The Burning Myth of "Wilderness" and "Natural Fire"

eco-logic Powerhouse ^ | July, 2003 | Jan Michael Jacobson

[AAABEST]

Who's responsible for the fires?

What really caused the Summerhaven, Arizona fire which destroyed a town of 259 homes? Could it have been prevented? Who is actually responsible?

The National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service stopped the historic, frequent burning of brush and grasses. They outlawed the removal of mature trees. The highly inflammable brush, grass, and old trees accumulated, year after year, decade after decade.

For the last 11,000 years, first Indians, then pioneers, and lately ranchers and farmers, regularly set fires to burn off accumulated flammable materials. All of North America was adapted to these historic, frequent, low intensity fires.

But GangGreen groups like Audubon and Sierra Club, insisted that Federal lands be managed by "wilderness management" and they also demanded "natural" fire. When a "natural" fire finally occurs, there is so much flammable material burning that even fire-adapted habitats are severely damaged.

The Summerhaven Fire was preceded by many other warnings. In 1988, Yellowstone burned, Everglades National Park burned in 1989, followed by the Yosemite fire in 1990.

In 1990, I went to Washington DC, to Department Of Interior headquarters. I showed National Park Service's Scott Sewell a tape of the 1989 Everglades National Park fire. The tape showed the blackened trunks of trees in a habitat where such a severe fire should not have occurred.

I tried to tell him that the Park Service had allowed the sawgrass to build up for twenty five years. He disagreed with me, and said that policy would not be changed. "Wilderness" management continued, as did "natural" fire management.

Predictably, they got the "natural" fires their management plan called for. From the wettest Park habitat of all, the Everglades, to a much more dry Western Mountain habitat in Arizona - the same flammable material accumulation is the reason the fires are so damaging.

Could these fire debacles have been avoided? If historic fire management had been followed, the answer is obviously "Yes". So who is responsible? Was it the Park Service management people, like Scott Sewell? Was it GangGreen who got their agenda implemented, and cashed in from contributions, while America burned? Where were all those National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service scientists while these management mechanisms were being perpetrated?

[Darksheare]

I have repeatedly said that responsible conservation is a stewardship of the land, i.e. removing dead wood and thinning animal herds to prevent inhumane starvation and disease in order to promote healthy forests and animal herds.

Instead, the NPS and other 'forestry' services have adopted a policy of forced starvation and conflagration. Ever see what happens to deer herds when there is an overabundance of deer, and not enough food for them all?
The activists will bald faced lie about it and say that such starvation is more natural than responsible stewardship.

Good luck, God bless.
One can only hope that sanity will eventually prevail.

[headsonpikes]

"One can only hope that that sanity will eventually prevail."

Perhaps; but not until all varieties of insanity have been explored first.

;^)

[Goreknowshowtocheat]

Too bad, our government bureaucracy is certifiable and asylums have been closed. A return to sanity, while a worthy goal, is not something you should expect to see in your lifetime. Mind numbing idiocy is the order of the forest.

[Thorondir]

I cannot help but wonder if some of the big fires since 911 were set by iSLAMofascists. It's an effective way to make "the great satan" use up millions of dollars, and hurt us in other ways, besides.

[Darksheare]

True enough.

But it was an idea.;-)

[Bluntpoint]

iSLAMofascists<p< Momar Sparky Mohammid

[cavtrooper21]

What the enviro-dippydos also forget is that man has ben here on this side of the Atlantic for alot longer than 300 years. Tribes of what are now native americans migrated here as early as 20,000 years ago.
Hate to bust the Greenies chops but they used fire, and not just to sit around and sing songs and roast hot dogs.
The Great Central Plains, or short grass prairie was formed and adapted by REGULAR burn offs. More grass for buffalo means better hunting means more food means your kids live through the winter.....
God gave man the land to use and care for unto the last generation, not to allow to rot and then burn its way into a desert.
Deer herds have been historicly predated by both man and beast. When man "stepped in" and destroyed the apex predators he threw nature out of kilter, and then he over hunted in many areas. We have tried to restore the prey poulations and have done so well that they have become a hazard in many areas. We try to increase hunting, but the deer is now "Bambi" and cute and cuddly and helpless..
The enviro-wackos want to bring back the big apex predators instead of using hunting as a control.
I have a four year old. Mountian lion chow. NOT!!!!

