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Forest Service using drip torch for prescribed burning. Photo by George Wuerthner

There has been a spate of articles in various newspapers and magazines, asserting that if the Forest Service were following burning practices of Indigenous people, the massive wildfires we have seen around the West would be tamed.

Here are some representative of Indian burning will save the forest articles.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/23/karuk-tribe-california-slater-fire-insurance

https://www.vox.com/first-person/21517619/california-wildfires-indigenous-controlled-burns

https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/10/07/oregons-indigenous-communities-know-how-to-stop-megafires-will-the-state-let-them/?utm_campaign=2020-10-07+WildNews&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Pew

The October 7th, 2020 article Wildfires has ravaged the Western United States this year. Sending firefighting experts to Indigenous communities for guidance by Jim Cowan in the New York Times is typical of the erroneous assertions about Native American burning and its influence on large wildfires.

Long before California was California, Native Americans used fire to keep the lands where they lived healthy. That meant intentionally burning excess vegetation at regular intervals, during times of the year when the weather would keep blazes smaller and cooler than the destructive wildfires burning today.

And the Guardian article, like most of these recent publications, implies that the loss of native burning is contributing to large blazes: a century of practicing fire suppression over traditional tribal land stewardship has led to larger, more destructive wildfires.

The idea that tribal burning impacted the broad landscape is asserted by some scholars (Williams, G.W. 2004; Lightfoot, K.G. and R.Q. Cuthrell. 2015) but often with scant evidence to back up these claims except for oral traditions of Native people.

MAJOR ISSUES

MYTH OF INDIAN LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT

As Barrett et al. 2005 noted: For many years, the importance of fire use by American Indians in altering North American ecosystems was underappreciated or ignored. Now, there seems to be an opposite trend. It is common now to read or hear statements to the effect that American Indians fired landscapes everywhere and all the time, so there is no such thing as a natural ecosystem. A myth of human manipulation everywhere in pre-Columbus America is replacing the equally erroneous myth of a pristine wilderness.

We believe that it is time to deflate the rapidly spreading myth that American Indians altered all landscapes by means of fire. In short, we believe that the case for landscape-level fire use by American Indians has been dramatically overstated and overextrapolated.

Noss et al. 2014 assert: Despite ample evidence that lightning fire was a primary ecological driver in the NACP [North American Coastal Plain], the myth persists that most fires before the arrival of Europeans were set by Native Americans. For example, Mann (2005; 361) provides a map that shows essentially the entire pre-Columbian NACP, including the lightning-riddled Gulf coast and Florida peninsula, as dominated by anthropogenic fire or with widespread forest clearing for agriculture. No evidence is offered to support these claims.

Most evidence for the widespread influence of indigenous burning is based on oral tradition, which is notoriously subject to variation of interpretation and misinterpretation.

DID INDIGENOUS BURNING PRECLUDE LARGE BLAZES?

The question is not whether Indian burning occurred, but rather to what extent it influenced the landscape as a whole and precluded large mixed to high severity blazes or what some people term mega fires. Is it a panacea for thwarting large blazes as implied? Furthermore, it needs into the notion that high severity blazes are somehow unnatural and ecologically destructive.

The Blow up or 1910 Burn that charred 3.5 million acres of Idaho and Montana occurred well before fire suppression led to fuel build-ups Photo George Wuerthner

The idea that fire suppression has led to some fuel build up in some plant communities is accurate, but fuel build-up is not the primary cause of sizeable high severity blazes. Most of these blazes are burning in plant communities like lodgepole pine, spruce/fire, juniper, and other plant communities that naturally had long intervals between fire events and naturally accumulate fuels. In other words, fuel build up in these plant communities is entirely natural.

There is ample evidence that Indian burning had little effect on large fires on the landscape. Except for some high-use areas, Indian burning did not significantly alter fuels across the broader landscape; more importantly, it did not preclude larger blazes.

Large mega fires have occurred for thousands of years, and Indigenous burning did not preclude them.

Plus, the idea that low severity fires dominated western landscapes ignores the fact that numerous species depend on the high-severity snag forests that result from sizeable high severity blazes. The second-highest biodiversity after old-growth forests is found in the snag forests and down wood that results from these blazes. These high severity habitats would simply not exist if such Indigenous burning were as successful as advocates suggest.

Indeed, the effectiveness of one hundred years of fire suppression can be questioned. For instance, in the early part of the 20th Century, as much as 50 million acres burned annually in the United States during several drought decades. https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_stats_totalFires.html

https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_statistics.html

LIVING WITH FIRE

Cultural burning was done for a variety of other purposes. To create favorable conditions for the growth of specific plant foods that might be favored by fire, create fresh new growth of grasses and other plants favored by wildlife like deer, elk, or bison. Fires were also used in warfare to burn out enemies that might be hiding in dense brush.

Just as today, wildfire was a natural force that influenced where people lived. One of the ways tribal people lived with fire was to locally reduce fuels to safeguard their villages, trading centers, and traditional gathering areas from large dangerous blazes.

This is the model that we should be promoting todayworking from home outward to reduce local flammability of homes and communities edge.

Since most tribal people lived in lower elevation landscapes like valley bottoms with grasslands or dry ponderosa pine forests where a wildfire was naturally more frequent, Indigenous burning likely favored the continued existence and expansion of these plant communities.

