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Show A-12 The Park Record Wed/Thurs/Fri, September 5-7, 2018 Fire reshaping US West a product of climate change Red CaRd RobeRts No stranger to fire, land’s future still in question There’s a series of commercials promoting Snickers candy bars that start off with an unlikely character acting comically foolish — Betty White badly playing football in the mud, all the while berating her teammates — is probably the most notable 30-second episode of the advertising series. Near the end of each commercial, someone hands the star a Snickers, and the star quickly morphs back into the friend or colleague everyone else in the commercial is familiar with. Then an announcer justifies the previous off-the-wall behavior by claiming, “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” This is probably the most applicable commercial to my life. It’s almost as if the word “hangry” was coined with me in mind. When I am hungry, there’s a sense of urgency from those around me to produce food quickly. I tend to be less than pleasant. For this reason, I have always loved the concept of food trucks. They offer a delightful array of options, prepared and served quickly and affordably. Many are also decked out in darling décor, giving a vibe you’re dining in the utopia of a different era. It’s like the food is happier when served out of a retrofitted, turquoise Airstream. I ate a lot of happy food over the weekend. I spent Labor Day in Sun River, an idyllic community located near Bend, Oregon. It’s sort of a Mayberry-like hybrid of the ultimate beach and mountain towns. No one was ever in a hurry, the average garage housed more bikes than cars, people waved from the other side of the river as I MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — Wildfires in the U.S. have charred more than 10,000 square miles so far this year, an area larger than the state of Maryland, with large fires still burning in every Western state including many that are not fully contained. Whether sparked by lightning or humans, fire has long been a force shaping the landscape of the U.S. West. Hot, dry winds can whip flames into firestorms that leave behind charred wastelands prone to erosion and mudslides. Other fires clear out underbrush, open the forest floor to sunlight and stimulate growth. Government agencies in recent decades effectively upended that cycle of destruction and rebirth. Fire suppression policies allowed fuels to build up in many Western forests, making them more susceptible to major fires. Those influences are magnified as development creeps ever deeper into forests and climate change brings hotter temperatures. Recent images of subdivisions ablaze thrust the power and ecological role of wildfires into the spotlight. A look at the environmental effects of wildfires: Smoke and ruin Most immediately fire brings destruction. Temperatures from extreme fires can top 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit — hot enough to kill all plant life, incinerate seeds hidden beneath the surface and bake the soil until it becomes impervious to rain. The lifeless landscape becomes prone to severe erosion, fouling streams and rivers with silt that kills fish and other aquatic life. Torrents of muddy debris following fires last year in Southern California killed 21 people and destroyed 129 homes. U.S. Geological Survey scientists say the problem is getting worse as the area burned annually by wildfires increases. A study last year concluded sediment from erosion follow- ing fires would more than double by 2050 for about a third of western watersheds. Smoke from this summer’s Western wildfires — a potential health hazard for at-risk individuals — prompted the closure of Yosemite National Park for more than two weeks and drifted to the East Coast , according to NASA. Recent research says it also impacts climate change as small particles spiral into the upper atmosphere and interfere with the sun’s rays. Climate questions Scientists broadly agree wildfires are getting bigger in North America and other parts of the world as the climate warms. But still emerging is how that change will alter the natural progression of fire and regrowth. The time interval between wildfires in some locations is getting shorter, even as there’s less moisture to help trees regrow. That means some forests burn, then never grow back, converting instead into shrub land more adapted to frequent fire, said Jonathan Thompson, a senior ecologist at Harvard University. “They get stuck in this trap of repeated, high-severity fire,” Thompson said. “Through time we’ll see the California shrub land shifting north.” Similar shifts are being observed in Colorado, Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park in Montana, he said. The relationship between climate and fire cuts both ways. A longer fire season and bigger fires in the boreal forests of Alaska and Canada are burning not just trees but also tundra and organic matter in soils, which hold roughly a third of the Earth’s terrestrial carbon, said David Peterson, a former U.S. Forest Service research scientist. The carbon enters the atmosphere and contributes to higher temperatures, leading to bigger fires that release yet more carbon. Bird in the balance Life and property still top the list of priorities for firefighters, but in recent years another asset has been deemed worth extra protection in many Western states: a chicken-sized bird known as the greater sage grouse. Fires burned an estimated 3,240 square miles of the bird’s sage bush habitat in 2017 and have burned almost 2,400 square miles so far in 2018. When sage brush burns, it’s