Thank you, Amanda, for the wide range of wonderful offerings and the Hope. All the best in 2025 :)
I saw the kitty :) I had bobcats in my last suburban neighborhood. My crow friends would warn me if mama bobcat was hanging around the yard. She and her youngsters lived in the sewer near my front door. We respected each others space.
Thank you Amanda for releasing the clenched heart I usually feel with the topic of prescribed fires. My brain understands the need for them and their effectiveness. My heart, with ancient and deep-seated associations of death and devastation, wants nothing to do with forest fires. I "dared" to read your article and watch the Nature Conservancy's video you shared, and was left with no conflict... no clenched heart.
Amanda, Thank you for your clear-eyed posts turning into the storm and sighting the tranquility beyond. We pull together to gain ground against the wind and rain. Whether we gain or loose ground, we’ll go at it again tomorrow for the fellowship of striving together. Like rock climbing, it can be tough but what other life can there be?
You're doing such great work here, Amanda! There's so much for all of us to (re)learn, and the hope you highlight resides (for me, at least) in the knowledge that so much can be done and saved with open minds & willing hands, and in the perspective that we belong to the Earth & not the other way around. Thank you & all the best to you in 2025!
This was just what I needed today, Amanda! I’m so lucky to have read most of these posts, and I have a couple more I haven’t seen yet to look forward to. I love the quote from the Threshold podcast about turning towards the storm. This made me tear up a little.
All of these posts are deeply moving and solutions-based and inclusive. My favorite part is the hunters who reached out about making the switch on their bullets. Great job bringing us all together from a place of understanding and hope rather than fear and rage. We need this now more than ever. Thank you.
Yes I will have to check it out. The word “threshold” kept coming up a lot lately as a synchronicity. Maybe not so odd given the end of the year but it still stood out for some reason. I’ve also been getting synchronicities with bison. So I definitely need to give it a listen, not to get too woo woo on you here.
Thank you so much Amanda — you truly give me hope. (By the way have you heard of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve in NY?—very active and successful prescribed burning program.)
I'm used to thinking about prescribed fires in the West, but have recently seen more information that they were common on the East Coast as well. I believe early settlers described Indians lighting fires along the Hudson yearly? I have to recall my source. I do believe this topic will be increasingly important in all landscapes.
As someone who tries to follow these matters, I am absolutely shocked that beyond people who want all fires to stop (a bad idea innocently come to), there are those who want to start fires even before thinning can occur (a foolish conception, mysteriously come to).
If not for Madam Royal, I would have remained unaware of this absurdity. That otherwise well-intentioned people would advocate for such a thing would never have occurred to me.
Where is the nuance and common sense? In my experience, environmentalists writ large are generally regarded as geeks. Another trope bites the dust!
Obviously, preserving healthy forests requires thinning AND fire. All things in their proper time and place. How well-informed individuals could come to any other conclusion is, as the British might say, “gobsmacking.”
The painful and heartbreaking reality is that thinning is very expensive and can involve heavy equipment like logging trucks, which leave a heavy footprint, often seen as trampling or ruining pristine areas. This isn't always the case. Hand thinning is even more expensive. So the dream to bring back fire without thinning is noble, but unfeasible in most circumstances. Most thinning work is concentrated near neighborhoods or existing logging roads, where there's easy access for heavy equipment. In California, stream areas are typically off limits to heavy equipment, which often means they become overgrown.
Surely, dear lady, to understand and to act effectively and intelligently to a set of established circumstances, is far less painful and heartbreaking than the alternative.
I am Amanda Royal's mother. 25 years ago I drove down from Oregon to Berkeley, when I only had a little tremor in my hand, to tell my two daughters that I had Parkinsons. Amanda sai
Thank you, Amanda, for the wide range of wonderful offerings and the Hope. All the best in 2025 :)
I saw the kitty :) I had bobcats in my last suburban neighborhood. My crow friends would warn me if mama bobcat was hanging around the yard. She and her youngsters lived in the sewer near my front door. We respected each others space.
