Forest Fire, Zona Protectora, El Rodeo

Photo of fire from house, Saturday:



We dodged the bullet. The fire is contained. The forest stands. But this vernal equinox changed me forever. As Dr. Bob says, it is one thing to see a conflagration on television, fires burning in Australia or California, but quite another thing to be in one…

Here are a few salient facts about what happened to us, summed up by Carlos Arguedas C and published on Sunday by the newspaper, La Nacion (translated by me):

…Fires started by unknown person destroyed 15 hectares of Zona Protectora de El Rodeo, Canton de Mora. The first fire started Thursday afternoon was controlled by Friday morning; but then another fire was started that same day and was controlled Saturday around 2pm, according to officials from the National Fire Management Section of the Environment Ministry (Minaet). This is the fourth forest fire so far in the El Rodeo Protected Zone. There have been 43 fires this season, destroying 430 hectares of Protected Zone forests and 9,000 of private lands… (Ref. La Nacion, March 22, 2009).

We were involved in fighting this fire from beginning to end.

The fire was started on Thursday, March 19, 2009 around midday, by an agricultural worker attempting to clean up pasture for planting (the easy way is to simply burn the pasture…). When the flames started licking at the forest, Armando arrived with trained & equipped staff from the University for Peace (UPAZ) to help control it. However, the worker did not want Armando’s help, and treated him more like an intruder, rather than a concerned neighbor rushing forward to help him control his fire. A fire starter will always insist that his fire is under control until too late… and believe me, as you have seen on TV, fighting a forest fire is hard, scary work. The UPAZ guys and Armando used shovels, axes, soil and brute force, to contain the fire.

Then the following morning - the Vernal Equinox - the winds started up again, whipping smoldering ash back into fire. That’s the problem with forest fires. The fire looks tamped down and you turn around, exhausted, going home But five minutes later, the wind gusts and the fire is back, often worse than ever!...

Or, maybe, somebody set a new fire…

Why would anyone start a fire in such dry, windy weather anywhere in this country - during an intensely hot equinox - much less near a forest containing countless innocent species of fauna and flora?

Remember Yogi the Bear? “Only YOU can prevent forest fires!”

We called for help and Ciudad Colon firefighters responded. But it was getting late, and Costa Rica doesn’t have the resources to control forest fires by using planes from above like you see on TV in the States. They fight it on the ground. And fighting a forest fire on mountainous terrain is exhausting enough during the day - way too dangerous after dusk.

Gerry and Armando watched the forest burn out of control from the road below, together with the firefighters. They stood there watching the fire run up the line, parched dry scrubland igniting like a tinder box, flames racing with the wind, engulfing tacotal, charral, and … trees. Gerry watched tree after tree burst into flames like huge, oil-soaked torches, shooting fiery debris up into the sky and feeding the fire. Once fire has engulfed a massive Guanacaste tree, unfortunately, you can do nothing but let it burn and clear the area around it to contain the fire. But when tree after tree ignites, resources are few, and night is coming on, there is nothing anybody can do.

Gerry stood there with the firefighters watching, helpless to do anything to stop it. It was now dark and one of the firefighters had already gotten jabbed by a snake fleeing the flames. Luckily, he was suited up safely in protective boots and pants, but nobody else was going back in there before dawn.

The firemen told Gerry that we needed to be ready to evacuate immediately if the winds shifted eastward. We needed to remain vigilant all night.

Photo taken by Jose of fire on Friday, Vernal Equinox, 2009:



I was already exhausted. Jose and I had hiked down the mountain earlier in the afternoon on Friday to try to reconnoiter the situation with the fire below El Higueron. However, on the way back, we got separated because of the fire and smoke, and I was never so glad to see him as when he came back for me - even though I’d told him on the mobile to find his own way out, that I was okay. He still came back for me. And later, as I followed him at a quick trot up the mountain, we stopped and ate an orange. Never has an orange tasted so good! You can get some idea of how scary these fires are by watching the tall, strong firefighters on TV coming back from the frontlines, covered in soot, completely exhausted, eyes blank from hours of focused activity, staying calm, working in a team.