Ponderosa pine forests characteristically experienced low severity frequent fires that reduced ground fuels. Photo by George Wuerthner

It is important to note that these community types are often a small percentage of the landscape. For instance, dry montane forests (chiefly ponderosa pine) make up only 4% of western Montana and northern Idaho. http://www.northernrockiesfire.org/drymont.htm

However, the question remains as to whether this cultural burning was sufficient to change fire regimes across the broader landscape to the point it precluded larger wildfires.

While there is no doubt that Indigenous burning was widely practiced, the idea that cultural burning was a significant influence on landscape-scale fire influences is questionable.

There are multiple lines of evidence to suggest that Indian burning likely was local and did affect the broader landscape.

FUELS DONT DRIVE LARGE FIRES

Perhaps the biggest problem with the Indigenous burning will preclude large blazes is that it feeds into the narrative that fuels drive the massive fires we see around the West. The problem with this explanation is that large fires are climate-weather driven events-and have always been a consequence of climate-weather. There is abundant coloration between extensive drought and large landscape fires. Conversely, during periods of wet, cool climates, there are fewer large blazes.

If fuels were the primary driver of large blazes, we would expect large mega-fires along the Pacific Northwest coast where forest biomass is the greatest on the continent. Yet these coastal forests burn very infrequently-typically on 500-1000-year rotations due to the cool, moist climate.

Tom Butler hugs old growth Sitka spruce, Hoh River Valley Olympic National Park Washington. Photo by George Wuerthner

CLIMATE/WEATHER DRIVES LARGE BLAZES

If you have severe drought, low humidity, high temperatures, and, most importantly, wind, you get large landscape fires. If you do not have these weather/climate conditions, you get fewer ignitions, smaller fires that mostly self-extinguish.

The wind driving flames through vegetation during the 1988 fires that charred more than a million acres of Yellowstone National Park.

While Indian burning likely did influence fuel loading in some localized areas, it did not change the basic weather/climate ingredients that drive all large blazes (Whitlock, C et al. 2010).

Furthermore, you simply will not get large acreages to burn unless you have these extreme fire weather conditions.

First, most cultural burning, like the prescribed fires set today by state and federal agencies, was practiced in the spring and fall when fire spread was limited by moist fuels, high humidity, cool temperatures, and when winds are calm. High fuel moisture and cool temperatures limit fire spread. In other words, you will not burn much acreage. Under such conditions, most fires simply self-extinguish and are challenging to maintain.

Despite the implied notion in some of the above articles that somehow the Forest Service is ignorance of burning practices, this is the same reason federal and state agencies usually do prescribe burning during these seasons.

By contrast, all our larger landscape fires occur during extreme fire weather conditions, typically in the summer and early fall months. These include severe drought, low humidity, high temperatures, and, most importantly, wind.

Why is this important? Because most fires, even natural fires, are small. Unless you have these extreme fire weather conditions, 97-99% of all fires will burn 1-5 acres even if you dont suppress them. Whether the ignitions are from lightning or humans, if you dont have the right weather conditions, you will not burn a significant amount of the landscape.

For instance, 56,320 fires burned over 9 million acres in the Rocky Mountains between 1980-2003. 98% of these fires (55,220) burned less than 500 acres and accounted for 4% of the area burned. By contrast, only 2% of all fires accounted for 96% of the acreage burned. And 0.1% (50) of blazes were responsible for half of the acres charred. (Baker 2009 Fire Ecology in Rocky Mountain Landscapes).

In another example, between 1972 and 1987, Yellowstone National Park did not suppress backcountry fires. During this period, there were 235 blazes. Of these, 222 charred less than 5 acres and most burned less than 1 acre. And all 235 fires self-extinguished.

Then in 1988, more than a million acres burned in Yellowstone. Did fuels suddenly balloon overnight to sustain large high severity blazes? 1988 was the driest year on record since the park was established, with humidity as low as 1-2% and winds exceeding 50 mph.

Mosiac pattern of the 1988 wind-driven fire in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by George Wuerthner.

Thus, it would require setting thousands of these small fires when the climate/weather is not conducive for fire spread to burn any substantial amount of the landscape. So, the idea that Indian burning, which can be characterized as primarily low-severity frequent fires, was of sufficient size and scale to affect larger landscapes is questionable based on such ignitions timing.

Native people were wise enough to avoid purposely setting fires in the middle of extreme fire weather. Setting a blaze under conditions with variable high winds and drought was a recipe for disaster because it quickly leads to uncontrollable fires threatening villages and lives.

ECOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Most of the Wests plant communities tend to naturally have long to very long fire rotations between fires, of many decades to hundreds of years in length. These communities include aspen, most fir species, mountain hemlock, western hemlock, west-side Douglas fir, chaparral, sagebrush, juniper-pinyon, lodgepole pine, white pine, western larch, and various spruce species.

Old-growth mountain hemlock forest which typically remains fire-free for hundreds of years between blazes.

This means wildfire historically did not burn in these communities except at infrequent intervals, almost always dictated by climate/weather.

During extreme weather conditions, the relative importance of fuels diminishes since all stands achieve the threshold required to permit crown fire development. Weather/climate is important since most of the area burned in subalpine forests has historically occurred during very extreme weather (i.e., drought coupled to high winds). The fire behavior relationships predicted in the models support the concept that forest fire behavior is determined primarily by weather variation among years rather than fuel variation associated with stand age (Bessie and Johnson 1995).

