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The sights and sounds all bore one frenzied, horrifying message: It was time, as Dana Sprague said, “to get the hell out.”

For the first time in a long time, I took a trip through Minnesota’s North Country. I decided to take the route back after leaving Glacier National Park via U.S. 2. I was stunned at the rural sprawl and overall traffic of the area. You couldn’t escape the cabins unless you hopped on a boat in Voyageurs or in the BWCAW. I have seen the same poor zoning and growth planning in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, so it wasn’t a surprise at all. Our Northern Great Lakes states could learn a tremendous amount from the zoning and ordinance of areas like Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. It really is quite a tacky display. Still, it was nice to be back in the area after so long. I was impressed with the beautiful mix of forest and the vast wetlands.

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Each year since 1992, the park has temporarily closed the land and water areas around active bald eagle nests to visitor use during their critical nesting periods. The closures have been based on recommendations of bald eagle researchers from across the U.S. to land management agencies and in accordance with federal laws protecting bald eagles. After the young leave the nest, which usually occurs by mid August, the areas are again reopened for public use.

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“I think people come to Glacier and are changed,” she said, describing the park’s allure. “There is the sudden realization that if you don’t get off the deck and outside, you’ll miss something bigger than yourself, something really grand, mysterious and powerful. It’s both humbling and rejuvenating.”

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Bingaman, D-N.M., has been touring New Mexico the past two weeks during an August recess of the Senate. He said staff in his office are examining the wilderness issue and he’s awaiting a report.

“We’ve got some people taking soundings on this and seeing if this is something we ought to devote significant amounts of time to,” he said, during an interview at the Sun-News office.

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Update 1:48 p.m. Friday: Humidity is up to about 50 percent on the Hicks Park fire and is keeping fire activity low, said Karen Tuscano, fire information officer. There has been some single-tree torching up high. Local fire departments are patrolling along the road at night to keep watch on the fire.

Enough talk about losing 2nd home “structures” and trophy homes that are rarely, if ever used getting destroyed in these fires. There are actual living, breathing creatures suffering far worse fates. It gets old hearing the term “our top priority in this remote wilderness drainage is protecting these cabins and homes”, and not stopping the largely climate change caused fires. If you build a cabin in the woods, you should receive the same compensation or be put in the same insurance bracket as those who build in flood plains. Firefighters should not be risking lives or money making structures that border wilderness areas a top priority. The aesthetics, water quality, wildlife habitat and what this area brings to the local economy should take a far higher priority than protecting a few log cabins built thirty miles up a wilderness road.

There is of course, another side. And that is rural residents who really don’t have much choice in living in dry semi-forested areas or in a downtown setting because no downtown setting really exists. These people face the possiblity of some very tough losses in terms of full time residence and even pets that may not get out in time. Recent fires like the Pince Crest fire are a good example of that. This is not really the wildland interface, but much closer to town and development, pretty much “on the grid”. Structure protection should be the highest priority here.

You really have to question (At least I have myself) this contradiction conservationists seem to have about buying a cabin in the woods. Why do we champion wild areas, yet continue to do this? I will never understand it, but it’s a weakness that is easily exploited by those who say some conservationists live by a double standard. If every conservationsts moved to their favorite wild area, what would be left? Yeah I guess we could all pat each other on the back as we sipped coffee every morning admiring our views and the rural sprawl we just created by being hypocrites.

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A tiny black bear cub, its paws and hindquarters badly burned, was found clinging to a tree in a New Mexico national forest in 1950. The wounded orphan went on to become a fire-prevention promotional tool for the U.S. Forest Service.

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Arsenic, copper, lead and zinc left over from mining were recently discovered at the Bearup Mine site, covering 10 acres in the Tonto National Forest’s Cave Creek Mining District.

I guess the White Mountain National Forest officials haven’t been made aware that the Roadless Initiative was reinstated awhile back. It’s likely this “block” will hold up in court. The truth is, White Mountain National Forest Officials have simply blocked themselves since they did not follow the law of the land when crafting a plan that logs a roadless area.

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The Sierra Club and Forest Watch say planned clearcuts and road building in the White Mountain National Forest would open up the Wild River Inventoried Roadless Area, a more than 70,000-acre stretch of forest near the Wildcat River watershed.

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Public feedback during this formal public scoping period will help refine important travel issues and develop alternatives to the transportation system that will be further evaluated through the environmental impact assessment process (NEPA process).