GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

07-08-2003, 06:12 PM

(Larry Harrell) writes:

Since when does the USFS use clearcuts to solely reduce fuels and fire
danger? Most USFS fuel reduction projects remove small diamteter trees
in overstocked stands. Bush's plans include removing some medium-sized
trees in order to insure that projects do indeed sell. Nobody wins if
the project is prepared and no one bids on it. You have major
misconceptions about how the system works. In California, we've done
many large projects that don't involve trees bigger than 30" dbh trees
and they did sell with most of the marked trees in the 9-18" dbh
range.
Get a clue, bud. (He probably thinks he's being successful if he
wastes our time but, this is all a part of educating the American
public)

I doubt the USFS is much interested in what happens in the suburbs.
Perhaps the BLM has some land near developed areas, but unless they have
shop buildings on the land or have developed a BLM park or campground,
all they have to worry about is vegetation.

By blocking operations in the woods, the preservationists have turned
trees into a fiscal liability instead of an asset. The result was
congress refusing to appropriate funds for fire fighting.

In truth, the responsibility for protecting homes in the urban-rural
interface properly belongs with the local fire departments, and counties,
not with the federal government. Expecting the federal government to
fund fire suppression on private land is beyond reason.

The federal government pays counties to maintain emergency services, like
police and ambulance, on federal property. They are, after all, exempt
from local property taxes, so it is only fair that they pay for the
services that they receive. If rural homeowners want federal protection
from fire, they should pay the federal government for the service. That
is what a Fire Protection Association is for.

My FPA integrates seamlessly with fire fighting efforts on all levels. I
pay annual dues to the FPA. Dues are collected by the county tax
assessor and just become part of my property tax bill. Most years that
money goes to fight fires on state and industrial forest land. However,
if there is a fire in my neighborhood, the FPA will fight it. The last
time my valley burned was in 1961, and a fire fighter was overtaken by
flames and died.

If those oblivious suburbanites haven't formed an FPA, it is their
responsibility. They should get ready to fight the fire on their own.
An FPA is the cheapest fire insurance you can buy. Virtually all rural
private land in my county has signed up for FPA protection, so it only
costs a few dollars a year. When catastrophic fires are decades apart,
the equipment only has to run for 3 months a year, and many private
property owners annually clear fire breaks, suppress brush and maintain
heavy equipment, funding fire suppression is not expensive.

You will notice that when big forest fires burn into industrial timber
land, they don't burn far. That is because the fire lines are already
built.

--
http://home.teleport.com/~larryc