Snow Pack
by William Crisp
I almost can’t wait for the worst month of the year to start.
We are off to a good start this year. There are a couple of feet of snow on the mountains and the ground is frozen. Snow does more good than just providing a substrate to run snowmobiles on, to win snowball fights with and give snow shovels a use.
Snow conditions late in the season bode well for our streams and forests. A good amount of frozen water on our steep hillsides ensures there is a steady flow of water into the ground and streams, which is healthy for our forest vegetation and fish. A single sturdy oak tree will pull hundreds of gallons of water a day from the ground in order to leaf out.
(Full story in the Cameron County Echo on the news stand)