[Darksheare]

Yeah.
Unfortunately, the greenies hate those that make sense!

They brought coyotes back to New York, but they took one look at the deer and said, "Heck no."
Then they decided that domesticated animals taste pretty good.
Most of our local enviro-whackies drive beemers and wear birkenstocks.
They hug Bambi, then complain when he smashes their beemer to kibble.

Unfortunately, sanity isn't exactly gonna bloom spontaneously.
I guess it's up to us to 'infiltrate' those agencies and foment change from within.

[AAABEST]

Land rights ping.

[Carry_Okie]

There is a way to fix this you know.

Privatize the management and transition it into private property. Here's how.

[jimkress]

An example of Democrat 'wilderness management':

[AAABEST]

That pic says more than a thousand words for sure.

[tbird1]

The Summerhaven fire is not out by a long shot.
It was upgraded again to a cat. 1 fire today. It was 70% contained yesterday abut the wind kicked up today and they had to pull firefighters away from it .
It is now burning toward a group of girls camps and boys camps, a group of radio and TV towers and a small subdivision. This has been a devastating fire for the Catalina mountain community.
tbird1

[ElectricRook]

Now the CARB (California Air Resources Board) wants to outlaw all ag burning in CA. Reduced ag burning has in my opinion caused the outbread of sudden oak death. Which has been linked to a bacteria in fallen wood. Whole patches of oak forest in the foothills of the Sierras have died.

[Sacajaweau]

How about putting some of these healthy "free check" collectors to work. Put them on a bus and let them clear brush and contribute to society instead of taking. As long as you give it to them for free, they aren't going to work. They have the system down pat!!

[marsh2]

Regarding Native American management with fire - here are some historical reference about our northern California county:

1826-1827: Peter Skene Ogden spent the winter on streams to the east and north of Mt. Shasta. It is noted that Ogden "chided the natives for burning the stream banks in dry weather, to kill off the animals [beaver]. 'From all appearances,' he added, 'they have destroyed no small number."

1914 - Report by Ranger Harley at Orleans: "In good acorn seasons, the Indians will sometimes try and burn off the leaves and humus under the oak trees to facilitate the gathering of acorns, My past experience has proven that fire caused by 'Indians burning for basket material' are invariably small fires, as the location of the material needed is not productive of large fires."

1841: Geologist James Dana accompanied Lieutenant George Emmons in Commodore Wilkes' (U.S.) expedition through the Siskiyou County area. Dana describes the Shasta Valley as "parched, bleak undulating plain rendered even more black and desolate by recent grass fires."

In the Shasta Forests, the Emmons' party encountered traces of recent fires set by Indians, some still ablaze. It was discovered "that the sugar pine's sap or gum was pleasant to chew amd the 'sugar,' which he [Emmons] likened to crystalline burnt alum, was sweet, soluable, and a good substitute for the real article. But it was rare, appearing only where the woods had been fired."

Descriptions by the Emmons party of the area near Bloody Pass and the Tulelake Basin: "Most of the localized smoke was readily explicable. Peale saw only one Indian all day, a woman collecting roots and seeds into a funnel-shaped basket. She wore a deerskin mantle and a cup-shaped cap made of tules, and she carried a firebrand. She was so intent on setting fire to prarie and mountain ravines that she paid him no mind."

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[countrydummy]

bump

[Darksheare]

Probably, teh overgraowth and overabundence of dead wood would logically lead to an overgrowth of bacteria and fungus.
One only needs to kick over a dead log and look at the slime mold underneath for proof of concept.
So it wouldn't surprise me any.

Carry, thanks for the info.