Many of these species have few adaptations to withstand frequent fires and would simply not exist if tribal burning affected them.

HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR LARGE BLAZES

Though most fire ecologists concede that native burning likely declined after European American settlement due to population decline resulting from disease, warfare, and displacement, there is plenty of evidence for large fires before large scale Euro American occupation.

For instance, in Oregons Willamette Valley, most large trees were established after large, high severity fires that occurred long before Euro-American influences on native populations. The 1865 Silverton Fire burned more than a million acres of the western Cascades. The 1853 Yaquina Fire burned nearly a half-million acres. Recent records from Washington estimate that a series of large fires in 1701 may have burned between 3 and 10 million acres in a single summer. To quote from a recent article on fires in Washington state: 1701 is given as the best estimate for the last devastating fire that occurred throughout Western Washington, a fire that burned an estimated 3 million to 10 million acres. At the upper end of that range, the area is roughly equal to 10 Olympic National Parks. (https://www.pugetsoundinstitute.org/2020/05/western-washington-wildfire-what-are-we-facing-this-year-and-beyond/).

Although individual accounts can vary, the observers detail can provide some hint of early accounts accuracy. For instance, David Douglas (for whom Douglas Fir is named) traveled from the Hudson Bay Post at Fort Vancouver down the Willamette Valley in 1826, carefully noting the vegetation. Douglas reported seeing burnt patches but indicated that most were small (Knox and Whitlock 2002).

Oak woodland in Willamette Valley, Oregon. Photo by George Wuerthner

Peter Skene Ogden noted extensive burns in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon and attributed it to natives. However, unless one actually observed Natives setting fires, it is difficult to know the source of ignition.

On the other hand, numerous travelers who kept meticulous notes like Lewis and Clark and John Fremont seldom mention encountering Indian burning. The absence of evidence is not the same as no evidence; nevertheless, when someone like Lewis and Clark or John Fremont fails to report extensive Indian burning, it does raise a cautionary note about interpreting historical accounts.

The other consideration is that Douglas, like most people traveling through the landscape, used the Indian trails and natural travel routes. Since human occupation is greatest in such areas, it may provide a biased view of the occurrence of human ignitions. Even today, the majority of wildfires occur near roads. Also, since most of these areas were dominated by grasslands and low elevation dry pines where fire is more frequent even today, it does not support the broader influence of human burning on the landscape.

FIRE STUDY TECHNIQUES GIVE A BETTER LANDSCAPE SCALE PICTURE OF FIRE

Beyond just historical accounts of fires, there is proxy evidence for past fire occurrence. Scientists use various methods to determine the fire history of any location.

The scientific evidence for historical fire regimes is based on a few different methods. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages (Whitlock et al. 2004).

The most common method for reconstructing fire history is fire scars, but other ways, including charcoal and pollen studies, among other techniques, result in different perspectives.

When a fire burns through an area at low severity (i.e., typically does not kill mature trees), it can leave a scar in the surviving trees. The scar eventually heals and is recorded in the tree rings. By examining tree rings, one can count the years between fires, and in some cases, even determine the season of the burn. This is the most popular method of determining fire histories.

Fire scar in ponderosa pine Oregon. Photo by George Wuerthner

There are, however, some problems with fire scar methods that some researchers believe results in an overestimation of fire frequency and influence (see Baker and Ehle 2001). For more detail on the problems of fire scar historical reconstructions, see (Wuerthner 2018) https://www.thewildlifenews.com/2018/07/14/fire-scar-historical-reconstructions-accurate-or-flawed/

There have been numerous studies that have looked at Indian burning and its influence on fire regimes. Most work done by fire ecologists who focus on large landscape fires do not find any additive impact from Indigenous burning. Instead, climate/weather appears to control periods of significant wildfire activity (Baker W.L. 2002).

In other words, they find evidence for more frequent fires during major droughts and in the immediate area of villages, along major travel corridors, trading centers, and other high use areas. Still, across the landscape as a whole, they do not find evidence that human ignitions were additive to total landscape acreage charred by wildfire.

In my view, the best way to document whether human ignitions were an important influence for landscape-scale fires is to use charcoal or pollen studies. But other techniques such as air photo, General Land Office (GLO) surveys, and even historical accounts of early Euro Americans can also provide insights.

Charcoal studies are a proxy for wildfires that rely on examining core drillings in lakes and ponds to extract sediments where charcoal from major wildfires are recorded. By reviewing such cores, researchers can document the larger wildfires in a landscape going back thousands of years. Charcoal studies tend to record the larger regional blazes.

Pollen from the same core samples also documents the primary vegetation present in surrounding lands.

For instance, Vachula et al. 2019 studied Yosemite National Park, where historically large Indigenous communities resided. Their research found a direct correlation between climate and the amount of burning on the landscape.

Yosemite Valley, smoke from fire, Yosemite NP, CA. Photo by George Wuerthner

We analyzed charcoal preserved in lake sediments from Yosemite National Park and spanning the last 1400 years to reconstruct local and regional area burned. Warm and dry climates promoted burning at both local and regional scales Regional area burned peaked during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and declined during the last millennium, as climate became cooler and wetter and Native American burning declined.

