[RonF]

Well, it's a win for the logging companies to cut down trees and make a profit. Profit is no evil in and of itself, it's what keeps us all employed. But I don't think it's much of a win for the public for live old-growth trees to be cut down while dead trees and chapparal are left lying around to catch fire anyway.

[The Westerner]

What idiot asserted that the rot would be left standing?

[The Westerner]

Sorry Ron. I should have read ahead. See post #15 for a history of what's been preventing the rational clean up of the forest. Unfortunately, the prevalent ideology of the people in control has created the conditions for these conflagrations. I've often heard Dr. Bill Wattenberg talk about this issue. He grew up in the Sierras with a dad who worked in timber. Bill still fights forest fires every summer up near his property, where he owns some kind of bulldozing equipment. He's a nuclear scientist by profession.