Saturday at 5:40AM, Armando began fighting the fire from above the mountain with our other employees and Jorge from Finca Hamadryas. Also, dozens of Ciudad Colon firemen and Minaet volunteer forest firefighters tackled the fire from below, supported by Memito and his team from the neighboring finca where the fire started. They worked hard all day, eating nothing but oranges provided by El Tigre. Had I known, they would have had big piles of sandwiches, and anything else they wanted. That was another faux pas and a new lesson learned: never forget to feed and support the firefighters - be proactive! When they left late that evening, both the fire chief and the head Minaet man really felt confident that this time they had got it under control. Gerry spoke to them when he drove down there to pick up our guys, who were also just coming off the mountain. They all piled into the car, filthy, scraped up and utterly exhausted.

Early Sunday morning, however, our guys had to return to the frontlines again, as flames had reappeared and an apparently new fire had started and was approaching the Finca - and, this time, we were on our own…

We made at least four calls to 911 that morning but nobody showed up. Gerry’s last phone call was at about 2pm, hoping against all hope that professional firefighters were on their way.

However:

Gerry to 911 Operator: “I phoned hours ago. Is anyone coming to help us?”

911 Operator: “Please hold while I check with the firemen….no, nobody is coming.”

Gerry then called Carlos at Minaet again, who was also frustrated - nobody wants a forest to burn: “I’m really sorry but we have nobody working on a Sunday.”

Luckily, Armando was being more productive. Gerry had called Armando during the morning and told him that he feared that the professionals were not going to arrive, and that he should try to recruit (persuade, bribe, cajole, whatever was needed) volunteers from the village to help Jose contain the fire from encroaching further up the mountain - and closer to us...

And, amazingly, that’s exactly what he did. He recruited six guys from the village and, together with Jose and himself, they successfully managed to keep the fire from reaching Reserva El Tigre! They worked all day and they worked smart! You can’t just charge into a fire like horses out of the stable yard. You need a strategy, tactics and resources, carving out a fire barrier, sometimes fighting fire with fire, choosing which fires to fight, always working together as a team. Always Safety First!

Now, on Monday, I wish to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who helped us save our precious woodlands at Reserva El Tigre. Here’s the team who worked so hard yesterday, and who managed to contain our fire damage to mostly charral, 200 meters inside El Tigre, when so many hectares on the other side were destroyed:

Photo taken by Jose of Sunday team on his mobile:



Armando, Jose, Victor, Alejandro, Armando Jose (who fetched water and supplies back and forth to the firefighters), Israel, Joaquin and Jaime, thank you.

And then, we really got lucky. Last night, the wind died down to almost nothing, and Mother Nature gave us a cool, completely still night, which meant that, by this morning, only a few puffs of smoke remained - although Jose and Israel returned to the fire-lines again early, just to make sure… Thank You Mother Nature.

And a final thank you to anyone else who helped in the fight, who either we forgot to mention, or who we never knew was there. Thank you for helping to save a forest this past equinox weekend, March 20-22, 2009.

And now, an apology.

I am sorry if we seemed a bit rude to all of you innocent weekenders, hiking, riding, biking in El Rodeo or Piedras Negras. All you wanted to do was escape from a hellish work week and enjoy a nice day in the country. I am sorry we drove so fast, spraying up road dust. But, when there is a forest fire, and nobody works on a Sunday, things get a trifle fraught…

But, Never Again on a Sunday. We - that is me, Yaneth, Armando, Jose - plan to sign up for firefighting training with Minaet. If we can recruit a larger group of committed locals to be volunteers, trained and equipped, then more people will be available, and able to respond faster and more effectively to the next fire - although Yaneth thinks I’m too old and Minaet won’t have me!

