'We're losing the war' (forests burning)

The Bend Bulletin ^ | July 18, 2002 | Melissa Bearns

[WaterDragon]

With strong afternoon winds blowing fires statewide (Oregon) out of control, firefighters gained little ground Wednesday as thousands of acres continued to burn under steadily advancing flames.

"We're losing the war," said Marc Hollen, spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. "And the enemy keeps multiplying."

[EBUCK]

I'm on that thread already. Victory, minor yet a victory just the same. Add the Kalamath, the wild fires and the massive un-employment and we should have a pretty good turnout this Nov. Just need to keep these issues fresh for a few more months.

EBUCK

[Grampa Dave]

Maybe the massive unemployment will wake up the semi envirals in the Portland area. Naah, they will just go on unemployment insurance, get welfare and ride their bikes until the unemployment insurance runs out.

The conservatives in Oregon need to wake up their moderate neighbors, friends and relatives to what the eco fascists have done to their families and their state.

[Grampa Dave]

QUOTES FROM THE GORON RE THE FOREST FIRES:

I TRIED TO WARN YOU ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING AND GEORGE BUSH AND DICK CHENEY. NOW YOU SEE WHAT GLOBAL WARMING CAN DO TO YOU.

STOP DRIVING YOUR VEHICLES, STOP EATING, STOP DRINKING WATER, STOP SLEEPING IN YOUR HOMES AND START CHANTING GREEN IS GOOD. YOUR REWARD WILL COME SOON!

[MD_Willington_1976]

Well if they all burn down this year they will not burn down next year or the next or the next.....

They used to burn down before we all got here, why should we stop it now ?

I know it is a loss but it will actually save a ton-o-cash in the long run...

[dirtboy]

They used to burn down before we all got here, why should we stop it now ?

It's in the way they used to burn as opposed to the way they burn now. In the past, fires would burn over just about the entire West every three to ten years. These fires would burn the modest amounts of accumulted fuel on the forest floor and some saplings, but would only char the bark of larger trees, thereby enhancing the health of the entire forest system. But decades ago, forest "experts" decided to supress ALL fires. By the time a new crop of experts decided this wasn't so hot an idea, massive amounts of fuel and overgrown stands of saplings had created a scenario where fires would crown the larger trees, destroying the entire forest. Then, two more factors were added over the last fifteen years - the rapid increase in homes in fire-prone areas out west (and the opposition of many of the owners to controlled burns that might drop some soot on their decks), and the refusal of the Clinton Administration to support any remedial actions, in deference to the eco-nuts. Much of this year's fire trouble could have been alleviated, but now we are faced with the choice of either letting forests burn catastrophically or engaging in very expensive manual thinning and remediation with limited use of controlled burns where possible.

[backhoe]

I linked this & that other fire story from this morning in yet another mass email to the usual suspects on my list.

[Grampa Dave]

Yep, if you and your family die from a virus infection iniated by a terrorist, you/they won't die next year or the next or the next..... Really left wing or ultra right wing theology there.

What a bunch of green overtoned Bravo Sierra. How about the millions of Americans living in these areas? No problem? Let them burn up with the forests huh?

You and your family never use any wood or paper products like the rest of us do. So you have no need of any wood product or by product in your life?

[WaterDragon]

Bravo, Grampa_Dave!

[blackie]

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

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

Molon Labe !!

[joyce11111]

HUH??????????? what the hell are you talking about?

[MD_Willington_1976]

I aint no greeny/granola/bug eating hippie, I come from a logging/mining/pulp & papering town, and I have cut down my fair share of tree's...I used to work as a construction sub-contractor as well, and YES i have used paper products and wood products.

I understand people live in these areas, well sh!t I was able to walk 5 minutes down the street from my old house and I was in the middle of the forest..

My point of view here is that the government will just milk the rest of the taxpayers for more cash everytime a fire sparks up, if fire is one way to clear up the problem then so be it..

[zandtar]

Didn't the native American's also recognize this fact and used to intentionally start fires to clear this out? Or was that out on the plains? I forget.

[dirtboy]

Didn't the native American's also recognize this fact and used to intentionally start fires to clear this out? Or was that out on the plains? I forget.

Actually, they did it in several ecosystems across North America. Something the eco-freaks try to downplay as they depict Native Americans as living in complete, low-impact harmony with nature.

[RipSawyer]

Pine branches work much better, your average environmental wacko is just too heavy to swing by the ankles.

[doc]

I've got kind of a morbid thought. Not that it is a monumental disruption to our society but what if some Al Queda members are setting some of these fires. A forest fire is very easily set and hard to detect the culprit.

[WaterDragon]

The terrorists don't have to take that risk, doc. The Clinton/Gore administration set up the forests for big burns, and d*** the homeowners!

[Red Jones]

it may be true that these particular acres won't burn for 50 years. But 7 years ago a large portion of the oregon forest burned, it is still not back. Now another huge fire is here just a few years later. They will probably have yet another huge fire in another 5 years. If we do not learn to manage the forests better, then we will end up letting the forest burn down. If we learn to manage it, then we can keep most of it from burning except every 50-75 years.

In some forests they have so much lightning that fires break out daily for weeks at a time sometimes in the summer. So, even with good management of the forest, we still need great firefighting capability to do the job.

[cousair]

Has anyone ever thought that this might be a real easy way for a terrorist to keep things brewing throughout the west, in America, or anywhere a fire could burn?? Just throw a match out while driving through and in some of the very dry places, near where I live in the Western Cascade mountain range, it fires up easily. I really don't think this is a stretch in ideas about what they plan.

[mad_as_he$$]

Totally agree, but in the Sagebrush West the major cause of serious fires is the fact that the morons in DC stopped grazing on most "public" lands. Many old timers here tell me that when the cattle and sheep grazed the hills they ate the easily ignitable fuel (mostly cheat grass) which is running rampant now and causes fires to spread quickly and with intense heat.

In the sureal world of enviorwackism the State of Nevada has had programs where they actually PAY ranchers to graze certain areas to PREVENT fire and it waorks very well. University of Nevada, Reno has co-op exchange where all of this info is available.

[AuntB]

"Totally agree, but in the Sagebrush West the major cause of serious fires is the fact that the morons in DC stopped grazing on most "public" lands. Many old timers here tell me that when the cattle and sheep grazed the hills they ate the easily ignitable fuel (mostly cheat grass) which is running rampant now and causes fires to spread quickly and with intense heat."

Yes, you are correct and not only that but when you see these forests up close, there are layers of timber, dry and decaying, from disease or whatever that they refuse to let anyone log while it is usable. I swear it looks like kindling in a camp fire, which of course is what it becomes. It's sureal and beyond me how anyone over the age of 4 can't figure this out.