Morton Arboretum in January

After the Nebraska interlude, I'm back in Wyoming for this post. Since it's Fall, I was thinking of my summer vacation in the Snowy Range, Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming, which is the location of my previous mountain pictures. I've been coming out here since I was a kid, but now things look like they're changing, beyond the "normal" course of change that I'm used to. Beetles are killing many of the forests out west. This picture directly above looks like it's taken in the Fall, but this was actually taken in July and in fact these trees are dying by the thousands. Campgrounds are being closed as the trees are falling, making them unsafe. On the other side of this mountain range, Snowy Range, the damage is widespread, much worse than how it is in this picture. Cleanup efforts at some of the campgrounds show how huge of a mess this is and what an impossible task the attempt is. I know there's a lot of debate about what should and can be done, and I don't know what the answer is, but it's changing the look of the forest in an enormous way. Spending time there made me so sad, knowing that the next time I make it out there, many of the trees may be gone. The risk of fire is enormous. Oddly when we were there the Smoky Bear Fire Danger Sign listed the fire risk as "low" or "moderate." Amazing, since all it would take is one tiny spark and those dead pines would go up in an explosive way. When you think what happens when you throw a handful of dead pine needles on a fire, to imagine an entire forest of dead trees is a frightening thought. Supposedly the beetles only kill the older, dying, or weak diseased trees. Unfortunately FIRE isn't selective. Everything would be wiped out, changing the forest abruptly in a way that won't be regenerated in my lifetime. It makes me sad. But if we know anything about "nature," it's that we know it isn't static. "Nature" and "Change" are synonymous. As devastating as this change can be, it also can bring about some of the most beautiful surprises. I'll dig out some pictures of some of the alpine areas in this same forest that are former "burn" areas.