Tom,

As always, it's great to hear from you. I also appreciate your concurrence. As for your rant, I'm afraid you're preaching to the choir, and not just to me, but probably to many forumites.

I'm in total agreement with your idea of making EP an MB required for Eagle. The skills and knowledge developed in it are much more likely to used than those of Lifesaving.

Your EPMB class sounds much better than any others of which I have heard. Frankly, I'm not so sure I wouldn't benefit significantly from taking it! It sounds like an outstanding program. Do you get much attrition due to the length of the course? I've never run an MB class that long.

As an aside, my 13 year old son went on his first dear hunt this year. My prerequisite to that was his successful completion of the MBs for Orienteering, Wilderness Survival, and Emergency Preparedness (He just advanced to to the BSA rank of Life 3 weeks ago.) . That was my way directing and timing his developmentn not to mention making sure he could take care of himself if he were somehow lost alone. The camping and hunt itself were very enjoyable. Unfortunately the warm weather at the time of the hunt in our deer-hunting zone kept the deer at much higher altitudes, much of which was nearly inaccessable or outside of our zone and therefore not legal to hunt.

I also tried a second trip to our deer hunting zone at the end of our season since we had a weather forecast of cooling. But the weatherman lied. Oh well my 10 year old son and I still had a good camping and hunting experience. Early in the hunt when we were making camp 8500' up in the Sierras, my son learned why one should not play around a creek filled by snow runoff in the evening on a remote camping trip. He also learned about preparedness since his only footwear had become wet. Last time I'll ever fail to inspect his and my wife's packing! After dismal hunting results at the upper elevations of our zone, we gave up on the deer and went rabbit hunting in the lower elevations, a much more successful endeavor.

Fortunately the fires in my area began to subside shortly after my post regarding them. Coincidentally Our OA Lodge held its 70th annual Desert Caravan right in the middle of a burn area. However it was at a large county campground which had served as a base camp for the firefighters working in that area. Thus the immediate campground was clean rather than ash-laden. The ground cover in the burnt area had not yet begun to regenerate. Speaking of fauna, we initially used an FRS radio channel for communication among elements of 2 related troops. Then we discovered that a party of successful quail hunters nearby were discussing their bags. So we switched channels for scouting communications. OTOH, the temptation to eavesdrop was overwhelming, so I now have a new area to hunt for quail.

We saw a lot more rejuvenation of the forest in another area which had burned last year. Our Cub Scout pack assisted the USFS in a replanting project. The redevelopment of the local flora and fauna is a real education. We do try to show the kids how that works.

[Rant on]

Although our fires were devastating to many people, the forests themselves will sustain a net benefit from the clearance of the diseased, dead, and simply excess trees, not to mention the impenetrable congestion of brush. It would appear that nature is curing the preservationism inflicted on our wild lands. Due to the zealous suppression of natural fires, and the curtailment of artificial means of thinning, vegetation has become overly thick in many areas. The excessive forestation and congestion of brush has severly reduced the ability of the land to support wildlife. Thus natural fires, as from lightening (with their concommitant rainfall), which tend to burn more frequently and cooler, thin the excess vegetation and result in more brouse, and other available food resulting in a significant increase in wildlife populations. Artificial fires, as from arsonists, or even accidents in overly thick brushy/treed, dry areas tend to burn much hotter, thereby resulting in more severe fires eliminating everyting in their path. Human intervention to prevent erosion in those situations is necessary. After a while the effects are similar to areas burnt in natural fires with increased open areeas and wildlife populations.

One of our long-favorite areas has been the Providence Mountains in the Mojave Desert. Due to the altitude, temperatures are moderate. Previously ranchers grazed their cattle there supported by artificial watering sources. Naturally those watering devices also supported abundant wildlife. Ranchers also built roads. Quail Unlimited used those roads to build and service watering devices for quail and other small creatures. A few years ago, environmentalist secured the enactment of the Desert Protection Act (DPA). It placed the general area in the Mojave National Preserve (MNP). Under the DPA, the cattle graze no more, and the roads are curtailed and/or closed. Watering devices fall into disrepair and can no longer be accessed or fixed. Surprise, surprise: the wildlife populations are falling. Previously the area enjoyed the benign neglect of the BLM. Now the area is administered by the National Park Service. It is hostile to commercial activities such as ranching, and barely civil to hunting. Nonetheless, individual rangers may still be quite gracious and downright helpful to hunters. I suspect that the NPS is actually rather schisophrenic re hunting in the MNP. In any case wildlife is dwindling. The NPS is suspicious of/hostile to the mule deer since man introduced it to the area in the 1940s. I wonder when the NPS will start an extermination program for the mule deer in the MNP.

In the PR of Kalifornia, environmentalists have sponsored heavily Hollywood-supported propositions which prohibit the killing of mountain lions. In order for an individual mountain lion to be killed by man, the lion all but has to be given a due-process hearing first (I'm waiting for the day when the individual lion must be represented by counsel before any determination that he might be killed). Consequently the lions, which have never been a threatened species in the PRK, have greatly increased in population. Not so surprisingly, the threatened Desert Bighorn Sheep consequently have become truly endangered in some areas. Even the mule deer populations are being decimated by the mountain lions.

[End of rant]

Tom, I know you have no complicity in these problems, but you touched a tender spot. Sorry if I have used your post to vent re our forestry and PRK problems. Somehow it seemed apt. I hope you won't mind.

Best regards and God bless,

John