Forest fires are beautiful and important

I know we've all been water boarded with Smokey Bear Kool-Aid but in reality, forest fires are crucial, important, and beautiful.  In the big picture, our management of forests and the streams that run through them has been far more destructive than even the most brutal forest fire.  Nowadays, everyone wants to build a McMansion in the middle of western forests, many which can't even reproduce without fire.  The 24 hour news cycle has made everything a million times worse by framing them as natural disasters rather than a natural and important ecological function.

I don't mean to be preachy but I'm awfully sick of assholes building their houses on the banks of meandering streams and/or in the timbers with no regard to the natural functions while the rest of us bail them out with big-time taxpayer dollars to protect their private land.

The world is not a cartoon, it's complicated!  Anyway, here's some pretty pictures of the Moonlight Fire in the Plumas National Forest, CA.  There may not be any fish, fly, or boat pictures but fire on the landscape and wild, native trout go hand in hand.  Nuff said.  If you want to talk fire science, leave a comment.

Ceonothus cordulatus - California white thorn is not your friend!