Wildfires and YOU

Scott Sinclair looking N. from the Smith River

NRA into S. OR in 2003 after the Biscuit Fire

Michelle Malkin’s excellent article on wildfires and the band-aid approach this administration (and others for that matter) have taken to address (or not address) fuel management (we used to call it logging) struck some very raw nerves with me today.

Malkin’s Article on Wildfires

http://www.news-press.com/article/20120621/OPINION/306210026/How-Obama-bureaucrats-fueled-western-wildfires

While extremely hot wildfires destroy human life, property, and our natural resources, they also impact public recreational use of federal lands.  I have seen wildfires destroy destination recreation areas … which are then closed to the public until they are reconstructed.   I wrote a 2003 article on the Biscuit Fire that impacted NW CA and S. OR.  which included a lot of areas that were “closed” to motorized access in order to “protect” them.  Some protection!

2003 Article on the Biscuit Fire

http://www.sharetrails.org/magazine/article/biscuit-fire-team-stealth-access-amp-big-lie

It seems right now that everything is upside down.   Growing up in Northern California in the 60s/70s, there were busy timber towns that employed a lot of people with well-paying jobs (I know because I worked in one of them).  Now those communities are ghost towns which are surrounded by federal timber land where the trees (and wildlife) are just waiting for the next wildfire to burn them.

I hope that I live long enough to see some common sense brought back into the environmental equation.   Resource management should be more than just installing a gate with a closed sign on it.

Thanks for your interest!