Posted on 09/08/2017 4:30:48 PM PDT by mdittmar
I’M living in the worst air in America today...formerly an area with cleanish-to-clean air. And I do wonder about arson. Of course our local news idiots go to great lengths to explain how even one red-hot tinder can float through the air for a mile and start another fire.
Rainy day fund? Try Calif with it’s money problems. Think of a tsunami or the next earthquake. They’ll blame Trump because Jeb isn’t around to blame like W was.
“Why does the Federal Government need to be involved?”
Fedgov claims they own the land and their mismanagement set the stage for all of these fires. The USFS is now in the business of preserving forests as wildfire fuel instead of utilizing them as a resource for wood products. Eco-nazis.
Today is the first day in 2 weeks that the air here in north Idaho has been classified as “Unhealthy” which is a little better than “Very Unhealthy” and “Hazardous” where it has been. Visibility is about 1/2 mile and there hasn’t been any rain in 70 days. I’d still take this over hurricanes though.
“Stupid enviro-wacko policies are causing the fires.”
True, Leftist weenies go ballistic if anyone, government or otherwise, aims to clear out deadwood and other brush - that’s what starts most of these fires. Add a match or a lightning strike and instant fire!
When you say “Idiot states that don’t maintain adequate fire breaks can eat the cost themselves.” Makes sense until you see the facts.
90% of the fires in the Northwest are in or started on Federal lands. Mismanagement by the US Forest Service is one of the main causes of these huge fires. Going back to the spotted owl fiasco in the 80s, logging was cut way back or completely stopped in all or most of the National Forest lands. In addition, grazing leases held by ranch families for years were cut, restricted or taken away. The combination of stopping logging and grazing has created a huge growth of fuels in the National forests. When a fire does go through, environmentalists stop salvage logging on burned timber which leaves the forest to beetle infestations. The beetles then move on to healthy timber making it a fire hazard.
The fires in 2014 and 2015 in Okanogan County, (the two largest in state history) showed how the mismanagement had an effect. While fire raged through the overgrown undergrowth and un-thinned National forest land, areas where grazing and forest management including logging had been practiced saw little damage by the fires. Also those who do have leases for grazing on the forest land are responsible for maintaining and rebuilding all fencing damaged in a fire, even if the fire was not their fault or started on their leased land. So yes, these aid packages are needed not only for the fighting of the fires but to help with rebuilding. Also to help with the floods that follow in subsequent years because all vegetation that would soak up rain and snow melt is gone. Two years after the fires, we dealt with massive flooding and highway washout all over Northcentral Washington.
Note my post #15.
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