Everybody felt the weight of possibly losing the forest this weekend; everyone cried, aching and feeling helpless to stop the fire. All weekend long I cried, wept, sometimes howled in despair, whenever I watched another magnificent Guanacaste tree burst into flames. Once, I actually screamed in empathy. But for Gerry’s sake (“I can do nothing if I also have to worry about you!”) I took the proverbial deep breath, focused, smiled, encouraged the kids, and tried to be useful in any way possible. Yaneth even saw a large troop of monkeys down at the massive higueron tree, waiting out the fire, very quiet but with some of them whimpering. Everybody felt it.

The Zona Protectora of El Rodeo is the last remnant of primary forest extant in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, and much beloved by all nature lovers. Why should anyone care? El Rodeo is just a remnant, not even connected as a corridor to anywhere! Well, there could be corridors soon, if we humans would just stop burning and cutting in forest areas; if we would just let nature connect the dots: corridors of forest, like highways for wildlife.
This remnant forest recharges untold gallons of mountain-fresh water back into the Jaris and Virilla rivers. And it also clears tons of carbon dioxide from the air, with carbon-fixing giants like, Ceibas, Pochotes, Balsas, Bernoullias, etc.

Now, on Monday, after the fire this past weekend, I feel more strongly than ever that I was born to protect this forest - and to become a firefighter, if Minaet will have me…

Also, our firearms training is still on! The training will do us good. Just like with firefighting, using firearms requires a zen-like calm.

In other news:

GRAK was back in court (on behalf of Merck, of course…) last week.

Municipality people visited El Tigre to assess the fines for our overdue renovation permit. After everything that has happened, all we could do was laugh.

P.S.
Sorry hiking buddies! It’s still not safe to hike the mountain this soon after the fire - the natives are restless! We have seen snakes on the move this morning, trying to find a new spot to settle down. Snakes normally never move about during the day - especially in this hot weather. We need a few more days for everything to settle down.
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Written on Thursday before the fire changed everything, but more relevant than ever:

Thanks to our Tree Pals in Costa Rica, we are beginning to identify less common species of trees at El Tigre! I recently sent out an SOS requesting help (sorry Kathryn, Maestro Humberto, Ingeniero Forestal, about hard to open format).

Agustin Contreras promptly nailed both species - Coccoloba acapulcensis f.Polygonac; and Lafoensis punicifola f.Lythrac!

Who is Agustin Contreras? Well, just for starters, Tin is a student of El Gran Maestro Luis Poveda, of the Universidad Nacional. Need I say more?

My questions piqued Tin’s interest. So, the next day, he came over and promptly nailed more species! Bam, Bam, Bam! He found two Swartzia species: S. cubensis and S. simplex. Also, Cedrela salvadorensis! We haven’t had so much fun since back in 2005, when we carried out our first review with Ingenieros Forestales Manuel and Yamileth (elmundoforestal.com). We nailed a lot of species then, but many remained ‘unknown’.
There is still much work in this premontane forest for many dissertations and theses - vines, butterflies, eco-systems - for so many students, now and into the future.

Armando hiked with Tin, while I wandered the gardens with his wife, Satia - a Tica but with parents from Michigan, and with whom I felt an immediate connection - and their 5 month old baby, Urun - named after the third largest mountain in Costa Rica. Urun is already a great mountain of a baby - wanting to burst forth from his baby constraints and plunge forth into the world. They visited on the Tuesday before the vernal equinox - under a hot, burning sun - so Urun just loved getting plunged into the swimming pool by Yaneth and Marcia while we ate lunch. Next time they come over - which I hope will be soon - we shall teach baby Urun how to swim. He is at the perfect age to begin!

I grew up in Michigan with all the lakes and, like most everybody else in Michigan, learned how to swim before walking. I don’t remember learning how to swim - my dad just put me in the lake water and it went from there. I have no fear of water - I respect and understand it, especially stormy waves and undertow - but I fear it not.

Many people are terrified by water (never learned to swim)…

Or earthquakes…

Or hurricanes (New Orleans)…

I fear fire. Something deep inside me from generations back into the DNA - has imprinted this.

Farewell to Rover the Vagabond

It’s all over for Rover…in this particular doggy world. We came across Rover at the local soccer field a few days ago while out horseback riding. Poor Rover! He looked and smelled awful!

