Ruin becomes renewal

New growth emerges from debris from the Ham Lake fire near Round Lake along the Gunflint Trail in an area that burned on May 5, 2008.

[Rob]

Every news story we read about wildfire is interspersed with words like "destruction" and "moonscape", I guess to hype the item. The reality of fire is that it is destructive only to things that shouldn't be in its way in the first place. And a controlled burn can be conducted directly adjacent to human dwellings. This is old information, but the steady drumbeat of "Smokey the Bear" based fallacies regarding fire's place in just about every eco-system of North America has overshadowed its restorative properties. There is no surprise whatsoever in the fact that after a fire things regreen, are renewed and even improved. The forestry products industry would like fire to stay the enemy so they can harvest (or rape depending how you look at these things) forests belonging to everyone and make maximum profit. The truth is a healthy forest, a healthy prairie, and a healthy savanna all need fire to stay healthy.

[Drunkoncouch]

Where is the freedom to breath act when you need it.
Soon the Minnesota Dept of Health will be cracking down on campfires.

Sarcasm...