81st Annual Writer’s Convention–Another Success
Kayak demonstration
©Bert Gildart: The 81st annual convention of the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America is over for another year and once again people whom I’ve come to admire have returned to all points of the compass. Some such as Chris Madson and Tom Huggler return with coveted honors for their contributions to our organization and quite simply, for their extraordinary talent as writers and photographers. Chris is the editor of Wyoming Outdoors and a spokesman for outdoor ethics. Tom is the author of many books and has been a voice of reason when OWAA has floundered with internal difficulties. I’ve known both of these men for years and greatly admire them.
The rest of us also return with prizes, but they take the form of wonderful memories, images of new friends, and mental catalogues of much new information. The information was acquired from seminars and from hands-on demonstrations of technological advances from the world of outdoor manufacturers.
Seminars included presentations on global warming and–as is appropriate in a gathering of media-type people–all sides of the issue were discussed. But at the end of the day I doubt if speakers changed anyone’s mind. Certainly all present accepted the fact that global warming is real, but doubters insist that it is not human caused. The other team, of course, say humans are creating global warming and then they wonder which side will generate the most damage-if ultimately proven wrong. Anyone who has followed my blog these past few years knows where I’m coming from -but that doesn’t mean I won’t listen to others.
CAUSES OF DAMAGING FOREST FIRES
The most impressive demonstration (judging from the number who watched) was provided by the Bureau of Land Management–and it concerned the management of fire. For the purpose of the demonstration they had taken a huge piece of plywood and then drilled myriads of tiny holes into it. Into these holes they’d placed over 2,000 wooden matches.
Will Bigfork Burn?
“What we’re trying to demonstrate,” said Mike, “are the conditions we now have because of our changing life style.”
Mike then asked those in the now-assembled crowd if any could explain how our changing life style is contributing to more fire.
WILL BIGFORK BURN?
Continuing, he explained that when the West was settled, most used fire wood to heat their houses-and the easiest place to obtain that firewood was close to the house. “But things began to change in the ‘60s,” said Mike. “We started using gas and fuel oil and so vegetation began to grow up around our houses.” Then, turning to Janie, with her Bigfork, Montana, name tag, he said that he’d fought the devastating Robert’s Fire near Glacier and that he’d now call the houses on the plywood “Bigfork.”
“How do you think Bigfork will fare when I torch off these matches?”
Before torching them off, Mike also talked a bit about the types of forests that generate the hottest fires and how some species, such as the ponderosa with their immensely thick bark, are fire resistant. Mike then lit a match, and said he was going to start a forest fire. I had arrived 30 minutes early, and so had an ideal spot for photography.
Because of local breezes the fire was a little slow starting, but once several of the matches caught, fire swept through the “forest” like a crown fire. “Watch now,” said Mike, again turning to Janie, “and see what happens to Bigfork.”
Popular Demonstration
As we all suspected, those “structures” without much in the way of surrounding vegetation (matches) survived, while those surrounded by “vegetation” perished.
KAYAKS FOR FISHING
Yet another demonstration we enjoyed was the one presented by Hobie Cat on their new kayaks. They’ve produced some excellent portable kayaks that are inflatable and because of that are extremely stable, which makes them better than our sea kayaks for fishing. Representative from Hobie provided us with the opportunity to use them and we did so on the Missouri River, which is where our “Breakout Day” took place. In so using them we discovered they would, in fact, be ideal for fishing–and if some long-range fishing plans we have in mind work out, they will provide us with a loaner.
There were some other very good demonstrations, and I’ll talk more about those in my next posting.
POSTS FROM TWO YEARS AGO, ABOUT THIS TIME: Learning to roll a kayak.
