WELCOME TO THE (UNNECESSARY) MEGA-FIRE GENERATION
Living with Wildfire
25-30 years ago, a 10,000 – 15,000-acre fire was a huge
conflagration. Now, we regularly experience 100,000 - 400,000-acre fires.
NO! It is not understaffed or ill-trained firefighters.
NO! It is not Mamma Nature getting even with our urban sprawl.
NO! It is not careless campers or hunters.
NO! It is not kids with matches.
- CONTROLLED BURNS:
Going back to Native Americans in America, controlled burning (later
called Prescribed Fire) has saved the West from huge conflagrations. By burning large brush fields and using fire to thin understory brush in the forest, we kept the big boomers at bay. We had programs designed to reduce “chaparral” in the West, thus limiting the ability for fires to get ragingly
out of control.
- ROADS/FIRE BREAKS:
When I started with the fire service in the 1970’s we had regularly
scheduled building, repairing, cleaning, and maintaining fire breaks around
rural housing areas and developments. We kept fire roads cleared and
usable for large fire equipment. We had access to remote areas which
allowed us to attack fires when they were small. Roads provided a place
to start a safe backfire. Oh, backfires! Another art nearly lost
today due to liability and excessive oversight by the media and radical enviro
groups who have political power.
- LOGGING/TIMBER MANAGEMENT:
If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you probably remember sawmills.
They are all gone for the most part because the radical environmental rules
have made logging a financial nightmare. You wonder why wood is so
expensive these days? We cannot log; that’s why. Yes, there
are still a few holdouts logging here and there. But the feds are
hampered by so many regulations and restrictions that our timber stands either
get bug-infested or succumb to wildfires.
Public land
management is no longer based on science but rather politics. The same goes
for wildlife management. Radical protectionist groups lobby politicians (and raise
untold dollars in support) to STOP all the things that will make our forests, brushlands, and deserts safe and healthy. To see wildfires in California reach half a million acres is beyond
belief!
What can we do? We must STOP the silliness and over-regulation and allow sound public land management, never forgetting that public lands are FOR the public. Help good politicians get elected and stay in office. Recall bad politicians. Do everything in your power to negate, refute, or STOP the radical movement that has stagnated the management of our resources. Work with your local land management agencies in helping provide for sustainable resource management and a sound trail system for motorized recreation. Be in the game.
My book, now available on Amazon here, explains how we got into this Mega-Fire Generation AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.
2025 BREAKING NEWS UPDATE:
President Trump is bringing back logging and sound Forest Management to National Forest lands across America. This will help all that I talked about in this article. But we still need to be a part of this new future. Check it out here:
https://delalbright.blogspot.com/2025/04/trump-brings-back-logging-in-america.html
MORE HELPFUL LINKS:
DEL'S BOOKS (LAND USE, WILDFIRE, DEATH VALLEY, COWBOY POETRY, AND MORE)
WEBSITE (HOME PAGE)
PINTEREST (BOOKS, ARTICLES, AND MORE)
DEL'S ARTICLES (LAND USE, LIFE, WILDFIRE, VOLUNTEERISM, AND MORE)
More land use and volunteerism help here:
- MEETINGS:
- RUN A BETTER MEETING
- LETTERS:
- WRITE A LETTER
- SPEECHES:
- GIVE A SPEECH
- FACILITATE:
- FACILITATE MEETINGS
- JOIN:
- JOIN THE RIGHT GROUPS
- LEAD:
- LEAD VOLUNTEERS