often replaced with a plant from Europe called cheatgrass, which crowds out native plants and is more prone to burning. That’s challenging government efforts to keep greater sage grouse off the endangered species list, which could restrict economic development. Areas considered crucial to the bird’s survival now get extra attention: A military-type Black Hawk helicopter is under government contract to deploy quick-reaction teams to snuff out sage brush fires in portions of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Oregon. Regeneration A turning point in public understanding of the ecological importance of fire came in 1988, when 1,240 square miles of Yellowstone National Park burned. The devastation, punctuated by images of wildlife fleeing flames, fed into the perception of wildfires as a menace to be battled. The events drew criticism of the park’s “let it burn” policy. Officials didn’t immediately squelch lightning-caused fires that June because they did not pose an immediate threat to life or property, but eventually ended up deploying 10,000 firefighters. By that fall, seedlings already were emerging in some burned out areas. Park biologist Roy Renkin recalls a visitor reacting with surprise a decade later when he told her a thick stand of young trees emerging from a burned area had come back on their own. Lodgepole pines are commonly cited as an example of forest resiliency. The fire’s heat releases seeds from the pine’s cones. Several species of woodpeckers thrive on insects attracted to fire-killed trees. A plant called fireweed is specially adapted to take root in fire-damaged soils, multiplying rapidly and forming carpets of pink petals against a blackened backdrop. “It isn’t all death and destruction,” Renkin said. “These forests have evolved with fire.” Powder Mountain resort closes as crews battle fire Associated Press LIBERTY – A ski resort north of Salt Lake City has been evacuated as a precaution as firefighting crews are working to contain a nearby f ire. Weber Fire District says a grass fire broke out about 4 p.m. Thursday at a gun range in the South Canyon area, near Liberty and Avon. Weber Fire District Chief Paul Sullivan tells the Standard-Examiner that the blaze grew up to nearly 2 square miles by 7:30 p.m. Fire officials say the blaze was ignited by target shooting. Powder Mountain Resort and Pineview Reservoir remain restricted on Friday. Power Mountain announced on Twitter that Paper Airplane MTB Series has been cancelled due to the fire. Sullivan says no structures are threatened. Salt Lake: May be curtains for historic Utah Theater City hasn’t found new user for venue with 100-year past Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — The chances of reviving a historic theater in downtown Salt Lake City are looking grim after a city agency reported that none of the scenarios are feasible without millions of dollars in public funding. The city has examined options to rejuvenate the nearly 100-year-old Utah Theater that hosted the likes of Will Rogers, Babe Ruth and Abbott and Costello when it was the city’s marquee venue for touring acts, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. The city’s Redevelopment Agency bought the theater for $5.5 million in 2010 and has been talks with neighboring property owners to explore redevelopment options. The agency submitted a report to city leaders last week, saying none of the nine options “appear to be feasible or viable, and any scenario will likely have a significant funding gap in the tens of millions of dollars.” The agency is now looking to gauge public opinion on where revitalizing the theater aligns with the city’s fiscal priorities, said Danny Walz, the agency’s chief operating officer. “When we look at the challenges and the opportunities and issues that are facing the rest of the city, is that the best place to invest $40 to $60 million?” Walz said. The city has been meeting with the LaSalle Group and Hines Interests to explore selling the theater to them for redevelopment or hiring them to overhaul the building. The LaSalle Group proposed two years ago turning the theater into an entertainment and dining center. Other ideas have been floated, including making it into a media center, hotel or apartments. With the price tags of such projects soaring, the city has not yet found a viable end-user for the theater. “There was this beautiful amenity, something we really could have cherished, that really has been neglected,” Salt Lake City Councilwoman Amy Fowler said. “That’s why we see that big price tag. There’s so much work that would need to go into it.” By Amy Roberts Food on four wheels paddled by them in a kayak. There were a lot of things I found charming about Sun River. But the one that stood out the most was its food truck park. One could eat every meal there for a week and never repeat the same order. The food trucks ran on solar power and all the serving ware was compostable. Dogs romped in a small fenced area nearby while their owners struck up conversations with strangers at the communal tables. Kids played cornhole and other yard games, their laughter spilling Just like local retail stores have had to adapt to Amazon, local transportation companies have had to adapt to Uber and local hotels to Airbnb, perhaps it’s time for restaurants to adapt as well.” over the live music. Next to the food trucks, there was a beer and wine truck. Everything about the scene felt happy. Cell phones were not a centerpiece on any table; instead people were connecting in real time. The dialogue wasn’t sent instantly or posted online, it came the old fashioned way — true conversation. Strangers shared food, and