It's not all Smokey Bear's fault

The Oregonian ^ | 7/23/2002 | Oregonian Editor s

[Grampa Dave]

It's not all Smokey Bear's fault

07/23/02

The nation is eagerly throwing thousands of firefighters and more than $10 million a day against forest fires burning over nearly 4 million acres of the West.

If only it made that kind of effort at fire prevention.

For years, the country has stalled around and bickered over the forest thinning and other work needed to prevent these kinds of devastating fires. And there's a chance again this summer that firefighting costs will consume money set aside for fire prevention.

If that happens, Montana Gov. Judy Martz warns, the nation will "continue to rob Peter to pay Paul while perpetuating the mistakes of the last century."

Never mind Smokey Bear. It's now clear that only the U.S. Forest Service and other land management agencies, freed to use prescribed fire and other methods, well funded by Congress, and well supported by the public, can prevent catastrophic wildfires.

As the West burns, there's a search for blame in Western communities and in the halls of Congress. Pointing fingers isn't nearly as hard work as fighting fires or thinning forests, or even coming up with the money to pay for them.

In recent years, Congress has built a financial fire line around the Forest Service, starving it for resources. Now Congress and the White House are forcing the agency to take $700 million from other programs to pay for firefighting cost overruns this year.

Meanwhile, red tape, bureaucratic ineptitude and appeals from environmentalists have further fenced in the Forest Service. The agency has managed to launch some fire prevention projects -- treating about 135,000 acres in Oregon last fiscal year -- but its effort so far pales in comparison to the job that must be done.

Take Oregon's Malheur National Forest, for example. No place in Oregon was at a greater risk of fires this summer, according to the Forest Service's own analysis, and yet no major fire prevention projects were under way there this spring. Now a complex of fires is burning through thousands of acres of Malheur forest.

Environmentalists, meanwhile, are hotly contesting claims that they have tied up fire prevention projects with appeals. They cite a flawed General Accounting Office study that reported only 1 percent of fire projects were appealed. In fact, the Forest Service reports that nearly half of appealable fire prevention projects in the Northwest were challenged in fiscal years 2001 and 2002.

Environmental appeals clearly have played a role in tying up the Forest Service bureaucracy and contributing to a process paralysis. Given the devastation now occurring on public lands, it's fair to ask: How are forests, fish and wildlife helped by blocking thinning projects, leaving fire danger sky-high?

Rural communities must shoulder blame, too. Rural and suburban residents oppose prescribed fires and complain about smoke intruding into mountain views. Three years ago, Colorado legislators passed a law requiring fire managers to comply with the Clean Air Act, making it tougher to treat Colorado's forests. That doesn't seem wise now.

The nation needs to remove such roadblocks. It has now been nearly a decade since it became obvious that fire policies must change, that the Smokey Bear's snuff-every-fire policy had created a huge danger in Western forests. Today, these forests have up to 10 times as many trees as they did when fires were allowed to burn a century ago.

Wildfires are burning across 212,000 acres of Oregon alone. Lightning started every one of these major fires, but in another sense every one was humancaused. None would be this big, costly or damaging if the nation had done what's necessary to restore the health of its forests.

[Grampa Dave]

Fairly outspoken for the Green Enviral Watermelon Rag, the Oregonian.

Are these fires forcing a retreat by governors, Da$$hole and even the Watermelon Oregonian from defending the Druid Forestry debacle agendas for the past 10 years?

[sauropod]

still enough 2 make u hurl.

[narby]

Bumper sticker:

No Loggers, No Forest

[Grampa Dave]

Sounds like an excellent bumper sticker.

[Grampa Dave]

Fyi

[Grampa Dave]

Do you despise what Tommy Da$$hole and other enviral rat senators have done to America re the fire potential in our forests?

Are you tired of the Green Enviral Terrorists endangering your homes, your families, the homes of your friends and the lives of your friends with their anti human agendas?

Well do something about it!