“Remember this dog?” Asked Jose

I sure did! A couple of years ago, Rover spent a couple of weeks with us and we all just loved him! Rover with the bright eyes and wagging tail - he was just irresistible! However, Rover was a classic vagabond and, sure enough, a few weeks after enjoying all our comforts and attentions at Reserva El Tigre, he left us - off to the next household of adoring fans. He was a heartbreaker that dog - over the years he wandered all over the landscape, enjoying farm and village life alike. But, like everybody else, we could never entice him to return back to us!

Well, on this day, it looked to us like Rover had reached the end of the line. We brought him back to the stable and bathed him with shampoo, which perked him up a bit. We could almost see the old sparkle back in his eyes. But he was very sick and probably contagious to the other animals, so I wanted Rover safely away from El Tigre as soon as we could organize it.


Well, our vet didn’t want Rover at the horse clinic either - and not just because Jorge was still cagey over Lucero. He took one look at poor Rover and said he was too far gone and risked contaminating the entire clinic - they had no isolation room - and were still boarding horses from a recent equestrian event.

Unfortunately, we understood only too well. In fact, just as Rover left for the vet, I whispered to Janet, “Make sure you sterilize everything Rover came into contact with: clothes, surfaces, everything!”

Janet gave me the usual Look, that says, “Do I look clueless to you, O Ye Who Bringeth Home All The Strays…?”

Well, Anna* found a vet who admitted Rover into his clinic, but we soon learned about the cost of treatment - lots of money, with no good prognosis despite all of it. Sadly, I’d been down this road too many times before and, therefore, didn’t hesitate to say,

“Have the vet put Rover down.”

This was soon done and Anna stayed with him until the very end, when Rover drifted off to, as Gerald says, “The Great Kennel in the Sky”. Farewell to Rover. He lived a full and happy vagabond life, and spent his last day in caring arms.

Still, animal rescues continue all over the country. The recent earthquake at Poas Volcano brought out the best of people all over Costa Rica - reports say the vast majority of Costa Ricans and residents alike offered some kind of aid to those who suffered. In the case of the animals, perhaps it was the television images of cows all over the ravaged hillside, lost, hungry and sick with mastitis, mooing disconsolately for want of milking. People all over Costa Rica responded, from donating time and/or money to animal rescue groups, to individuals adopting animals.

Fundraising helps to support the hardworking, front-line animal groups, who put up with so much grief caused by irresponsible humans. The main goal uniting all animal groups is this: spay and neuter them all; also making the mixed breed the most fashionable breed! Don’t purchase an animal - go adopt one at your local Shelter! We have found that mixed breeds are healthy, sweet and easy to train.

Times are tough and needs are many, so we were thrilled to learn that Penny Santomenno and her dedicated team will, once more, but perhaps for the last time, put on the famous Rice Table - Rijstafel - Indonesian Banquet in support of the Animal Shelter in Heredia. All of the food and drink has been generously donated, and the event takes place in Penny’s beautiful Heredia home. Email me or Leigh Moynihan for details on this March 7th event: donation - 30K colones, or about US$58. Thank you, Penny, for doing this once more - seeing your sweet smile again is alone worth the admission!

Now, with the current economic situation, our animal rescue friends are busier than ever - everyone I know has taken in more animals. It makes me so proud of Costa Rica! We are just one among many households with a slew of dogs, cats, horses, chickens, etc.



Here’s our latest arrival, itty bitty Dilly-Doo, who showed up at the Finca with a vastly larger female dog who just towered over him, but whose honor this little fellow most valiantly protected. He guarded his lady all day long, growling and snapping at any other dog that happened to get too close to her. The spectacle caused great amusement for us all. After a few days, however, the female went back to live with Armando’s daughter, Elena, in the hamlet of El Rodeo, and little Dilly stayed with us - now neutered. I initially named him P.C. - little gentleman in Spanish - but the kids would have none of it and renamed him Dillan.

So many more mouths to feed…

Is there any GOOD NEWS out there in the world today?

