Cleaning up an infestation!

When the government gets in the way, what do you do?
by J.B.Blocker 

  You are on a family vacation and anxious to get to your cousin’s home. It is night and you pull off to a side road at Mile Marker 13. You really have no choice because nature is really calling loudly and it is a few more miles to the next town. The boys have got to go and so do you.

  To your wife, 13 is already a bad sign and she decides she can wait. But the boys can’t and now neither can you. In the moonlight you find yourself in an area that is dried and desolate with dead fall and the remains of a recent fire. 
  The scene is spooky. You can’t wait to get done with your business and leave this stop far behind.  It is so daunting that no one even steps off the road. The boys just stand in front of the car and hope no one comes from the other direction. It is a place you never want to see again.

If you had been here a month earlier there would have been a real problem!

  You arrive at your cousin's home in the next town and make plans for a picnic the next day.  Morning comes and your families are headed to a favorite local swimming hole. There will be picnic areas, a clean sandy beach area, hiking paths, and great fishing. 

Paradise is what they call it.

  In the light of day, the landscape is glorious! The foliage is lush and the wildlife is visibly active. The birds are varied and flitting around. There are deer that ignore the passing cars, squirrels are scampering in the trees, and blooming wild flowers stir your love of nature.

  Wait a minute. Why are they turning in to mile marker 13? Your skin crawls a little as memories of the night before invade your family. The wife is not happy about this. Your cousin is riding with you and you express your concern.

  “Don’t worry about that! This forest is a favorite camping ground for locals. A little farther down the road is a great little lake stocked with fish that is fed by a creek that runs down from those hills and there is a nice beach area where we all go to swim and picnic.  

  We call this one stretch the Government 1/4 mile. Over the past few years the poison oak and ivy got really bad just off the main road. It was spreading so much that all the trees and shrubs were covered with poison and we couldn’t get the local government to do anything about it. Federal regulations were the problem. So all the local citizens got together to figure out a solution. Even the sheriff’s department, local police, and elected officials got involved.

  Ours is a close community and everyone loves our little piece of paradise. We didn’t like the present danger. It was gradually spreading and we didn’t want it to ruin the camp grounds. But the federal government wouldn’t offer any solutions.”

What did you do?

  “Our mayor is a construction guy. He gathered some friends and family and tried to dig out and burn out some of the severe ivy growths. He and his family had a lot of great memories from the camp grounds and he wanted his descendants to have the same opportunities to enjoy those memories.

  It caused a bit of a stir and he took a lot of heat for it. A couple of problems like how to burn off or where to haul the poisonous debris caused the little group to step back and rethink their approach.

  Word got out that the construction company was planning to bull doze down the entry to the park and people started to complain. The antagonist were mostly people who don’t go beyond their TV’s, homes, church, or grocery store.

  But very quickly several of our other local leaders joined in and decided that we had the right to protect our piece of heaven even though it meant nothing to the Feds. So they organized a controlled burn and all of the community voted to support the project.

  We all came out to help. Students, Churches, Veterans, First Responders, and families from all over the county. It was pretty cool. There wasn’t any religion or race or economic station that didn’t join. This little forest and its natural gathering place was important to all of us.  

  First, we created a fire wall on both sides of the infestation. That’s why all those burned trees are laying the same direction. Then we picked the right day, the fire equipment was brought in, and we burned off a ¼ mile of infected area. Many stayed around to make sure the hot spots didn’t relight.

  Others covered themselves with gloves and throw away clothing and worked their way along the hiking paths to get rid of scattered ivy patches so this wouldn't happen again. Cleaning up an infestation can be messy business.

Was there any trouble?

  There were some hot spots that took a little extra effort to control. If family and friends hadn’t slowed down the contractors roll, he probably would have just brought in heavy equipment and plowed the whole infested section down. 

  Good thing he has a lot of people who believe in the big picture and knew when to make him step back a little. But the truth is, the whole project would never have happened until someone stepped up and gave the rest of us the courage to protect our own.

  It may look a little ugly in this burned out area, and some of the trees and shrubs just had to go, but wait till you see the paradise just around that curve!”

“The sad thing about this is that the Federal Government is trying to figure out who to blame for the infestation, and who to arrest and charge for protecting our own property. They would have to arrest us all!”

jb

- J.B. Blocker is a media consultant based in Collin County in North Texas. Advertise with J.B. by calling 469-334-9962.