Here is something that every Freeper in America can do today that will help get our message out that enough is enough from these Green Eco Terrorists who hate America and Americas!

Just do it!

Order some of these stickers from EBUCK. Then, send stickers to Da$$hole and other enviral senators. This will let them know that we know who is responsible for these out of control fires, them! The a$$hole governor from Oregon should receive about 1,000 of these stickers from all over America!

Then send stickers to our good guys and gals in congress and as governors who are fighting these enviral scumbags.

Invest $10 and buy 5 stickers. Put them on your SUV/pickup/gas guzzler's bumper and let the world know why we are having fires.

These fires are not just a problem of the west. If you have forests in your state, you have the same problem thanks to Tommy Da$$hole and his enviral buddies!

The incestual link between rat senators up for reelection this November and the vile enviralists can cost them their election. Please buy some of these sticker and use them.

Here is the opportunity for all good Freepers to get into the face of the enviral fascists who have put a large part of our nation into the peril of becoming a flaming tinderbox.

Ebuck has created a great bumpersticker to put the blame on these clymers as we drive our SUV's and pickups. (Link to EBuck's Sticker and how to buy them) (link to EBuck's Sticker and how to buy them)

As that ad says, "Just Do It!" Freepmail or email EBuck now and let him know how many stickers you want and that a check from you is on the way.

The home you save from burning may be yours, a relatives, a friends or even one of us, your Freeper Family.

Please send this reply to your bump lists so more Freepers will be aware of this National Endangerment due to these Eco Terrorists.

Just do it!

[Carry_Okie]

It's now clear that only the U.S. Forest Service and other land management agencies, freed to use prescribed fire and other methods, well funded by Congress, and well supported by the public, can prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Here comes the public works programmes that reward the agencies for their failures. This "opinion" ignores of course how the USFS and other agencies have worked hand in hand with the RICOnut NGOs. They'll screw this one up on analysis paralysis as well. The lawyers will eat all the cash.

Uh, isn't "agencies, freed to use prescribed fire and other methods, well funded by Congress, and well supported by the public" what we had all during the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s??? Oh, my mistake, they think that they're smarter now.

Yeah, right.

Isn't it time for something really different?

I can solve this problem with a minor editorial shift:

It's now clear that only PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNERS, WITH MOTIVE AND FREEDOM TO MANAGE FUELS IN FORESTS UNDER PRIVATE OVERSIGHT, can prevent catastrophic wildfires.

That should work. See, it's even shorter.

[Looking for Diogenes]

It's now clear that only PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNERS, WITH MOTIVE AND FREEDOM TO MANAGE FUELS IN FORESTS UNDER PRIVATE OVERSIGHT, can prevent catastrophic wildfires.

There was a discussion of Weyerhauser forest closures on another thread. Has anyone done a comparison of fire losses on Weyerhauser and GP lands, as compared to Forest Service lands? I think it would be quite revealing.

[Carry_Okie]

I am certain that private losses were lower. That does not mean that they have good forests from a total perspective. They tend to grow small, monocultured, even-aged trees very rapidly, producing relatively poor quality material. The reason for the policy is that they don't market the total range of benefits forests provide. Smaller landowners might actually be more competitive in that more management-intensive business.

[blackie]

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

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

Molon Labe !!

[snopercod]

It's now clear that only the U.S. Forest Service and other land management agencies...can prevent catastrophic wildfires.

A major non-sequitur. Private landowners are the best managers of their piece of the forest.

[Grampa Dave]

I agree with this comment of yours: Private landowners are the best managers of their piece of the forest.

When I hear the mantra of turning the federal property over to the states, my stomach tightens up.

When you have the left wing enviral governors that we have in Kali, Oregone and Washington, and the power the envirals have with the state legislators, it might even be worse if those state lands were in the hands of the envirals hand picked governors.

Lets get a reversal of this federalize land back into individually owned land.

[Looking for Diogenes]

While it does not provide statistics, this Reuters article does describe some of the attitudes of the timber companies about fire.

Timber industry unscorched by recent fires