Deforestation

"Fawn Ridge, East"

They say the bears are more visible this year than ever.  I still haven't seen one for a few years, but the amount of development that I've seen here in this coastal town in my lifetime alone allows for little surprise that the bears have nowhere to go anymore.  This shot doesn't really capture the inanity of it all.  a giant metal gate that keeps the "outsiders" away, while there are lots for many three car garage houses, only two fully built and awfully ugly.  This is one of the many developments that circle florence.  In the mid '70s this town was a thicket of huckleberry and salal

salal shrub

and wild rhododendrons and coastal pine and sand.  I'm going to post a good photo of salal shrub but most of the bushes I see today are sunburned from exposure.  The weather here is different, too.  I remember endless summer days in the clouds at the gt pool.  Now it's sunny and windy every day.