America At Odds With Its Land?

An Indian columnist offers his perspective on California's fires and city-slicking deer.

1 minute read

November 6, 2003, 10:00 AM PST

By David Gest


"It might seem inconceivable that a country as advanced as the United States is unable to control something as elementary –- elemental? -- as forest fires…Initial theories suggest arson…But the manner in which the fires spread tells a story of both man's hubris and nature's wrath...Much of this has to do with the suburbanization of America. Despite the vastness of the US, a country three times as large as India with a third of its population, Americans have been encroaching steadily upon nature's reserves...Sometimes, it would seem America's pioneering spirit makes no allowance for nature...A columnist for [the Washington Post] was driving with his family when his car hit a deer in one of the many Bambi-prone areas outside Washington...His solution? The 'critters' were better served as someone's dinner."

Thanks to David Gest

Sunday, November 2, 2003 in The Times Of India

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