A firescaped yard shows low drought-tolerant plants and a dry stream bed. Valley News/Roger Boddaert photo
Roger BoddaertSpecial to Valley NewsThis article was originally published in October 2020.The American West is ablaze. Wildfires are raging in every state along the West Coast and in almost every state from the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains.Land, homes, lives and whole communities are lost. As my pen brings these thoughts together, over 3 1/2 million acres have burned to date, more than any other year, and now millions of people are breathing toxic air from these fires.It is not just that entire weather patterns are changing, but there many other factors that come into play while observing the big picture. California residents have changed the natural landscape to hold wildfires back. They have moved into the mountain ranges and built their homes among these native lan
