Driving back from a Labor Day visit from Fort Worth to Austin
earlier this week I was awestruck by the size of the smoke
plumes emanating from the wildfires currently raging in Bastrop
County. It’s overwhelming to consider the extreme devastation
that my neighbors to the East are experiencing in the wake of
these fires. As an ecologist, I’m also thinking about what this
will mean for the Lost Pines ecosystem and populations of the
endangered Houston Toad that have already been devastated by the
current drought and habitat destruction. My thoughts are also on
Bastrop State Park that is all but 100 acres burned, and nearby
Buescher State Park and Stengl Lost Pines Biological Field
Station. All of this got me thinking of ways that the arts and
biology have merged over one of nature’s most destructive and
renewing forces, and with a little bit of research I’ve found
some very interesting examples. fire is ancient history It
probably goes without saying that our species would not be where
it is today without fire.