Our record indicates that (1) climate changes influenced burning at all spatial scales, (2) Native American influences appear to have been limited to local scales, but (3) high Miwok populations resulted in fire even during periods of climate conditions unfavorable to fires. However, at the regional scale (< 150 km from the lake), fire was generally controlled by the top-down influence of climate. (Vachula et al. 2019)

Another study in the Willamette Valley found that the mean fire interval in Oregons Coast Range was 230 years, and the presence of fire-sensitive species like Sitka spruce indicates a lack of frequent fire (Knox and Whitlock 2002).

Sitka spruce in Oregons Coast Range experience a mean fire interval of 230 years. Photo by George Wuerthner

Regarding Indigenous ignitions in the Willamette Valley, Whitlock notes: The idea that Native Americans burned from one end of the valley to the other is not supported by our data, says Whitlock. Most fires seem to have been fairly localized, and broad changes in fire activity seem to track large-scale variations in climate, she says. (Fire Science, 2010).

In another charcoal study of Washingtons Battle Ground Lake, Megan Walsh (Walsh et al. 2008) concluded that Fire frequency was highest during the middle Holocene when oak savanna and prairie were widespread near Battle Ground Lake. She suggests: The vegetation and fire conditions were most likely the result of warmer and drier conditions compared with the present, not from human use of fire (Fire Science 2010).

The authors (Walsh et al. 2008) concluded that wildfires were: mostly large or high-severity fire episodes. The fire history at Battle Ground Lake was driven by climate, directly through the length and severity of the fire season, and indirectly through climate-driven vegetation shifts, which affected available fuel biomass.

To give another example, one can show that Indian burning was more frequent in the Yosemite Valley where Indian people resided much of the year, but no evidence for wide-spread human burning in the majority of what is now Yosemite Valley or the Sierra Nevada Mountains as a whole (Vale 1998).

Hoffman et al. 2016 looked at Indian burning influence in coastal British Columbia and concluded: fires. At the decadal scale, fires were more likely to occur after positive El Nio-Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation phases and exhibited 30-year periods of synchrony with the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation. Fire frequency was significantly inversely correlated with the distance from former Indigenous habitation sites.

Though the Karuk and other tribes in northern Californias Siskiyou Mountains assert that their traditional burning precluded large fires, and that fire suppression of native burning practices contributed to the sizeable high severity blazes now burning the region. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/23/karuk-tribe-california-slater-fire-insurance

Columbaroil and Gavin (2002) documented that large fires always occurred in the Siskiyou Mountains, primarily due to climate/weather, even during the pre-European period. Fire is a primary mode of natural disturbance in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Increased fuel loads following fire suppression and the occurrence of several large and severe fires have led to the perception that in many areas, there is a greatly increased risk of high-severity fire compared with presettlement forests. To reconstruct the variability of the fire regime in the Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon, we analyzed a 10-m, 2,000-y sediment core for charcoal, pollen, and sedimentological data. The record reveals a highly episodic pattern of fire in which 77% of the 68 charcoal peaks before Euro-American settlement

High severity burns always occurred in the Siskiyou Mountains, despite Indigenous burning. Photo by George Wuerthner

Odion et al. (2004) (Conservation Biology), conducted in a 98,814-hectare area burned in 1987 in the California Klamath region, found that the most fire-suppressed forests in this area (areas that had not burned since at least 1920) burned at significantly lower severity levels, likely due to a reduction in combustible native shrubs as forests mature and canopy cover increases: The hypothesis that fire severity is greater where previous fire has been long absent was refuted by our studyThe amount of high-severity fire in long-unburned closed forests was the lowest of any proportion of the landscape and differed from that in the landscape as a whole (Z = -2.62, n = 66, p = 0.004).

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Indigenous Burning: Myth and Realities - The Wildlife News

By InYourArea Community

Newcastle Dog and Cat Shelter are raising money to replace the plastic roofing for their cattery.

Submitted by Beth Codling

Its been all hands-on deck here at Newcastle Dog & Cat Shelter over the past couple of months due to the Covid-19 pandemic and whilst we are still unable to get back to normal rehoming procedures, we are very pleased to say that we have now started rehoming using online applications.

Since we began rehoming again in June, 59 dogs, 172 cats and 64 small animals have now found their forever homes. All monetary donations help us to provide vital care for our animals until we can find them a forever home. This could be everything from heating to water, veterinary bills and medicines.

The new guidelines which we have in place mean that we have very limited space for storage of physical donations, so we are currently only accepting donations of bedding, newspapers, toys and poop bags on designated days. All designated donations days are posted on our website.

Please note we arent able to accept donations of food at present.

We are currently running an appeal to replace the plastic roofing which shieldsthe outdoor areas of our cat pens which has been damaged by the bad weatherweve had in the North East over the past couple of years.

Our Benton shelter has 64 pens which are currently full of lost, unwanted, abandoned and neglected cats and kittens. We have 25 pens on our maternitysuite which is full of young, fragile kittens who need to be kept warm and dry tokeep them healthy and give them the best start to life.

It is incredibly important that each of our cat pens has a sheltered outdoor area for our cats to get some fresh air as many of them need their time outside to keep them happy and healthy.

The cattery roof is going to cost 6,000 to replace so we are appealing for donations to help us pay for this essential repair.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit us hard, as it has many people. We appreciate not everyone has disposable income to spare but even a 1 donation would make a huge difference. To make a donation to our appeal, please visit our Cold at Christmas fundraising page.

