Apache tribe facing hardships, racism (Tribe member started AZ fire)

The Arizona Republic ^ | July 1, 2002 | Tom Zoellner

[CedarDave]

FORT APACHE RESERVATION - The heart has been ripped out of this place.

The "Rodeo-Chediski" fire has become a multidimensional disaster for this 12,500-member tribe, with racial prejudice, economic misery and spiritual grief among the possible lasting legacies.

A deep sense of guilt descended on the reservation with the news that a member of the tribe, contract firefighter Leonard Gregg, had been charged with setting the Rodeo fire in the hope of earning a day's wages.

[CedarDave]

Understandably, there is a lot of anger among residents, both those who lost homes and those who lost use of the forest, and they are looking for someone to blame. And Gregg should rightly be held accountable. But the larger issue out there is forest management, especially off the reservation where logging and clearing have been held up by environmental interests. And the residents themselves must look and see whether living in and under the pines is the safest thing to do, given drought conditions the past few years. The bottom line is that although Gregg provided the spark, a whole lot of other circumstances contributed to what has been described as "the perfect fire".

[Dog Gone]

The account I read in my morning paper omitted the fact that the jerk who started it was an Indian. You can certainly bet there is going to be some resentment.

[CedarDave]

PING

[E. Pluribus Unum]

If small fires and logging are prevented for decades, you get lots and lots of fuel.

The more fuel you have, the bigger the fire.

Of course, logic and religious environmentalism have nothing to do with one another.

[Movemout]

Nutcases aren't confined to any one race. There will be a backlash against the Apache and that is more than unfortunate. Firebugs are attracted to the firefighting business but we seem to have hard time detecting them. In fact, I am not sure that we are even trying to detect them. This a huge setback to the community down there.

[2banana]

"It is important to remember that this was an individual, not the tribe, that set this fire."

Of course, with reparations or Indian claims, the entire white society at large is responsible

[mickie]

Many stories about the fires, homes lost, firefighters, etc.
But never a mention about the poor animals caught in 1,000,000 miles of burning hell!
My heart breaks for them.

[madfly]

ping

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[HiJinx]

My heart is breaking, too. My elk hunting season is ruined this year. < /sarcasm>

Ok, honestly. The Arizona Game and Fish Department works very hard to manage both game and non-game species to balance the needs of the wildlife and human consumers, be they ranchers, hunters, or wildlife-watchers. Hunting permits to control populations at sustainable levels are set for different regions of the state.

The result of the Rodeo-Chedeski fire moving elk, deer, and turkey east and west of the reservation is to skew the populations elsewhere to the point that previous management numbers are now meaningless.

This is a tragedy for homeowners, for the Apache, for wildlife, for ranchers, for timber workers, for business owners, and for recreation industry workers. And all because one idiot got lost and another one...well...what can you say?

[CedarDave]

Thanks for PINGing others!!

[Don Myers]

""The fire has hurt Mother Earth and scarred the trees," said 64-year-old Edgar Perry of the tribal capital of Whiteriver. "The Earth is telling us we have done something wrong." "

This guy would make a good liberal. It wasn't "Mother Earth" that set this fire.

[CedarDave]

A companion article looking into the relationship between firebugs and firefighters here: Dark obsessions trigger arsons by firefighters

[Wonder Warthog]

"But never a mention about the poor animals caught in 1,000,000 miles of burning hell!"

Well, the politically/ecologically correct types can hardly bring it up, as their insane eco-religious beliefs translated into forest (mis)management practices are the true cause of the disaster. "Roadless" areas, no human use, "wilderness" areas WILL result in more and larger of these kinds of catastrophes.

[JudyB1938]

< "My grandfather predicted the land up there would be burned up and the elks and the deer would be no more," he said, gesturing up the red rock arroyo near Cibecue where Leonard Gregg reportedly lit the fire. >

SELF-FULFILLING "prophecy" if you ask me!

[Don Myers]

"SELF-FULFILLING "prophecy" if you ask me!"

Yeah, especially when they set the fires.

[TigersEye]

BTTT

[blackie]

Stop the attacks by the wacko, extreme left-wing, enviro-nazis terrorist's on our Freedoms !!

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

Molon Labe !!

[mafree]

Racism is no excuse for setting that fire.

[headsonpikes]

The setting of wildfires by both natives and whites in Northern Canada is a constant feature of fire season.

Fire-fighting wages are important to the isolated beneficiaries of modern social paternalism. Welfare and other government checks have destroyed the initiative of a large proportion of Canadians, even those who live in seemingly idyllic surroundings.