2013 Carpenter 1 fire on Mount Charleston
Luddites!
This is a passage from a story in today’s Las Vegas newspaper about plans to open two trails on Mount Charleston that were closed three years ago after a major fire, I kid you not:
Much of the work will take place within a federal wilderness area, so workers won’t be allowed to use mechanized equipment such as trucks, chainsaws or heavy construction machinery to access the trails or remove debris.
There was talk of using explosives to clear away some of the largest fallen trees, but the crews will use hand saws, picks and shovels instead, said Naaman Horn, spokesman for Spring Mountains National Recreation Area.
“Explosives are allowed in wilderness areas, but we’re planning to do the work with the minimum tool,” he said.
It won’t be easy. Horn said there are hundreds of downed trees blocking trails in and around the 28,000-acre area burned by Carpenter 1. The largest is a ponderosa about 12 feet in diameter.
Those who worship the god Gaia have no qualms about spending your involutary tithes on thousands of man-hours of backbreaking manual labor if it means not disturbing their vengeful deity with sacrilegious machines and explosions. If they really want to appease their god they should be using stone tools.
Come to think of it those horses and mules they plan to use to haul in their hand saws to clear 12-foot diameter trees are not native and shouldn’t be allowed. Maybe the workers should just gnaw the trees with their teeth.
The story indicates the feds have no idea how long it will take the two six-person crews to open the trails and the story has no estimate of what it will cost. Doubtless the cost would be considerably less if the workers could use bobcats, backhoes, bulldozers, chainsaws and explosives, but are the devil’s creation and verboten on god’s mountain.
Why bother? Just leave it until it burns again.
Gaia, by Anselm Feuerbach (1875)
4TH ST8 