Craig wrote: >I'm a little surprised that gum trees create such a problem. They are all over SoCal G'day Craig, One man's meat is another's poison! When gum trees are removed from Australian land the water table can rise and bring salt with it making the land infertile. So one of the many balances to consider is the relative merit of removing trees to conserve water and create pastoral or crop lands or planting them to prevent soil erosion and salinity, as well as providing habitat for local wild life. A major problem with gum trees is their susceptibility to fire, which is a natural part of the Australian ecosystem, but can be disastrous in California and in populated areas of Australia. I live opposite a national park and every seven years or so we have to evacuate the house for a night or two as a major bush fire passes through with flames as high again as the trees themselves! But I wouldn't want to live away from the bush, the scent of the eucalypt oil that makes them so fire prone is wonderful to experience on a summer afternoon. And Lane Cove river runs through this bush to the harbour, making an excellent put in! So fire breaks rule down here! - Note the cunning reference to kayaking:~) All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Jul 21 2011 - 00:22:56 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:45 PDT