a marvel and a threat...
That’s what the ladies call me...
ROFL!!!!
even I couldn’t keep a straight face.
Maybe once.
Now i’m a mountain and laugh!! :)
The story reeks of environmental elitism. “What’s ‘pristine’ for thee, is allowable for me”. The so-called ‘relief tunnel’ is not ‘pristine’. It is a man-made structure designed to prevent natural erosion of the debris dam. A ‘pristine’ solution would allow the earthen dam to erode naturally.
So, who’s to decide what can and cannot be done. The ‘experts’ have already totally misjudged the rate of restoration of plants and animals. I’m quite sure that their judgement is suspect on any other decisions they will make, as well. I certainly suspect it.
In 1996, I sat on a downed 90 foot long tree trunk. The soil was still alight battleship grey. There was a gully with standing burnt trees. There were some weeds growing about, but no sounds of life. None. Looking straigh ahead, across from Johnson Ridge, you look square into the blown open side of Mt..
St. Helens, using your thumb and next yhree fingers gauging the width at distance of the gouge rendered. Again, no sound, but seeing that, your gut says, “its too quiet tick tock”. You see the depth of the ash carpet in the valley from the small stream cutting through it. And in all of this ... you realize you ain’t that big.