Smoking Weed

[arcturus]

Gosh, would hate to see the fire dept work an extra hour.

http://www.mlive.com/grpress/news/index.ss...menta.html#more

[DSchoon]

You know. Jendrasiak gets a bad rap in some circles, but it's good there is someone around to say it like it is.

[Veloise]

Batman speaks truth.

Ann Arbor indeed has controlled burns throughout the year. They are announced on the radio (throughout the day and while going on) and in the paper. Here's a chance for the Nature Conservancy to do an informative mailing (and ask for donations/memberships).

[D-Man_GR]

We're finally broaching the subject of periodic controlled burns locally:

http://www.mlive.com/grpress/news/index.ss...vironmenta.html

This type of this has been done for years in more progressive urban areas - even tight residential neighborhoods - where "natural" grasses have been planted as a more sustainable substitute for Kentucky Bluegrass. I'd even heard about "burn parties" happening where neighborhoods get together to torch the next lawn in its 2-year cycle of necessary replenishment. Isn't Grand Rapids supposed to be progressively "going green"? If anything, this type of controlled burn should be encouraged, not suppressed.

[fotoman311]

We're finally broaching the subject of periodic controlled burns locally:

http://www.mlive.com/grpress/news/index.ss...vironmenta.html

This type of this has been done for years in more progressive urban areas - even tight residential neighborhoods - where "natural" grasses have been planted as a more sustainable substitute for Kentucky Bluegrass. I'd even heard about "burn parties" happening where neighborhoods get together to torch the next lawn in its 2-year cycle of necessary replenishment. Isn't Grand Rapids supposed to be progressively "going green"? If anything, this type of controlled burn should be encouraged, not suppressed.

[Quercus]

Allowing controlled burns like this is another way for GR to show it's a green city. Calvin College has repeatedly been denied a permit to do the same thing at its ecosystem preserve because the fire department believes it's too urban a setting. The preserve is bounded by M-37 on the west, Lake Drive on the north, East Paris on the east, and a private campus drive the serves the Gainey athletic fields on the south. There are a few houses in the area, but the crews who do these burns are extremely cautious and won't do it unless conditions are just right.

[GR Jackson]

My parents do a controlled burn on their property, and they live on the south side of Chicago in a neighborhood. A fairly urban setting I would say.