Last summer's wildfires may have contributed to thousands of additional coronavirus infections


** Fires, Covid, and climate change
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Monday, August 16, 2021
Bureau of Land Management firefighters perform a prescribed burn at the Consumenes River Preserve, California. Photo: Benjamin Cossel, BLM ([link removed])

As much of the West wakes up to another week of soot-filled skies, new research suggests that last summer's wildfires may have contributed to thousands of additional coronavirus infections ([link removed]) .

Harvard researchers looked at Covid data from 92 counties ([link removed]) in California and Washington that were hit hard during the 2020 wildfire season. They found that in some counties, nearly 20 percent of the Covid-19 cases ([link removed]) could be linked to high levels of wildfire smoke.

The study highlights one of the myriad ways that climate change impacts public health, and the challenges of managing fire across forests that are overgrown from decades of overzealous fire suppression policies ([link removed]) . Scientists have warned for years that climate change and the loss of biodiversity make disease outbreaks more common and more contagious ([link removed]) .


** Lake Powell reveals its secrets
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As water levels drop in Lake Powell, writer Elizabeth Kolbert explores the canyons and rock formations that are revealing themselves ([link removed]) for the first time in decades. The rapidly-declining levels in both Lake Mead and Lake Powell has given new hope to advocates who want to return Glen Canyon to its natural state, before the Glen Canyon Dam was built, or at least let Lake Mead, which is lower on the Colorado River, refill first.

The fundamental problem, according to Utah State University professor Jack Schmidt, is that there simply isn't enough water to fulfill the terms of the Colorado River Compact.

“I personally am not going to tell you whether Fill Mead First or Fill Powell First or equalization is a better idea, because I’m unfortunately too aware of the complications of each of them,” Schmidt said ([link removed]) . “They’re just every one of them a no-win situation.”
Quick hits


** Thousands evacuate as fires grow; smoke spoils the view for Colorado stargazers
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New York Times ([link removed]) | CNN ([link removed]) | OPB ([link removed]) | New York Times ([link removed]) (stargazing)


** Study links Covid cases and wildfire smoke
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | Axios ([link removed]) | New York Times ([link removed])


** Recreation at risk as Lake Powell reveals long-hidden canyons
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | New Yorker ([link removed])


** Interior Secretary Haaland highlights infrastructure investments, wildlife migration corridors, during Yellowstone visit
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Bozeman Daily Chronicle ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Biden faces pivotal energy test in Chaco Canyon
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Nevada tribes seek national monument status for sacred Bahsahwahbee (Rocky Mountain juniper) trees
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Reno Gazette Journal ([link removed])


** Interior Department formally restarts environmental review on 10 million acres of sage-grouse habitat
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OPB ([link removed])


** Opinion: Health risks justify new fracking regulations in Colorado
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Quote of the day
We’re facing big challenges, and so I think that radical ideas need to be on the table and be examined. The main problem, though, is we’re using too much water, no matter where you put it.”
—Anne Castle, University of Colorado Law School, New Yorker ([link removed])
Picture this


** @mypubliclands ([link removed])
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When visiting California's San Joaquin River Gorge Special Recreation Management Area, please keep in mind you are walking in the footsteps of the Dumna, Kechayi and Western Mono peoples.

If you see granite outcrops with circular depressions you may be looking at a kitchen used for hundreds, if not thousands of years. That old oak tree is a living, breathing witness to the many changes experienced by the original peoples of these lands, including their unwavering resilience.

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