California fires: State, feds agree
to thin millions of acres of forests
Bay Area News Group,
by
Paul Rogers
Original Article
Posted By: poster,
8/23/2020 1:21:52 PM
The two dozen major fires burning across Northern California were sparked by more than 12,000 lightning strikes, a freak weather occurrence that turned what had been a relatively mild fire season into a devastating catastrophe. Yet what’s driving these enormous fires is not sparks, but millions of acres of fuel: bone-dry trees and brush that haven’t burned in many years. Before the Gold Rush in 1849, large parts of California burned every few decades. Lightning fires burned for months, and native tribes burned the land, clearing out dead vegetation. But for much of the past century,(snip), firefighters have extinguished the flames (snip)allowing forests and other landscapes to become unnaturally dense.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
MMC 8/23/2020 1:45:44 PM (No. 518521)
Forest Management... thinning underbrush should have happened years ago.. spotted owl, newt salamander, some insect would have been hurt... or the Green Communist Party would have said..
Save the Bird! But the devastation caused by essential tinder for fires has burned thousands of acres, decimated homes and habits of two and four legged critters..
#NoGreenDeals
28 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Shmowry1 8/23/2020 1:47:06 PM (No. 518522)
What it takes for a Democrat to agree he was wrong: billions of dollars in economic devastation per year.
33 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Bur Oak 8/23/2020 1:49:01 PM (No. 518524)
What! Don't they know that brush, thatch, and weeds are beautiful, especially up next to your home? Send in the goats.
19 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
mombogogo 8/23/2020 1:50:36 PM (No. 518526)
Although it's briefly alluded to in the article, streamlining environmental regulations would be a giant step in the right direction. As a kid, and with relatives dotted throughout the state, I rarely heard about devastating wildfires in CA. It hasn't been until the past 20 years or so that it's become so common. I would bet that environmental regulations - not being able to burn brush on private property, not allowing controlled burns of large forested areas - is one of the main reasons they've become so prevalent. I live in a rural forested area in the East, and it's the rare occasion that wildfires are a danger, precisely because the regulations here aren't as drastic.
25 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
bpl40 8/23/2020 2:08:34 PM (No. 518534)
When all else fails, read instructions!
10 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
DVC 8/23/2020 2:35:48 PM (No. 518551)
Finally! The damned eco-crazies have cost billions and billions and made a heck of a lot of beautiful landscape ugly for decades.
Keep those eco-nuts away from any decision making, ALWAYS.
12 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 8/23/2020 2:38:01 PM (No. 518552)
They are about 50 years too late. But, better late than never, no?
11 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
RuckusTom 8/23/2020 2:53:56 PM (No. 518566)
Golly. Who knew dead trees and leaves and brush and grass were fuel for a fire?
13 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
TXknitter 8/23/2020 3:25:55 PM (No. 518603)
We lived for many years in Tillamook County, OR. Those needing wood for woodstoves got permits and left many areas of the forest thoroughly cleaned of downed timber, branches, etc. We used to notice how nice the forest looked. The forest floor was not clogged with underbrush. Ferns and native plants could grow not be choked under piles of dead stuff like it is now. I was there two years ago and so much of the forest looked unhealthy. It was so sad.
Starting in the 90’s, we had a front row seat as everything began to change. Fisheries messed up the salmon population. So many logging operations started to go under due to Clinton administration rules. Forest areas shut off to the public. The culture of the northern OR coast is so changed today and not for the better.
The oldtimers who knew all about how these forests stay healthy tried to warn the BLM all these fires would happen someday. The government bean counters refused to listen.
12 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
caljeepgirl 8/23/2020 3:32:31 PM (No. 518613)
Yep, Dr. Bill Wattenburg is crying out from his grave!!
2 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
watashiyo 8/23/2020 4:56:29 PM (No. 518683)
If the Green Environmentalist cares so much, remove all those over-growth trees, brushes, dead shrubs and drop it off at their front door. They'll love it!
4 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
JHHolliday 8/23/2020 5:04:12 PM (No. 518694)
Some years ago on a trip to Pebble Beach, we drove through the Del Monte forest. Yikes! The forest floor was almost completely covered with deadwood and dry limbs. I am guessing it was their rules that made it untouchable but it looked to me like a disaster waiting to happen. I am wondering how much the California homeowners have to pay to get homeowners insurance in tose at-risk areas. If these fires are allowed to continue, insurance may become unavailable.
5 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Strike3 8/23/2020 6:41:09 PM (No. 518776)
They sure learn quick out there. Watch how quickly Newsom snatches up the credit for this brilliant idea.
1 person likes this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
padiva 8/23/2020 7:48:14 PM (No. 518833)
Hey, hey, hey!
Here's an employment opportunity for the homeless people.
0 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
pensom2 8/23/2020 8:29:13 PM (No. 518879)
The overgrowth brings on pine bark beetle infestation. This kills trees, leaving them ultra-dry and prone to fire from any source of ignition. Meanwhile, the USA is importing lumber from Canada to build our homes. If the feds permitted logging of trees in 100-yard wide swaths every ten miles in these forests, they'd open the cut areas to new growth, they'd create fire lines that would limit the size of the lightning-sparked fires, provide jobs for loggers, and reduce imports from Canada. But no--the bureaucracies of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management remain straitjacketed by rules created and the insistence of the environmentalists and their bought-and-paid-for congresspersons and senators.
President Trump's initiative to limit straitjacketing regulations is a godsend. It also brings the swamp creatures up from the swamps--and they're vicious.
2 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Yuban 8/24/2020 9:04:38 AM (No. 519224)
The fires are doing the thinning for them.
1 person likes this.
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