A Deadly Picnic

A lot of clean up has been done around Spring Lake. Many of the trees are quite brittle and I wondered as Ozzie and I walked around this morning if downed limbs and snags were going to be left in place as seemed to be the policy before the fire or removed.

There are still thousands of burned trees on the residential lots being cleared of debris. Arborists who have been consulted are counseling leaving a lot of them in place as they may come back. Many others must be cut down lest they fall on an unsuspecting person. 

All of the lots in Coffey Park have now been cleared, but they must still be soil tested and graded before building can begin. There are still a lot of black trees standing like some sort of post apocalyptic forest. I'm sure many of them will have to be taken down, but there is probably a shortage of tree people and equipment to do the work. Usually cut trees are turned into mulch. Perhaps the black mulch from these 'fire trees' will have some magic ingredient to put back into the burned ground.

A well organized group has formed in Coffey Park and had engaged a developer to build new homes for them. The economies of scale on the closely spaced lots would make it much more economical for individual homeowners to rebuild. Unfortunately, the developer has withdrawn from the project because he says he is unable to secure the labor he needs. 

It is such a complex situation with so many moving parts, I suspect nothing is going to go according to plan, and there will be many setbacks as well as successes. 

I was struck by the scenario in today's picture, and had to look at it for awhile before I realized why the caution tape had been strung around the picnic table.* Clearly no decision has been made regarding downed trees and branches, but this situation  seems to leave the park rangers with few options. Apparently this is the leave in place option, but I doubt it is the final solution....

*The clue is in the thumbnail