Posted on 11/19/2018 10:51:00 AM PST by detective
I grew up in California’s Ventura County and have family in both southern and northern California. Right now, the most deadly fire in California’s history is racing across northern California. The Camp Fire has already killed at least 56 people, burned down 7,700 homes, and destroyed the entire town of Paradise. A brush fire is also wreaking havoc on southern California. The Woolsey Fire has destroyed 98,362 acres, killed two people, and damaged several Hollywood landmarks such as the set of “MASH” and the Reagan Ranch.
Article after article blames two things for California’s frequent fires: global warming and human action. For example, a BuzzFeed article is titled, “How A Booming Population And Climate Change Made California’s Wildfires Worse Than Ever.” While dry conditions make fires more likely and people often start them, this misses the big picture. President Trump summed it up on Nov 10. He wrote, “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor … Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”
Trump is right. Mismanagement and overregulation deserve most of the blame, but he should keep in mind that the federal government owns 57 percent of California forest land. This mismanagement is also not a result of a lack of care. Believe me, Californians care.
(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...
“Globull Warming” must be concentrated in California only.
The irony of this is that so many acres of beautiful forested land is destroyed by fires. Thus the environment in California - including the wildlife - is damaged as a consequence of policies pushed by people who say they want to preserve the environment and the wildlife.
Somebody ought to sue them for all the loss of life that could have been prevented.
It is time for more of the knowledgeable people to start specking out.
EXAMPLE:
"President Trump blamed poor forest management for wildfires in California and throughout the West, and there is truth to statements he has made,” said Daniel Dructor, executive vice president of the American Loggers Council, a coalition of state and regional associations that represents independent contract loggers. “It’s time to rise above political posturing and recognize that active forest management — including logging, thinning, grazing and controlled burning — are tools that can and must be used to reduce fire risks and help mitigate the impacts to landscapes,” Mr. Dructor said in a statement. According to the council, some 60 million to 80 million acres of national forest are at “high, to very high, risk of catastrophic wildfire."
Some Democrat leaders are more responsible for the wildfires than others.
Gov. Jerry Brown of California vetoed SB 1463, despite being passed by the Legislature, 75-0 in the Assembly and 39-0 in the Senate (controlled by Democrats).
In September 2016, Governor Brown vetoed SB 1463, a bill in the California legislature which would have required the California Public Utilities Commission to prioritize areas at increased risk from overhead wires in their management of wildfires.
I don’t think Reagan’s formerly owned and beloved Rancho del Cielo has been damaged. It comes to my mind regarding the fires in California every time I hear of another one.
http://www.pushback.com/Wattenburg/articles/NowTheyHaveBurnedLosAlamos.html
For me this is the definitive writing on managing forest fires. Dr. Wattenberg had late night radio show from the bay area. He worked at Lawrence Livermore Labs and was called the smartest man you can talk to for free (on the radio).
The state of Cal ignored him on gasoline additives and clearing underbrush from forests, He died 3 months ago, but his work is on the internet.
“When trees are too close together, they fight for resources. Many of the trees are weakened and become more susceptible to disease and insect infestation. These conditions turn entire forests into tinder boxes.”
Irony: Most replanting of harvested forests in my neck of the woods is the epitome of this description.
Too many trees, no fires, soil depleted of nutrients. unhealthy forest is the result with dying trees. But that takes a cycle far longer than one human generation. We are seeing the symptoms of this failure of land management today.
Values and political posturing are at the core of policy. An environmentalist can watch a gruesome human abortion with icy indifference but will weep hysterically at the sight of a tree being cut. The demented environmentalists and other bizarre liberals control California. There will never be effective forest management. There will be more devastating wildfires.
In the 70s and 80s a lot of urban liberals starting buying property and getting themselves involved in local politics. They made rules against clearing dead trees that they said were habitat for critters. They made rules against lawns and plants they said were not natural to the area.
In 2007 The Angora Fire burned through our neighborhood destroying 250 homes and 60 businesses in just 36 hours.
The liberals who set the stage for this destruction are never held responsible.
Somebody ought to point out that a lot of these are Fedearl lands, and the Federal Government has no obligation to pay any attention to the whackos in Sacramento.
Note:
“NATIONAL” forest.
Plenty of crazy and stupid things to blame Sacramento for, but HELLO- President Trump- instruct YOUR national forest service to get on it.
“a lot of these are Fedearl(sic) lands, and the Federal Government has no obligation to pay any attention to the whackos in Sacramento.”
The Federal government is controlled by leftists, Democrats and environmental extremists. They have forced policies that destroy forests and cause massive, deadly wildfires. The Democrat Party leftists who control California and the leftists who control federal lands are part of the same leftist conspiracy.
“The irony of this is that so many acres of beautiful forested land is destroyed by fires. Thus the environment in California - including the wildlife - is damaged as a consequence of policies pushed by people who say they want to preserve the environment and the wildlife.”
And the idiots there keep voting for the custodians of our forests. And the custodians of our streets. And the custodians of our health care. And the custodians of our taxes. Starting to see a pattern?
Yes, the feds own 57percent. But private ownership is 40%, which is regulated to the gills by the state, especially the small owners who hold less than 50 acres on the average. The Camp Fire is burning mostly private forest.
Some will say that the fire started on or near federal forest land, but, as being investigated, it was the state monopoly, PG&E, who may have started that fire on federal land, so ignore that red herring. oh, and P.S., the Woosley fire didn’t start in a federal forest either.
And some will say that the 2percent that the State owns is shrubland and scrub. And that 7.5 million acres of it are too expensive to manage. But isn’t that what our taxes pay the state for? to manage our meager 2%????? And what is the cost in human, animal and wildlife, lives, in trauma, in health, in insurance, housing, assistance, loan forgiveness, etc etc etc that comes with each wildfire, compared to the cost of a million goats and 10,000 shepherds?
to give you a picture of the mindset of the envirowackos that run or have retired from running the zoo formerly known as California, here’s a choice brain-dead quote:
“As the fire has spread, the vast majority of land that has burned so far is in private ownership, Stine said. Therefore, managing the land and vegetation in that area is up to the individual landowner, Stine said. Plus, managing the state’s 7.5 million acres of shrubs is not likely feasible at all.
“Do you know how much shrubland there is in California?” Stine asked rhetorically. “If we were to try to periodically remove shrubs across the entire state we would need a budget similar to our military let alone the ecological damage this would create.”
Opps, my bad on the ‘Fedearl’ (hangs head in shame).
But my point is that it is silly to be saying the state of CA is at fault when these are lands run by people under the authority of President Trump.
I mean Brown and Newsome are nutty enough, but the President can darn well tell a federal agency what to do; start cleaning this mess up!
There are other federal lands there in CA managed by other land agencies such as Natl Parks, BLM, and USFWS.
All federal lands are managed in accordance with the Acts of Congress.
Such as: Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976(FLPMA). And National Environmental Policy Act(NEPA). Endangered Species Act. Taylor Grazing Act. There are probably lands in CA designated as wilderness so the Wilderness Act comes into play. There are wild and scenic rivers in California so the Wild and Scenic River Act comes into play.
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