Yes! Turns out that 2009 will be a most bountiful year for seeds! Armando predicted that this would be a good seed year last November, when he observed earlier than normal leaf drop, followed by many more forest trees flowering and seeding this season when they had not the last. In fact, we have seen trees produce seeds for the first time in years!

Brightening up the forest and roadways right now are the dazzling display of the Tabebuias - yellow- Cortez amarillo (T. ochracea, f.Bignoniac.) and also the pink Roble de sabana (T. rosea).

There is too much flowering and seeding at Reserva El Tigre to list everything - like bucketfuls of Madero negro, Guapinol, Thounidium and Guanacaste - come and get them! We have collected and identified the following seeds so far this February, 09:



Dalbergia retusa (Papilionac.), ‘Cocobolo’. Yes, that’s retusa as in ROSEWOOD! This is the first time in 3 years that we have seen seeds produced by these endangered trees. Reserva El Tigre protects perhaps the last naturally occurring stand of Rosewood in the Central Valley!

Other Papilionacs seeding: Lonchocarpus salvadorensis, ‘Chaperno’; L.velutinus, ‘Comenegro’; Gliricidia sepium, ‘Madero Negro’.

Also,
Cedrela odorata (Meliac.), ‘Cedro amargo’;
Hura crepitans (Euphorbiac.), ‘Jabillo’;
Albizia adinocephala (Mimosac.), ‘Gavilancillo’;
Brosimum alicastrum (Morac), ‘Ojoche’ - just getting started - also, B. Colorado;
Diospyros salicifolia (Ebenac.), NOT Diospyros digyna, ‘Mabola, Sapote negro’YET;
Cochlospermum vitifolium (Bixac.), ‘Poro Poro’;
Gyrocarpus jatrophifolius (Hernandiac.), ‘Volador’;
Plumeria rubra (Apocynac.), ‘Frangipani’, Yellow, White, Pink;
Terminalia oblonga (Combretac.), ‘Guayabon, Sura’;
Pseudobombax septenatum (Bombacac), ‘Ceibo Verde’.

Last year, we collected Ceiba pentandra seeds and they germinated quickly. We already have several saplings planted back in the charral, with more to go in during the rainy season.

Take a look at a first year sapling of the mighty Ceiba pentandra tree:



It’s windy here in Costa Rica, and that makes the bees and wasps ornery. While out hiking in windy weather this time of year, make sure to stay alert. Give beehives, like the one pictured here, a wide berth.


The wind knocked this tree down, bringing the beehive down with it - still intact, right onto our favorite horse trail - and the bees are still going about their normal business. We are still observing it to see if they stay or go. A beehive like this is not normally so close to the ground, but the horses seem to graze next to it quite undisturbed. I took this photograph in still weather, but I’m sure the horses will keep their distance too when the wind kicks up again.

Feeling a bit morose from the gloomy events in the world? Go check out your local theatre group! You never know who you might run into either on stage or off. The other night, we went to see ‘Calendar Girls’, put on by Costa Rica’s English-speaking Little Theatre Group, and saw friends on stage for the first time: Sheila Pacheco (the British Consul) plays Brenda; and Debbie Jean plays crying Cora, adorable in her cute rain gear. The show was hilarious, with the strongest actors - Karen Rae, Vicky Longland and Ann Antkiw - carrying the show, albeit with fine support from the rest of the cast. Go see this wonderful show! You will leave with a smile on your face - and maybe thinking of getting on stage or helping out with the fun people behind stage…

* Anna Coy Dalton recently moved here from Colorado. She teaches people how to breathe consciously, and it can cause life-altering experiences. In Anna’s tapes, her voice and music put you into a hypnotic state - relax - all suggestion is positive - breathe health, love, spirit - everyone has a different experience. I liked it - it goes well beyond ‘stop and take a deep breath’. Anna’s method helped me to ‘breathe’ through to my capering horse and relax him. It also has helped me to cultivate ‘qi’ in doing Hunyuan Taijiquan. If you are interested in Anna’s method of conscious breathing, contact her directly at: www.inspiringyourlife.com or email: anna@inspiringyourlife.com