st cover to shield the land below, an increase in land surface temperature soon follows. This would eventually lead to decreased water levels, which helped lead to an even drier climate during the summers. Without forest cover, the land was much more susceptible to wind also, making the region seem colder during the winters. Formerly, much of Wisconsin was protected from wind erosion and possible massive fire damage because of the protection the massive forests gave it (wind being a large factor in feeding a fire and increasing its consumption area). Such large-scale environmental damage would not long wait to show its effects. And, as noted above, legislative action to curtail the ill effects of the logging industry was to slow to save the lives and property of many. The most graphic example of this is told by the story of the town of Pestigo.Peshtigo Fire The Peshtigo fire is one of the most devastating fires ever recorded in history. Elliot states that “little or no concern for fire prevention, along with a prevailing attitude that there was more than enough forest lands to meet the Nation’s needs, resulted in numerous wild fires being allowed to burn.” And Pestigo was no exception to this statement. For, as Elliot further tells the reader, “on Sunday, October 8, 1871, the area surrounding Peshtigo was hot, dry, and windy. The air was filled with smoke from wild fires burning in nearby slashings and woodlands. Otherwise, life was routine—town residents went to church, while the lumberjacks nursed their hangovers from Saturday night.” None could have imagined the enormity of the tragedy about to descend upon this boomtown of the logging era. Late that Sunday evening, without any alarm, groups of men had been called forth to put out a fire that had begun to encroach upon the village boundaries. Quickly however, it soon became apparent that the efforts of these men would prov...
