Environmental destruction

June 6, 2012.  The Whitewater-Baldy fire is now 263,589 acres as of last night's IR flight.  It's not the largest fire ever in the west, but at 412 square miles, it is plenty big.  This photo is what the Rodeo-Chediski fire  looks like today, after 10 years of "regrowth".  This is what a large portion of the Gila Wilderness will look like in 10 years from now.  This is how the Wilderness Act "protects" our wilderness.  Isn't it time to reconsider environmental policies in the USA?

Rodeo-Chediski Fire 10 years after the flames.  Photo: L Strand 2012

All those new little trees growing?  Juniper and scrub oak.  Not a Ponderosa pine to be seen.