To apply to give a dog, cat or small animal their forever home or to find out more about the donation of money or items the the Newcastle Dog & Cat Shelter, visit their website, or call them on 0191 215 0435.

Shine a spotlight on your neighbourhood by becoming an Area Ambassador.

Click here to learn more!

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Column: Newcastle Dog and Cat Shelter - Replacing the cattery roof - In Your Area

In this day and age, one of the largest threats to the human race is the detrimental effect of climate change. As a result, there is a societal push to be more environmentally conscious. From the way we eat, sleep, and shop, there is a drive to make changes and improvements that lessen our ecological footprint. This drive should also extend to the different businesses and corporations that exist. If you own your own business, its imperative to be a part of the solution and do your part by practicing sustainable efforts. For insight on how to do this, check out these tips to make your business eco-friendly.

To make your business more environmentally friendly, there are a few renovations you can make to your store or warehouse. For example, you can replace your old roofing materials with an eco-friendly alternative, such as metal roofing. There are many reasons to choose metal roofing over traditional commercial roofing options.

The most important reason, however, is the fact that metal roofing is an eco-conscious option. Rather than discarding old roofing materials to end up in landfills for decades, metal roofing can be 100% recycled at the end of its lifespan. It is also largely made up of recycled steel.

You can also invest in solar panels. These are easy to install with metal roofing. Metal roofs are also known to improve the efficiency of solar panels. The combination of solar panels and metal roofs lets your customers and clients know that you are an environmentally responsible entity. This can have positive effects on your business as more and more people opt to support eco-conscious businesses and eco-friendly products.

Another way to make your business more environmentally friendly is to recycle old electronics. Rather than throwing away your brands old computers and technology, recycle them correctly. You can do this by searching for an electronic waste company. These are companies that specialize in recycling old electronics, deleting all personal information, and performing certified data destruction.

For your business, its best to opt for energy efficiency. If your building currently uses traditional light sources, choose a green alternative, such as LED lightbulbs. There are also many appliances that are considered energy efficient. Look out for these and upgrade your old items. For example, if you have an old stove or fridge in the breakroom, upgrade to something that isnt as energy consuming. The same goes for your other office equipment.

The last way to make your business more environmentally friendly is to encourage carpooling among your employees. This can be done in many fun and creative ways. Consider making it a challenge where employees can compete over who carpooled the most or who used the least amount of fuel to get to work. This will encourage your employees to get creative in their commuting efforts.

These are just a few helpful tips to make your business eco-friendly. Now that you have them, youre ready to make a positive impact on the environment.

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Tips To Make Your Business Eco-Friendly The Dixon Pilot - Dixon Pilot

Used vehicles are parked on the sales lot at a CarMax store on Sept. 24 in Colma, Calif. CarMax reported a surge in earnings after used-car prices climbed steadily and surprisingly for months. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

Used vehicles are parked on the sales lot at a CarMax store on Sept. 24 in Colma, Calif. CarMax reported a surge in earnings after used-car prices climbed steadily and surprisingly for months.

Aaron Springer of Odenton, Md., wasn't looking to sell his 2014 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen, which he bought used a couple of years ago.

"I love this car," he says.

But Springer heard the used-car market was hot, so he decided he might as well check. To his astonishment, used-car site Carvana offered him $1,500 more than he paid for the vehicle in 2018.

"I mean, it's just too good of a price to not sell it," he says.

Add used-car values to the list of things turned topsy-turvy in 2020. Springer's experience is exceptional, but it's also a sign of the times: Prices for used cars, trucks and SUVs rose remarkably all summer long as demand far outstripped supply.

According to Cox Automotive, as of September, wholesale used-vehicle values were up 15% compared with last year. And listings on CarGurus are now averaging $22,470, which is over $1,800 more than at the start of 2020.

The rate of growth appears to have calmed down, but prices remain remarkably high.

"Anybody who tracks them ... would be shocked, I think. Almost flabbergasted," says Ivan Drury, the senior director of insights at Edmunds, the automotive information company.

Drury, like Springer, felt the benefit firsthand. He bought two cars last year and sold them both a couple of months ago.

He broke even on one vehicle and made money off the other, which Drury calls "remarkable, to say the least."

This spring, when the coronavirus pandemic started to spread, auto plants temporarily shut down operations for safety. That has created a shortage of new-car inventory, pushing more people onto the used-car market.

Meanwhile, plenty of people are looking for cars. Partly that's because of concerns over the safety of carpooling or riding public transit (although transit systems are taking steps to promote safety).

There was a policy-based boost in demand as well, as buyers put their coronavirus relief checks toward new vehicles.

"People were able to come up with a little bit more money down," says used-car salesman Orby Galarza of Harrisonburg, Va., who saw a direct connection between relief checks and sales.

In short, the pandemic reduced the supply of cars at the same time it increased demand for them. It's Econ 101 the result was prices went up. And up. And up.

For those who have good-condition cars to sell or trade in, this is a big boost. Some drivers are putting that extra money toward even pricier brand-new cars.

Drivers who lease vehicles can also benefit from these rising prices if their leases are ending soon. The buyout price that was set at the start of the lease, based on projected value, might now be thousands of dollars less than the vehicle's actual value.

That means drivers can buy out their leases, then turn around to trade that vehicle in or sell it for cash and immediately turn a tidy profit.

