Fire in the Bog

To Quote David Zirin's political sports column, Edge of Sports:

"There is nothing “unnatural” about the disaster of New Orleans. When politicians smirk at global warming, when developers look at our wetlands and dream of mini malls, when billions are flushed in the name of war and tax-cuts, when issues of poverty and racism don’t even register in Presidential debates, all it takes is wind, albeit 145 mph wind, to expose a sturdy super power as a house of cards."
-------------------------------------
It makes me think about our at times short-sighted land use planning right here in BC and the tragic consequences it could have. Burns Bog would be much less likely to burn regularly if it weren't being drained at it's edges by industry and berry farming. Richmond is a bad place to build high-rises if an earthquake happens...

If we were to allow Burns Bog to function as a natural system, like it is supposed to, and clooect water instead of slowly bleeding it out through it's edges, it would reduce the fire hazard. How simple. Now if we could only stop dumping garbage on it as well.

I've hiked through Burns Bog quite a bit and it is a truly wild place to be so close to a city. Parts of it are completely inaccessible, unless you have hip waders, ropes and maybe are an olympic pole vaulter ( a method Europeans use to traverse bog landscapes). But on a walk through this private land that should be a nature reserve, park or other protected area, the impacts of humanity are constantly there, albeit often partially sunken into the peat.