Allen Alchian

Palmer Lake Historical Society, June 6 – Book launch

July 6, 2024

By Marlene Brown

The Palmer Lake Historical Society (PLHS) introduced its newest book on June 6: The U.S. Forest Service Monument Nursery, 1907-1965, written by Dan Edwards and published by the PLHS.

Edwards, local resident and historian, explained how the U.S. Forest Service conducted its work for almost 60 years on what is known as National Forest Monument Preserve (Mount Herman). Millions of ponderosa pine saplings were started in the area and shipped to be planted where trees were cut down during the building of the Western expansion of the United States.

**Above:** Author Dan Edwards at the June 6 PLHS book launch. *Photo by Steve Pate*

Copies of the book are available at Covered Treasures in Monument. For more information, see palmerdividehistory.org.

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PLHS meetings are usually on the third Thursday of the month at Palmer Lake Town Hall, 42 Valley Crescent, 7-8 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.). For more information about future presentations and membership, go to www.palmerdividehistory.org.

Marlene Brown can be contacted at marlenebrown@ocn.me.

On the Trail (in memory of Tim Watkins) – Prescribed burn promotes forest health

July 6, 2024

By Steve Pate

The Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands (PSICC) Pikes Peak Ranger District, with support from local fire, police, and emergency responders, began a three-day process of prescribed burns in the Monument Preserve on June 12.

**Above**: Test fire before the prescribed burn *Photo by Steve Pate.*

A “test fire” was lit just north of Mount Herman Road. A test fire is a small fire that firefighters light to evaluate fire behavior before igniting prescribed fires. The conditions were deemed ideal and prescribed burns were conducted in three areas of the Monument Fire Center in the Monument Preserve: Memorial Grove, Monument Rock, and the Mount Herman Trailhead. The prescribed fires treated about 1,000 acres of forest lands with low-intensity fire to limit the impact of smoke to the community.

**Above**: View of the prescribed burn from Woodmoor. *Photo by Dawn Lervik.*

The prescribed fire, a low-to-moderate-intensity burn, reduced available fuels and the risk of catastrophic fire in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) when fire suppression efforts would be less likely to succeed. Additional objectives of this prescribed fire were to reduce the amount of Gambel oak brush and promote the growth of ponderosa pine forest.

**Above**: View from Jackson Creek. *Photo by Natalie Barszcz.*

During a press briefing before the test fire, Dawn Sanchez, fire prevention technician with the PSICC, said 149 wildland firefighters were also being briefed on procedures for the upcoming test fire and prescribed burns. Sanchez explained how the low-intensity fires would stunt the regrowth of scrub oak in areas where the Forest Service conducted wildfire mitigation last year.

**Above**: Results near Monument Rock. *Photo by Steve Pate*

While some may become upset with smoke and the immediate after-effects of prescribed burns, Randy Phillips of the local hiking community who has lived adjacent to Pike National Forest for nearly four decades said the Berry Fire that roared through this area below and up Mount Herman, leaving only scrub oak in place of what was a thick and deep forest, is a major reason the Forest Service has masticated the area and are now prescribing a burn. “I get nervous … however, that nervousness pales to experiencing April 21, 1989, and the days that followed. It’s important to keep things in perspective,” Phillips said.

**Above**: The burn reduced surface fuel loads by reducing pine needles, leaves, and small branches, decreasing the risk of catastrophic wildfires. *Photo by Chris Jeub.*

As was the case last year when PSICC did wildfire mitigation over a wide area in Monument Preserve, the hiking and biking trails in the area appeared “ruined,” but this year were nearly recovered with new growth. The same will be true of the prescribed burns—ugly for a few weeks or months but healthier as the areas recover and again a pleasure to hike or ride in.

**Right:** Wildland firefighters protected a Ute “prayer tree” in the Monument Preserve. Photo by Steve Pate.

Steve Pate may be reached at StevePate@OCN.me

High Altitude Nature and Gardening (HANG) – High-altitude hot summer days

July 6, 2024

By Janet Sellers

How the forest keeps its soil moist
Mulch and native flowers
Recipes for a cool afternoon beverage

“If you’ve never experienced the joy of accomplishing more than you can imagine, plant a garden.”—Robert Brault

How the forest keeps its soil moist

Mulch as ground protector: wood chips, pine needles, rocks, or pebbles?

Using innate, natural forest mulching wisdom, we can keep our plants thriving in hot weather. I’m not comfortable in this altitude with heat over 75-80 degrees, and neither are the food crop plants. Even heat-loving tomato plants wilt in the heat.

