I went camping in the San Bernardino Mountains back in mid-September. Those are some of the mountains you have probably heard about burning in Southern California. When we got to our campsite we were immediately told that a campfire was absolutely out of the question. The fire risk was just too high. Walking around the area, it quickly became apparent why . . . A scolytidae type bark beetle has decimated the forest. Because of drought conditions the bark beetle was able to penetrate the trees and had killed almost half of all the evergreen trees in the range . . . On one hike we found ourselves surrounded, one hundred yards in every direction, by 100 ft. tall dead trees. Everywhere we looked there were patches of 10 and 20 dead trees next to an equal number of how-long-to-be-healthy trees . . . It was the same throughout the entire mountain range. And this is no little forest, either . . . 764,00 acres at last count . . . The number of dead trees usually reported by the forest service and the media was one million, but talk was that the entire forest could be lost if the rain stayed away or something dramatic didn?EUR??,,????'???t happen . . . Like fire . . . Sure enough, although they wouldn?EUR??,,????'???t let us start a campfire and they did their best to eliminate the risk, the fires came and as of today (10/27/03) those San Bernardino Mountains are under attack. Now, more than just those mountains were burned in the So. Cal fires and many people were left homeless and in shock. Today they were talking 800 homes and 300,000 acres damaged or destroyed by the fires. However, those early statistics really do not include the mountains of this tale. I am sure these numbers will grow, since the SB Mountains are strewn with tens of thousands of vacation and permanent resident cabins, a great percentage of which are log cabins . . . The irony, however cruel, is that this fire was both inevitable and healthy for the forest. While the Big Bear and Arrowhead resort communities are great places to visit, the forests of So. Cal have always been dry. Yet, the log cabin is the primary structure, and it is definitely taboo to cut a tree that isn?EUR??,,????'???t touching the pad area of the cabin. Now I can?EUR??,,????'???t say for sure what the devastation level will be. This SB fire has only consumed 50,000 acres or so and is just now approaching the developed communities. But seeing the abundance of beetle infested trees and knowing the cause is related to dryness . . . It doesn?EUR??,,????'???t bode well for the built environment. However, if the fire does consume the forest it could be the one thing that ultimately saves the forest from complete devastation. Still, this is yet another lesson that with proper planning . . . landscape architectural planning . . . many of the structures could have been saved. It is perilous, at best, to build in a dry forest and not plan for the fire. Landscape architects who practice in such areas must advise their clients and work with the communities to eliminate as much of the risk as possible. Even if it means cutting down a tree or two. And in those communities where the natural brush comes close to the developed lands, landscape architects need to get involved and push for fire wise landscape planning. There are many options that can keep an area full of plant material, but still repel the threat of fire. This is your arena. And what next . . ? Many say that the only thing that will stop the SB fires is rain . . . and So. Cal rain is never a given. Even so, when the rains do come, and they will . . . there will be nothing left to hold the hills. This is also in your arena. It is only ironic timing that this issue is focused on erosion control. But it is not dumb luck . . . Erosion control, brought on by heavy rain, engineered soils or nature?EUR??,,????'???s bulldozers is both an area for landscape architectural growth and an area of landscape architectural responsibility. Landscape architects must force themselves to remember to plan not only for the needs of the client and the uses of the land, but also for the inevitable course of nature, which will always do its best to reclaim that which was taken . . . - God Bless