But for buyers looking for affordable used vehicles, the spiking prices are bad news, and the shortage of inventory can lead to frustration.

It's another sign of how the pandemic and the economic upheaval it created are hitting the haves and the have-nots very differently.

Some drivers are stuck with older, less reliable vehicles that they are driving into the ground, waiting for the market to calm down enough so that they can afford to buy a replacement. Others don't have that choice.

Danielle Jennings of Baltimore needed a new vehicle this summer after her 17-year-old car finally gave up the ghost. But she scoured the used-car market for a reliable vehicle in her price range, with no luck.

"I just wanted to be able to get to work and be able to take care of my family," she says. "My back was against the wall."

Jennings, much to her relief, wound up getting a 2013 Chrysler 200 through a nonprofit called Vehicles for Change, which takes donated cars and gives them at a discount to people who need transportation.

Vehicles for Change says it has seen an increase in need because of the pandemic, but because the program requires participants to have a job, it's also finding that many applicants are disqualified.

Vehicle affordability is not a new issue. Even if car prices were dropping instead of rising, many low-income Americans would still struggle with transportation costs.

But this surprising spike in prices certainly isn't helping would-be car buyers on tight budgets. And until prices return to normal, bargains will be few and far between.

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Sticker Shock: Why Used-Car Prices Are So High - NPR

A new green patch has recently been planted in Downtown Binghamton, only its not on the ground. Its on the roof of Binghamton City Hall and the City Council Chambers.

The completed green roof was unveiled on Sept. 22, after construction began this past March. In a statement on March 11, Mayor Richard David said the vegetated 22,500 square-foot roof will catch approximately 325,000 gallons of stormwater runoff annually, with eight stormwater catchers and water intake from plants.

Binghamtons green roof will be a symbol of ongoing progress in sustainability, resiliency and innovation, David said. We continue to lead the region by embracing and securing funding for smart green [projects] as we face the environmental challenges of the 21st century.

$1.6 million of the $2.1 million project was funded by the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC), a New York state company which provides financial assistance to infrastructure projects related to water quality. The funding came through its Green Innovation Grant Program, a grant from the EFC for regional stormwater infrastructure.

The project, which was originally announced in Davids 2017 State of the City address, is expected to decrease the strain on the sewage system which catches water runoff, oftentimes polluted from substances on the street. According to Robert Holahan, associate professor of environmental studies and political science at Binghamton University, the roof will put rain into more productive use.

In the combined sewer system areas of the city, this means less volumetric flow during heavy rain events that would otherwise trigger a combined sewer overflow into the Susquehanna River, in the municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4) areas of the city, Holahan wrote in an email. This means less volumetric flow picking up garbage and petroleum residue flowing directly into the river.

In addition, green roofs help alleviate the urban heat island effect, a human-caused phenomenon that shows warmer temperatures in urban areas compared to their nearby rural areas. Because of the positive effect green roofs can have on urban heat, Gabriella Vallario, a junior majoring in geography, supports the green roof initiative.

This project will reduce urban heat, thus contributing to aid [the fight against] global warming, Vallario wrote. Any projects that help reduce human interference with the environment is valid and should be promoted.

The green roof can also provide a habitat for birds, bees and other animals, according to Holahan. Saheel Raut, a second-year graduate student studying computer science, said he believes green roofs are a good move by the city and advocates for more solar projects.

[For] buildings where green roofs are difficult to implement, solar roofs would be a perfect replacement, Raut wrote. I heavily support the green roof [initiative], as it clearly shows how it would not only have financial benefits over time but also environmental benefits. Green roofs would be a stride in the right direction.

Although green roofs provide benefits, they are not without their potential downsides, Holahan wrote.

Because these are designed to store water, there is a lot of engineering that goes into making sure that water doesnt seep into the roofs [and] leak into the building, Holahan wrote. To maintain that over time requires regular, costly maintenance. Unfortunately, quite often a green roof is built, and, then, everyone moves on without spending the resources to make sure it is still effective in the long term.

As the city continues to push for ways to become sustainable and cooperative with the environment, Holahan wrote that flooding should be the main issue on the table when it comes to considering green infrastructure projects. In 2005, 2006 and 2011, the city experienced catastrophic floods that damaged already dilapidated buildings. The 2011 flood displaced nearly 20,000 Binghamton residents. In response to the flood, there were many buyback programs which has increased the green space in the floodplains, Holahan wrote.

The most important thing in Binghamtons case is simply to recognize that we are at the confluence of two rivers and that the floodplain zones of the city should not be rebuilt up, Holahan wrote. Leaving the floodplain zones as unconstructed areas is the single, simplest and best thing we can do to prevent future flooding.

Raut wrote that the city should be producing more sustainable projects similar to the green roof.

Climate change is not a hoax, whether or not people acknowledge it, Raut wrote. Project like these will reap rich dividends over time.

Vallario shared similar sentiments about the environment.

Our world [and our environment] is what we rely on and right now it is being compromised, Vallario wrote. Global warming is an immediate threat, and any project that helps reverse its effects should be in motion.

The rest is here:
Green roof project completed at Binghamton City Hall - Binghamton University Pipe Dream

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Fire Station No. 9 is almost always mentioned in haunted places and ghost stories of El Paso. Mysterious events have been credited to the ghost of Woodard Bloxom, the captain of Fire Station No. 9, who died after battling a fire Feb. 13, 1934. Firefighters who have worked at the station give accounts of feeling a presence behind them as they climb the stairs, feeling a cold sensation as if the ghost passed through their bodies, finding furniture randomly scattered, and seeing the big bay door open by itself.