stories, and belly laughs. This isn’t to say this can’t happen at a brick and motor restaurant. But does it? I understand why restaurant owners in the Park City area are less than thrilled by the idea of food trucks entering the dining scene here, no one welcomes competition. But just like local retail stores have had to adapt to Amazon, local transportation companies have had to adapt to Uber and local hotels to Airbnb, perhaps it’s time for restaurants to adapt as well. Last session, state legislators voted to allow mobile food trucks to operate in multiple jurisdictions, thus restricting the control of local governments looking to prevent them from doing so. So now the County Council is grappling with how to best regulate them. This seems like a real opportunity for local restaurant owners to figure out a way to get in on the trend. It might take some creativity and a switch in the ‘business as usual’ mindset, but many of these restaurants employ chefs who could make a duct tape and Styrofoam salad sound appealing and taste amazing. Surely they can find a way to drive this trend. There will always be reasons to gather at real restaurants: Birthdays, romantic dinners, winter. But ultimately, people crave connection just as much as they do food. A gathering place that offers affordable variety, convenience, and social connection isn’t something to resist. It’s something to aspire to. Amy Roberts is a freelance writer, longtime Park City resident and the proud owner of two rescued Dalmatians, Stanley and Willis. Follow her on Twitter @amycroberts. Seasonal work visa issues impacting mountain town Companies in Vail Valley hit hard by federal policies SCOTT MILLER Vail Daily EAGLE COUNTY, Colo. — It’s been a tough summer for businesses that depend on seasonal workers. In May, businesses that depend on immigrant seasonal workers were bemoaning a delay in federal authorization of this year’s H2-B visa program. That program allows immigrant workers to come for a season, work and then go home. The summer season is defined from April through September. At the time, landscapers, concrete and masonry companies were all gearing up for the season. Many found themselves without big parts of the workforce they expected. Congress finally took action on the program in June, but it was “too little, too late,” said Mike Stevens, of Eagle-based SHC Nursery and Landscape. Gary Woodworth, CEO of The Gallegos Corp., based in Edwards, agreed. When Congress finally approved the program for 2018, the federal government approved 66,000 visas for non-agricultural, seasonal work. Woodworth said the Gallegos Corp. received about one-third of the seasonal employees it requested. The company applied for 100 visas, and had room for 50 or 60 seasonal employees. It got 30. That made this summer difficult, Woodworth said. Workers who were allowed into the country put in more overtime, Woodworth said. And the company, which has operations in the Vail and Aspen areas, Denver and in Montana, shifted crews among those sites. “We’ve managed to keep up, but it’s limited the amount of additional work we can take on,” Woodworth said. That means if new jobs hit the schedule, then the answer to clients is often, “This could take a while.” Woodworth said he’d like to see the system return to the way it was in the early 2000s. Under that system, workers who had come for seasonal work the past two seasons were exempted from the federal cap. Vail-based immigration attorney Amy Novak said that exemption expired in 2005. The national economy entered a prolonged slump shortly after, and the exemption was never renewed. Woodworth said small businesses have been lobbying to have the “returning worker” provisions revived. That language has made its way through the House of Representatives and is now in the Senate, Woodworth said. At this point, Colorado’s congressional delegation supports the changes. But more support is needed. Woodworth said the H2-B program is one that benefits both workers and business owners. “You don’t have to hang on to people through the slow times,” Woodworth said. “People can come in and work, then spend four or five months at home.” The process of just who is eligible for a seasonal visa is “selective,” Woodworth said. People and businesses are vet- ted, and violations can mean the loss of those valuable visas. Lobbying needed Novak said she’s also been to the nation’s capitol to lobby Congress. “It’s not that lawmakers don’t understand (the need),” she said. “They’re worried about their political futures.” While there’s some support for reviving the returning worker provisions of the law, Novak said there isn’t a broad consensus among lawmakers. For now, though, businesses can’t get the workers they need, Novak said. The Center for Immigration Studies — which bills itself as “Low-Immigration, Pro-Immigrant” — last week released a report based on U.S. Census Bureau information indicating that there are few job categories dominated by immigrants. Despite that information, which applies to the entire country, Novak said there’s a real need in many seasonal businesses. One possible solution would be to allocate visas based on an area’s need, she said. While summer sees the biggest need for seasonal workers, Novak said there’s also a need in the winter. The coming season could be “difficult,” she said. There’s just “not enough workers,” Novak said. The current system isn’t working, she added, and Congress isn’t acting. And, while there’s support for action in Colorado’s congressional delegation, Novak said she’s still urging her clients to call and write their representatives and senators. “Something has to be done,” she said. |