Sudden Oak Life by Lee Klinger

Many are asking about my thoughts on the LA fires. I plan to eventually share these once the scope of the tragedy is better known. For now let me show some images depicting the transformation of the land of my youth. Even though this place is in Ohio, the ecological changes happening here are dramatic and relevant to the devastating fires currently burning in Los Angeles.

Historically, grasslands in Ohio were maintained by a combination of cultural burning by the Native Peoples and grazing by the native herbivores. After colonization, although there were fewer fires, the grasslands in many areas persisted mainly due to cattle grazing.

When I first arrived at my Uncle Huck and Aunt Joan’s southern Ohio farmhouse in the late 1950s it was surrounded by cattle pasture as far as I could see. I remember how my cousin Scooter and I would climb the fence and throw stones at the Brahma bull, who then charged at us until we safely retreated behind the fence. I will never forget being reprimanded by Aunt Joan after she eventually caught us. We never did THAT again.

Anyway the point of this post, besides allowing me to wax nostalgic, is the transformation I’ve observed on this land over my lifetime. Below are two photos of the Huck’s farmhouse, one from 1956 and the other from 2014 taken from nearly the same spot. Farmhouse is still there, but mostly hidden by trees. The photo from 2014 was taken after cattle grazing had ended in the early 1970s. All of the previously grazed areas are now either mowed to maintain the grasses or are covered in dense deciduous forests. That may be OK (for now) in the midwest, but here in California the SAME THING is happening, and that is not OK! Our lands need more tending!