I decided to look up the fire and circumstances surrounding Bloxom's death and found this article from the Times datedFeb. 14, 1934:

Woodard Bloxom standing in front of old Fire Station No. 3 in 1920.(Photo: Times file photo)

Firefighters Trapped By Flames In Furniture Company Warehouse

Crowds At Scene

Officials Unable To Trace Source Of Conflagration At 1700 Magoffin

Trapped by a wall of fire in the blazing American Furniture company warehouse at 1700 Magoffin avenue yesterday afternoon, three El Paso firemen suffered severe burns in rushing to safety through the flames.

Capt. Woodward F. Bloxom, 41, of fire station No. 9, was burned seriously on the back and shoulders when enveloped by the flames. Firemen Loften L. Jones, 24, and Louis Eisenbruch, 44, suffered severe burns on the hands and face at the same time.

The warehouse was destroyed.

Other firefighters injured were Victor H. Lawton, John Drew and Jack Dungan. All sustained minor injuries.

Feb. 15, 1934 American Furniture company fire.(Photo: Times file photo)

One of the brick walls of the one-story, barn-like structure was left standing last night. Fire chief John T. Cullivan estimated the building loss at $5000.

The blaze destroyed some $60,000 worth of furniture stored within the building, said Mannie Blaugrund, the American Furniture company secretary.

The loss was covered by insurance as to what it cost us, said Blaugrund, but the insurance will not cover the replacement cost. Were going to make arrangements tomorrow for another warehouse, and continue on in business just the same.

Mrs. Blanche Cunningham owned the building. The eastern third of the structure, which is vacant and is not rented by the furniture company, was saved by firemen who climbed on the roof and played water over the flames.

Fire officials were unable to determine the origin of the blaze.

The blaze started at 5:30 p.m. and the flames quickly shot high into the air. The fire company in station No. 9, across the street from the warehouse, immediately swung into action as a general alarm was sounded.

More: Old El Paso brand launched in the Upper Valley

The flames spread quickly, and a second alarm was sounded. Soon six crews of firemen were playing streams of water on the fire, apparently with little effect. The blaze shot 50 feet into the still air, and a column of smoke rose hundreds of feet higher.

Hundreds of persons homeward bound from the downtown district soon gathered at the scene, drawn by the smoke and flames which could be seen plainly for miles around.

Many of the younger persons in the crowd climbed on neighboring roofs and the 75-foot firemans training tower in the city compound just across the street from the warehouse.

Crowds edging closer to the burning building as the flames died down were doused repeatedly with water from the streams operated by firemen, who went inside the building when the heat became less intense.

Flames continued shooting high from the western end of the building for more than an hour after the fire was discovered.

Sections of the tin roof fell in from time to time during the fire's progress with loud reports resembling explosions.

The charred mass of furniture within the building smoldered for several hours after the fire had been extinguished.

An almost total absence of wind-aided fireman in keeping the blaze from spreading to neighboring warehouses. Telephone and electric light poles near the burning building caught fire and had to be kept wet, and all wires in the vicinity were down.

Woodard Bloxom(Photo: Times file photo)

More: Tumultuous aftermath of 1889 mayor's election

The following day, Feb. 15, the Times reported the death of Capt. Bloxom:

Bloxom Expires After Being Trapped In $65,000 Warehouse Blaze

Burns received late Tuesday while fighting a warehouse blaze t 1700 Magoffin avenue proved fatal to Capt. W.F. Bloxom, 41, 1909 Alabama street. He died at 12:50 p.m. yesterday at Masonic hospital.

Trapped in the building, Capt. Bloxom probably inhaled flames in an attempt to escape, doctors said.

Funeral services are pending at Peak-Hagedon mortuary. Fire Chief John Sullivan said yesterday firefighters would serve as a guard of honor at the services.

Capt. Bloxom joined the fire department in 1916, was made a lieutenant in 1918, and a captain in 1924. He was assigned to the warehouse district, considered by firemen, one of the department's most dangerous posts.

His record as a fireman was perfect, Chief Sullivan said.

He is survived by his widow and an eight-year-old daughter, Dovie Mae; and a sister, Mrs. R.C. Pickens, and brother, Wilton Bloxom, both of Shreveport, La.

More: 1948 Heaton, MacNeil murder remains unsolved

Fire Marshall B.J. Zabriskle said yesterday an investigation of the fire which took Capt. Bloxoms life and damaged the warehouse, leased by the American Furniture company, to the extent of $65,000, will probably be completed today.

Employes denied they had been smoking in the corner of the warehouse where the fire started. They testified they tried to put the fire out with their hands before calling the fire department.

Two other firemen, Lofton Jones, 24k and Louis Eisenbruch, 44, were being treated at Masonic hospital last night for serious burns. Doctors believe they will recover.

Trish Long may be reached at tlong@elpasotimes.com or at 915-546-6179.

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Capt. Woodrow Bloxom, the ghost of Fire Station No. 9 - El Paso Times

The Shawnee Mission School District will ask patrons to approve a property tax increase this January in order to pay for $264 million in bonds that, district leaders say, would fund a slate of major renovation projects while also helping alleviate teacher workload concerns.