In the Tri-Lakes Cares Garden, we have nice, thick 4-to-6-inch-deep wood mulch from the Black Forest slash and mulch program (www.BFSlash.org). Even without watering, the garden soil underneath that protective mulch is moist and ready to support the plants. I wish it had a nicer name than “mulch.” Mulch is simply a protective layer of material spread on top of the soil. Organic mulch is from living material. In Italian, it’s “pacciame.” In French it’s “le paillis.” In Spanish it’s “mantillo.”

In the food garden, we water the plants once or twice a day in the hottest weather so nothing dries out and dies. That happened in the community garden when we just had early morning watering on the water timer. The lack of shade and intense heat wilted and killed many plants; even with pine mulch, we had to have some water late in the day. I admire my fruit trees for holding up under that high-altitude heat, but they need mulch, too.

Mulch and native flowers

Thankfully, most places only regulate lawn watering (lawns aren’t native and hard to have here anyhow) but not food crops. My grassy areas are not happy without rain, and I look to change to groundcovers. I had to get rid of a bed of weedy grasses, so I mowed them short twice and they gave up and dried out. Now I can rake the area and put in alpaca “beans” compost with the wood mulch or pine straw and grow what I’d like to see instead of grasses that need mowing. I look to transplant my bearded iris and some annuals there. Even planting flower seeds thickly, the plants can grow just fine amid the mulch. Asters make pretty plants and seem to adjust to low water conditions, as do yarrow, which come in many colors and reseed each year.

Recipes for a cool afternoon beverage

A mint sprig in iced water is refreshing. My new favorite is iced hibiscus tea (aka Jamaica tea in the Wild West). It’s kind of tart, so just adding a fruit slice changes the flavor profile with an exotic perk. I’ve added dried mango, pineapple (even canned) and orange slices for a change in flavor. Here’s to a cool one from the garden—cheers!

Janet Sellers is an avid “lazy gardening” enthusiast, letting Mother Nature lead for gardening wisdom in our Tri-Lakes high desert ecosystem. Share your garden tips and stories: JanetSellers@ocn.me.

Art Matters – Chautauqua: “the most American thing in America”

July 6, 2024

By Janet Sellers

Making art is a powerful tool. From finding images in the clouds above, to grabbing a pencil and doodling, to painting in a class or with a group outdoors, we are encoded from our genes to our dreams for making art. It’s encoded in our DNA for evolution and our ability to adapt. Pick up a paintbrush, grab a piece of chalk, or just visit some art at the Art Hop and the Chautauqua this month. Research shows that making or viewing and appreciating art is really good for your health, your mind and your future, as in healthy longevity. How about extending a high quality of life by as much as 10 years?

An article on CNN reported that, “The power of diverse arts practices to promote healing, well-being, and even longevity provides benefits that rank right up there with exercise, nutrition, and sleep,” as put forth by Susan Magsamen in her bestseller, co-authored with Ivy Ross, “Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us.” And Magsamen’s study published July 2019 in the National Library of Medicine, “Your Brain on Art: The Case for Neuroaesthetics,” offers fascinating details on this new and rapidly expanding field. The study reveals what art lovers have always felt, that art is the wholesome source for the “intersection of psychological aesthetics, biological mechanisms, and human evolution.”

Enjoying art makes a world of difference in our lives

We don’t need a scientific study to show we can benefit from the myriad arts whose creative frequencies guide us to a higher connection in our well-being. But scientific studies and reports do add credence to a justification for making the effort to go out and get our art fix. We’ve got the arts to enjoy right here in town at the Art Hop as an introduction to the fun and powerful way our local art scene supports us.

Besides our beloved Art Hop each fourth Friday through September, the annual Chautauqua in Palmer Lake (July 29 to Aug. 4) will give us some fine aesthetic experiences in art and live entertainment. Chautauquas (from the Haudenosaunee word with multiple meanings, including many forms of “cultural enrichment”) have been popular around the country since the 1870s, with Teddy Roosevelt once calling the traveling Chautauquas “the most American thing in America”.

Although this form of live entertainment faded with the growing popularity of radio and motion pictures, we are seeing a revival of this live entertainment genre nationwide. We feel our age-old need to socially connect, to be in a community in real life, and we’ve got hold of it now. Our local Chautauqua will offer multiple events each day at various Palmer Lake locations, for all ages. Vocal and instrumental concerts, lectures, cooking demos, daily yoga and tai chi, poetry slams, Palmer Lake Art Group-sponsored Plein Air contest, guided walks and tours, Feldenkrais classes, and more. A complete calendar of events, times, and locations is available at ChautauquaPalmerLake.org and is sponsored by Palmer Lake Arts Council.

Janet Sellers is an artist, writer and speaker, with a focus on enjoying nature and well-being. She can be reached at JanetSellers@ocn.me.