LOTS GOING ON AT THE END OF THE BAY

NORTHERN GREAT LAKES VISITOR CENTER ENVELOPED IN SMOKE

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE, THERE'S FIRE

PARA-SAILOR OFF ASHLAND BEACH

THE SAIL

THE SAILOR

Wednesday, 8:30 AM.  50 degrees F, wind variable, light.  The sky has a high overcast, the humidity is 71% and the barometer is dropping steadily, now standing at 30.17".  Come on, rain!
   We had to go to Ashland to have a headlamp on the truck replaced late yesterday afternoon, and found lots going on at the end of Chequamegon Bay.  As we approached the intersection of Hwy. 13 and Hwy. 2 just west of Ashland, we found the entire area enveloped in the white smoke and flickering flames of a "prescribed burn."
   Large areas of marsh around the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center were burning, under the watchful eyes of lots of forest service personal and volunteer community firemen.  Fire trucks were everywhere, ready to contain any runaway blaze.  It was good to see this maintenance-by-fire activity, which is usually associated with prairie restoration, being used; it should be applied much more than it is, but folks are genuinely afraid of fire, and with good reason.
   I am always worried about logging-slash fires getting started and spreading throughout northern forests, but the utility of fire in land management... of prairies, oak openings, marshes, shrub lands and other ecotypes... is undeniable, and is environmentally much more sound than using machines and pesticides to control unwanted woody vegetation, as well as nonnative, warm season grasses and forbs. Besides, it satisfies the little-boy pyromaniac that lies dormant in all of us. The wind is always a big factor, both its direction and speed, and the proper use of back fires is necessary.  In this case the wind had been light and from the north, but was picking up about the time we came on the scene.
   In fact the north wind was picking up enough to entice several para-sailors to ply their sport off Ashland's Maslowski Beach.  The water is shallow a long way out, the lake bottom sandy, and the wind unimpeded for twenty miles out of the north.   The sailors were having a good time, and their colorful sails were easily visible from Hwy. 2.  The sport is environmentally innocuous, and looks like a lot of fun.

Pray for the World's Christians,
Persecuted for their Faith