Thanks so much, rena. That sounds super cute. I've only started seeing them lately.
Thank you Amanda for releasing the clenched heart I usually feel with the topic of prescribed fires. My brain understands the need for them and their effectiveness. My heart, with ancient and deep-seated associations of death and devastation, wants nothing to do with forest fires. I "dared" to read your article and watch the Nature Conservancy's video you shared, and was left with no conflict... no clenched heart.
I'm so glad to hear this, Monica. Thank you.
Amanda, Thank you for your clear-eyed posts turning into the storm and sighting the tranquility beyond. We pull together to gain ground against the wind and rain. Whether we gain or loose ground, we’ll go at it again tomorrow for the fellowship of striving together. Like rock climbing, it can be tough but what other life can there be?
We can't let our own fear shake us off the rock 😉
Thank you, Rob. It's been nice to find another right whale advocate here.
Hold on, Belay on.
You're doing such great work here, Amanda! There's so much for all of us to (re)learn, and the hope you highlight resides (for me, at least) in the knowledge that so much can be done and saved with open minds & willing hands, and in the perspective that we belong to the Earth & not the other way around. Thank you & all the best to you in 2025!
Thank you for your kind words, Doug. This community keeps me going.
This was just what I needed today, Amanda! I’m so lucky to have read most of these posts, and I have a couple more I haven’t seen yet to look forward to. I love the quote from the Threshold podcast about turning towards the storm. This made me tear up a little.
All of these posts are deeply moving and solutions-based and inclusive. My favorite part is the hunters who reached out about making the switch on their bullets. Great job bringing us all together from a place of understanding and hope rather than fear and rage. We need this now more than ever. Thank you.
Thanks for all your support, Lyns. It's been so fun to find you.
I also choked up when he said the bison just huddle up and face the storm. I highly recommend that whole podcast series.
Yes I will have to check it out. The word “threshold” kept coming up a lot lately as a synchronicity. Maybe not so odd given the end of the year but it still stood out for some reason. I’ve also been getting synchronicities with bison. So I definitely need to give it a listen, not to get too woo woo on you here.
Hope is me manning the helm to guide the ship to safer waters.
Thank you so much Amanda — you truly give me hope. (By the way have you heard of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve in NY?—very active and successful prescribed burning program.)
Thank you, Kat, that's so great to hear.
I'm used to thinking about prescribed fires in the West, but have recently seen more information that they were common on the East Coast as well. I believe early settlers described Indians lighting fires along the Hudson yearly? I have to recall my source. I do believe this topic will be increasingly important in all landscapes.
As someone who tries to follow these matters, I am absolutely shocked that beyond people who want all fires to stop (a bad idea innocently come to), there are those who want to start fires even before thinning can occur (a foolish conception, mysteriously come to).
If not for Madam Royal, I would have remained unaware of this absurdity. That otherwise well-intentioned people would advocate for such a thing would never have occurred to me.
Where is the nuance and common sense? In my experience, environmentalists writ large are generally regarded as geeks. Another trope bites the dust!
Obviously, preserving healthy forests requires thinning AND fire. All things in their proper time and place. How well-informed individuals could come to any other conclusion is, as the British might say, “gobsmacking.”
The painful and heartbreaking reality is that thinning is very expensive and can involve heavy equipment like logging trucks, which leave a heavy footprint, often seen as trampling or ruining pristine areas. This isn't always the case. Hand thinning is even more expensive. So the dream to bring back fire without thinning is noble, but unfeasible in most circumstances. Most thinning work is concentrated near neighborhoods or existing logging roads, where there's easy access for heavy equipment. In California, stream areas are typically off limits to heavy equipment, which often means they become overgrown.
Surely, dear lady, to understand and to act effectively and intelligently to a set of established circumstances, is far less painful and heartbreaking than the alternative.
I can't agree more.
Yes. Evidently, you do!
I am Amanda Royal's mother. 25 years ago I drove down from Oregon to Berkeley, when I only had a little tremor in my hand, to tell my two daughters that I had Parkinsons. Amanda sai