We can breathe again

Mark and I had a nice bike ride yesterday to Curlew and back.  It was the first ride since the middle of August it seemed.  When there was an inversion of smoke from the Washington State fires I actually purchased a breathing mask in order to walk around because it gave me a headache.  So yesterday was quite the pleasure to see the colors again and be appreciative of the beautiful place we live.  The fires are mostly contained now.  Reconstruction and recovery will be a long process for this region.  We spoke to emergency personnel from Bellevue Wa who said they're going to be in Washington for another week and maybe more.  They said the USFS and DNR are working hard now to remove the traces of fire lines, re-erecting fences and conducting fire patrol.  I also overheard people talking about salvage logging.  I can only hope there will be a balanced approach to that and not just looking at short-term profit.  There are benefits of fire to the forest ecosystem and land and property owners have access to good information about how to take care of their property.  I hope the Colville Tribe and Forest Service will take a balanced approach with the Kettle Complex since they have almost 75,000 acres that burned. 

August 28th 2015

September 2nd, 2015

Thanks for all the help from a long way away