Why it matters: District leaders say that by using revenue raised with new bonds for major building projects, they would be able to reallocate money for other expenses to allow for the hiring of dozens of additional secondary teachers.

Thats seen as key to lessening the workload of current middle and high school teachers, who have chafed at having to teach more daily periods than their peers in other Johnson County districts.

To make those new personnel expenditures possible, Superintendent Mike Fulton has suggested moving $4.5 million in custodial/maintenance expenses out of the districts operating budget where teacher salaries are drawn from and into its capital outlay budget over the next two years. The move is permitted under Kansas law, but would require the injection of additional funding into the capital outlay pool that could only be generated from local property taxes.

We cant do that unless we pass a bond issue, Fulton said at Mondays Board of Education meeting.

The details: To fund the bonds, the district will ask voters to approve a property tax increase that would raise the districts local property tax rate from its current 52.115 mills to 52.823 mills. For the average homeowner, that would mean roughly an additional $8 of property taxes per year on every $100,000 of assessed value.

If approved, the bonds would fund nearly two dozen projects. Most prominently, five elementary schools would be completely rebuilt: Diemer, Pawnee, Rushton, Tomahawk and Westwood View.

Among other things, bond funds would also be earmarked for:

The bigger picture: This will be the first bond issue put before SMSD voters since patrons overwhelmingly approved a bond measure in 2015. That raised more than $230 million which went towards building six new elementary schools, installing districtwide security upgrades and constructing the districts new aquatic center, among other things.

What was said: SM South Area Board Member Jessica Hembree expressed concern that the issue of teacher workload may not be clearly linked to the proposed bond measure in voters minds:

Hembree joined her colleagues on the board in voting unanimously to put the bond issue before voters in a special mail-in election in January.

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SMSD officials propose $264 million bond issue as way to address teacher workload concerns - Shawnee Mission Post

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Technavio has been monitoring the automotive wiring harness market and it is poised to grow by USD 10.7 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 4% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Download a Free Sample Report on COVID-19

Impact of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform the growth of various industries. However, the immediate impact of the outbreak is varied. While a few industries will register a drop in demand, numerous others will continue to remain unscathed and show promising growth opportunities. COVID-19 will have an Inferior impact on the automotive wiring harness market. The market growth in 2020 is likely to increase compared to the market growth in 2019.

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The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Aptiv Plc, Fujikura Ltd., Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd., Kyungshin Co. Ltd., Lear Corp., LEONI AG, Nexans SA, Samvardhana Motherson Group, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., and Yazaki Corp. are some of the major market participants. The use of advanced materials for wire harnesses will offer immense growth opportunities. In a bid to help players strengthen their market foothold, this automotive wiring harness market forecast report provides a detailed analysis of the leading market vendors. The report also empowers industry honchos with information on the competitive landscape and insights into the different product offerings offered by various companies.

Technavio's custom research reports offer detailed insights on the impact of COVID-19 at an industry level, a regional level, and subsequent supply chain operations. This customized report will also help clients keep up with new product launches in direct & indirect COVID-19 related markets, upcoming vaccines and pipeline analysis, and significant developments in vendor operations and government regulations.

Automotive Wiring Harness Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Automotive Wiring Harness Market is segmented as below:

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Automotive Wiring Harness Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The automotive wiring harness market report covers the following areas:

This study identifies advances in autonomous vehicles as one of the prime reasons driving the automotive wiring harness market growth during the next few years.

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Technavios in-depth research has direct and indirect COVID-19 impacted market research reports.

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Automotive Wiring Harness Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

Table of Contents:

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY APPLICATION

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

PART 09: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY VEHICLE TYPE

PART 10: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 11: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

PART 12: MARKET TRENDS

PART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

PART 14: VENDOR ANALYSIS

PART 15: APPENDIX

PART 16: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

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Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavios report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavios comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Automotive Wiring Harness Market to grow by almost 4% in 2020, Aptiv Plc and Fujikura Ltd. Emerge as Key Contributors to growth | Technavio - Business...

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Electrical Wiring Interconnection System (EWIS) Market 2019 Global Analysis, Research, Review, Applications and Forecast to 2025 - Bipartisan...

Overview Of Electrical Wiring Interconnection System (EWIS) Industry 2020-2025:

This has brought along several changes in This report also covers the impact of COVID-19 on the global market.

The Electrical Wiring Interconnection System (EWIS) Market analysis summary by Reports Insights is a thorough study of the current trends leading to this vertical trend in various regions. Research summarizes important details related to market share, market size, applications, statistics and sales. In addition, this study emphasizes thorough competition analysis on market prospects, especially growth strategies that market experts claim.

Electrical Wiring Interconnection System (EWIS) Market competition by top manufacturers as follow:SafranGKN AerospaceLatecoereEsterlineDucommunTe ConnectivityAmphenolCo-Operative Industries Aerospace & Defense (Cia&D)Elektro Metall Export (EME)Interconnect WiringRockwell CollinsAkka TechnologiesAmetekA.E. PetscheCarlisle CompaniesLevitonPic Wire & CableRadiallW.L. Gore & Associates

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Market Segment by Applications, covers:Commercial AviationMilitary AviationBusiness and General Aviation

Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversNorth AmericaEuropeChinaRest of Asia PacificCentral & South AmericaMiddle East & Africa

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