[Cate]

After living through a terrible fire season in Montana, my conclusion is that the loggers have the solution alot more than the environmentalists. If we do not manually clean up the forests, the environment is going to do it for us and peoples homes are going with it. If a logging company comes to my door asking for donations, they will have it. The environmentalists can eat my leaves.

[Carry_Okie]

This is what we are losing by not thinning forests.

Iris macrosiphon. We have thousands now, where there were none.

This is a globe lilly, hundreds, and more every year.

This is Franciscan Coyote Mint. It's deer resistant. I hope to propagate it.

A mountain lilac blossom, thousands on bushes ten feet across.

Many of the plants that would normally come back after a fire would be overwhelmed by weeds. Here is Blue Curls (also called vinegarweed), nearly gone from large parts of the state due to government protection.

All of these species are being displaced by weeds. Weeds dry the ground and destroy the soil. Consider that there is 22 million acres of starthistle in this State, much of it thanks to CalTrans. Can you imagine any landowner or industry having that kind of impact?