear spray recommended.
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August 19 (Monday) 9:00 am - October 21 (Monday) 12:00 pm
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Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by
Event Details
Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by GAS for ride information.
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August 19 (Monday) 6:00 pm - October 28 (Monday) 6:00 pm
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Join Santosha, BASE and Gourmet Gals to bring you a donation based all levels community yoga lunch break class every Wednesday throughout the summer. It will be
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Join Santosha, BASE and Gourmet Gals to bring you a donation based all levels community yoga lunch break class every Wednesday throughout the summer. It will be taught by a variety of teachers from Santosha and BASE. This summer all proceeds will go to Big Sky Band-Aid, aside from the first one on the 26th that is happening during Pride week- all funds donated for that class will go to Big Sky OUT. A delicious lunch will also be served by Gourmet Gals following our practice each Wednesday (included in donation). You are welcome to donate with cash at the event or you can Venmo @Santoshabigsky and make a note for Community Yoga. Hope to see you in the Park!
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