The Price of Liberty

Drought and wildfires are constantly with us. This summer and fall are expected to be particularly bad for both according to many forecasters and predictions. Some areas are hard hit, and some have been very bad in the past. Now, Spring of 2021, fire season is already upon us here in the Black Hills and elsewhere.

Except for California, the country was actually doing much better than usual – 2019 and 2020 were relatively quiet fire seasons in the Great Plains and Rockies. This is perhaps largely because of the very wet winter of 2018-2019. Although drought has returned to the Four Corners and much of the Southern Rockies and Southern Plains, conditions were much better than the past five-ten years. That is changed in 2021, as a huge chunk of territory is at the highest (worse) rating: not severe but EXCEPTIONAL drought. This is the “Drought Monitor” showing what parts of the country have drought conditions. The darker the color, the worse the drought.

Looks pretty ghastly, doesn’t it? Nearly 2/3 of the Forty-Eight States are in some stage of drought, from “Abnormally Dry” (bright yellow) through “Exceptional drought” (dark red/black) both S – short-term and L – long-term. Even usually wet areas (with 30, 40, 50 inches of precip a year normally) are suffering this Spring. Summer will likely be worse. Much worse.