Yearn to Wander
North Through the Columbia Wetlands
The Kootenai and Columbia River Valleys offered more spectacular scenery.
After our delightful surprise in Eureka, we found more surprises as we drove through the Kootenai and Columbia Valleys to Golden, British Columbia. The Canadian Rocky Mountains on our right (east) and the Purcell Mountains on our left (west) offered one exciting scene after another all day.
The green, thin, some recently burned Canadian forests were notable. One Visitor Center lad told me it's because of aggressive management, i.e., thinning and prescribed burning. Beautiful rivers, exciting geology, and productive wetlands added to the forests' interest. The rivers flowed almost white; the sedimentary geology was tossed on the granite for interesting effects; and the wetlands were full of birds and fish.
Pullouts along the way provided bear-proof trash containers, interpretive signs telling about the nearby scenery, educational warnings about invasive species. and pleasant resting areas among the Ponderosas and Lodgepoles.
After an evening in Golden on the Kicking Horse River, known for its whitewater rafting, we started east across the Canadian Rockies to Lake Louise. More beautiful scenery!
As we drove from national forest to national park, we noticed the stark change in forest management, much like the US. Parks let nature take its course, while forests are managed for economic value. That means such events as the bark beetle infestation take their course in the parks, so fire, prescribed or natural, will eventually occur; rather in the forests, felling of trees happens as quickly as possible to extract the most value possible from them.
The green, thin, some recently burned Canadian forests were notable. One Visitor Center lad told me it's because of aggressive management, i.e., thinning and prescribed burning. Beautiful rivers, exciting geology, and productive wetlands added to the forests' interest. The rivers flowed almost white; the sedimentary geology was tossed on the granite for interesting effects; and the wetlands were full of birds and fish.
Pullouts along the way provided bear-proof trash containers, interpretive signs telling about the nearby scenery, educational warnings about invasive species. and pleasant resting areas among the Ponderosas and Lodgepoles.
After an evening in Golden on the Kicking Horse River, known for its whitewater rafting, we started east across the Canadian Rockies to Lake Louise. More beautiful scenery!
As we drove from national forest to national park, we noticed the stark change in forest management, much like the US. Parks let nature take its course, while forests are managed for economic value. That means such events as the bark beetle infestation take their course in the parks, so fire, prescribed or natural, will eventually occur; rather in the forests, felling of trees happens as quickly as possible to extract the most value possible from them.
ms
2010-10-31
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