I think, letting logging companies, thin the forest is good.
It removes a lot of fuel. And fire fighters could fight these wild fires better.
I don't believe in clear cutting. You just need to manage the forest like a crop.
Remember, always buy virgin pulp paper. A lumber jack is depending on it.
zanny

 

Remember, always buy at least 10% recycled paper, our environment is depending on it until we can actually get the proper set up for renewable resources to the point where it fully works. Got nothing at all against loggers, zanny, know a few as friends and they are just as much a proponent of recycled paper as I am, if not more.

 

Okay, 10 percent. I will not go any higher.
zanny

 

Fine by me It seems there have been drastic improvements and progress in the logging industry in the US. I am in tune with this because of my work. I get my wood directly from the mill. The reports from the National Forest Service have given a thumbs up to the logging industry's efforts on conservation. It's a great start, as long as the almighty dollar doesn't have it's way again, should have the problem fixed within a decade.

 

This is probably true. The frustrating thing is some of these fires are the result of arsonists. If you add the cost of human life lost, property destroyed, and forests ruined, this act of "terrorism" has got to be one of our worst.

 

The National Forest Service primarily exists to facilitate the logging of our Nat'l forests. Their opinion that logging companies are doing a good job has always been their opinion. Don't trust them.

If it weren't for these so called treehuggers the entire west coast would have been clearcut long ago.

 

To an extent, Sinjin, they are also in place to police the logging activities. I only believe them as far as I can throw them. I trust my friends who are dealing with this on a daily basis to give the real skinny on what's happening. For the first time, they are concurring with the NFS. And yes, if no one has guessed it by now, I am a Tree-Hugger and damn proud of it. Have certainly had better conversations with nature than the majority of "humans" I've come across

 

I feel that there are some here that will not accept that statement in the spirit of which you said it...but I agree, and I do accept and understand it.

Years ago I too hated the EPA until I understood

 

I remain guardedly optimistic.

 

I think the major problem that people have with our government agencies stems from how they have been exposed to them. The EPA, NFS, OSHA all have great ideas and practices, in my opinion. Unfortunately, it's never the good stuff you hear about. They only make the news when something horrid happens and we, as a society, need someone to blame. Everything has it faults, including nature. It's what you choose to take as the overall picture of what the particular group is doing that matters. I've found that those who discount these groups as useful tend to lack any real and full knowledge of their activities or ideologies. I will agree with you both, Big and Sin, on the NFS. They have been perpetually evil over the years catering to logging companies and not listening an iota to scholars about the environmental impact. This seems,, emphasis on the "seems",, to be changing for the good. Even an ostrich needs to come up for food sometime. Hopefully he gets a wholesome meal of understanding before going back to sticking his head in the sand

Exactly my view of them Sinjin, well put.

 

Don't get me wrong, here. I have nothing against the harvesting of timber (it is a necessary evil), it's just the way they go about it that bothers me. I have seen hundreds of acres at a time clearcut only to get maybe 75 to 80% of the valid timber. The unusable (the timber that got in the way - so to speak) was just wasted. There seems to be no control at all in this process. To me this is one industry (in the harvesting dept.) that is still in the dark ages.

 

They are slowly but surely going completely away from this tactic, Big. Mostly from us "evil" tree-huggers forcing them to. As I said, I will watch this process closely. I'll keep you guys up to date on any new info that becomes available. Hopefully they will head to the light in that Dark Ages tunnel

 

What I got from a friend in Vegas today:

Smoke and Ash....
I could not believe it when I went outside this morning, all the smoke and ash from the Fires has filled our valley here, you cannot see...I have never seen anything like this EVER, you can smell the FIRE and it burns your nose.....it is only 250 miles to LA from here......I guess the FIRES are moving this way to. I hope all these EPA guys are happy now, they didn't want to clear the forests of the dead trees, and make new Fire breaks, because of the beetles and the spotted owls......and so on...Di.

 

Before we waste a lot of time picking up all the dead trees in the western United States, maybe we could send out 300,000,000 flyers to remind the American public that arson is wrong. While we're at it, maybe we can ask God to ease up on the drought and slow down the warm winds that are fueling the fire.

 

Southern California terrain where the majority of the fires are burning is brush and scrub oak. You could cut all the firebreaks your heart desired and thin brush (no commercial value, so it doesn’t happen) and it wouldn't stop anything. These fires jump hundreds and hundreds of yards at a time, driven by Santa Ana winds (hot and dry) up to 70mph. These fires take place every year, this just happens to be a bad year, with two of them started by arsonists and another started by a lost hunter who used a signal fire in an attempt to be located that got out of control. The Lake Arrowhead area, with timber that's about tenth growth (not very big) is in danger because bark beetles killed off a majority of the trees just last year. There hasn't been time to take them down.

Unless you've been around BIG forest or brush fires, it’s easy to say all sorts of means could prevent them, but that's just not true. I was living near Spokane, WA when a fire started in high winds. That fire burned only the tops of trees and houses (which subsequently burned down), sometimes over a mile apart.

Environmentalists have nothing to do with preventing or enabling these fires. Incidentally, fires are considered healthy for a real forest, unless you have an agenda that includes commercial timber interests. Yellowstone is coming back even more gorgeous and wildlife is thriving after that big burn.