The case for visiting Loch Lomond, one of the prettiest parks in the Bay Area
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In the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains is one of the prettiest parks in the greater Bay Area, Loch Lomond Recreation Area, which was missed by last year’s CZU Lightning Complex fires and is now weathering the drought, too.
Loch Lomond is best known for being 3 miles long but very narrow, set in a deep canyon and edged by redwoods and Douglas firs that rise on the surrounding slopes. The forest there resembles a sea of conifers. Hikes lead to lookouts for sweeping views of the lake and forests, as well as to a grove of old-growth redwoods.
Posted on April 19, 2021 | Views: 160
cwebb2021-04-19T01:21:18-07:00
by Alan Buis: The year 2020 will be remembered for many things, not the least of which were a series of devastating fires around the globe that bear the fingerprints of climate change…
From Australia and South America’s Amazon and Pantanal regions, to Siberia and the U.S. West, wildfires set new records and made news year-round.
It was an especially bad year for wildfires on the U.S. West Coast. Five of California’s 10 largest wildfires on record happened in 2020, and the state set a new record for acres burned. According to CAL FIRE, the state’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, more than 9,600 wildfires burned nearly 4.2 million acres through mid-December, causing more than 30 fatalities and damaging or destroying nearly 10,500 structures.
Fire experts are predicting another hot, dry year in California, increasing the risk of wildfires a year after an especially bad season in 2020. The surge in fires has led some to consider the methods in which they are fought.
At the San Mateo County Parks Commissionâs April 1 meeting, commissioners discussed the use of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Conservation Camp Program, which employs inmates to help fight active fires and do mitigation work.
The program is voluntary, and not all inmates are eligible. Those with a history of sexual offenses, arson or escape canât join the program. But some civil rights groups say the work is akin to slavery, disproportionally calls on minorities and that state inmates have no practical option to refuse to work.
The Climate Connections of a Record Fire Year in the U.S. West
By Alan Buis,
NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Smoke from wildfires shrouded the San Francisco Bay Area and blocked sunlight on September 9, 2020. Credit: Aaron Maizlish/Flickr/CC BY 2.0
The year 2020 will be remembered for many things, not the least of which were a series of devastating fires around the globe that bear the fingerprints of climate change. From Australia and South America’s Amazon and Pantanal regions, to Siberia and the U.S. West, wildfires set new records and made news year-round.
It was an especially bad year for wildfires on the U.S. West Coast. Five of California’s 10 largest wildfires on record happened in 2020, and the state set a new record for acres burned. According to CAL FIRE, the state’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, more than 9,600 wildfires burned nearly 4.2 million acres through mid-December, causing more than 30 fatalities and damaging or destroying nearly 10,500 s