On Monday, May 13, 2002, at 03:30 PM, Khoder bin Hakkin wrote: > Folks around Trabuco Canyon insist they're not > rebellious by nature. It's just that the stakes are > high > in their fight against a neighbor who bulldozed four > acres of oaks and coastal sage scrub without state > and federal permits. > > To assess the extent of the grading, they hired a > biologist to videotape the work. After all, the > residents said, the area was possible habitat for > endangered or threatened species. But the biologist > was shooed off the property. > > Undaunted, the residents borrowed an idea from > the war in Afghanistan and hired Larry Fleming, > who strapped a 35-millimeter camera to a > remote-controlled model airplane and flew it over > what residents consider a battle zone. The images > were not CIA quality, but residents were happy > with their "reconnaissance drone." And they > succeeded in getting the grading stopped. >
Ironic timing. For two reasons. First, a fire started about 2:45 pm PDT today in the Trabuco Canyon and Rancho Santa Margarita regions. I've been watching coverage on the LA t.v. stations. The "natural habitat" (greasewood, chapparal, manzanita) is what is burning. It's the human-planted stuff, like iceplant and cacti, that are acting as firebreaks. Natures periodically burns. I wouldn't be surprised if the "we stopped the grading in order to save the chartreuse garter snake" region got burned to the ground. Second, you mention Brin, in the "Earth" and in his anti-privacy nonfiction book sense. However, a more interesting reference is to another SF writer, Kim Stanley Robinson. I highly recommend "Gold Coast," the second volume in his "three possible futures for Orange County" series. The first of these was a post-apocalyptic future of shell gatherers and coastal tribes, much akin to Jack London's classic "Scarlet Plague" (set in the Bay Area). The third is an airy fairy, namby pamby, eco-fantasy akin to Ernest Callenbach's "Ecotopia" (also set in California...go figure). The second is my favorite, by far. Robinson captures the essence of OC's crowds, the surfers, the burbclaves (years before Stephenson's "Snow Crash," _also_ set in California!). I was not a fan of Robinson's more critically praised "Mars" series, and "Antarctica" was hard for me to slog through. But his "Orange County" series is generally good, and "Gold Coast" is spectacular. (Not be confused with Nelson DeMille's "Gold Coast," which is also excellent.) --Tim May "That the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." --Samuel Adams
