By Toni Niemiec
Recently I was listening to an NPR broadcast by Amy Quinton with Kate Wilkin about an environmental study in the Illilouette Creek Basin of Yosemite, where the park has a nearly 50-year experiment that has allowed more than 150 lightning-strike fires to burn. Letting go of almost 100 years of fire prevention, this area has moved from a densely forested area to an area of diverse ecosystems including dense forests in a kind of patchwork quilt. By allowing a more natural treatment of fires this 15,000 acre area is vibrant with plant and animal life. Fires are naturally contained and support the natural habitat.
The devastation which has occured in much of the Pacific Northwest raises questions and provides an opportunity for change — an opportunity for new ideas, incorporating the wisdom of those who were here long before us, and an opportunity for all to learn a different way of being, a more conscious, harmonious way of being.
The fires are not out, people, animals and the earth are still suffering. We cannot ignore this but we can begin to look to the future. We can let go of differences of political and religious ideologies and make new choices now. It begins with the individual, you and I, becoming educated, listening with head and heart, and moving forward together to create a new way.
