In more than 30 years, it’s hard to remember wildfire season starting so early. The combination of dry fuels and high winds has led to a dangerous situation. This year, especially, it’s worth being extra vigilant.
Without human intervention, healthy forests burn. It’s a natural process. The seeds of some types of trees even need fire to germinate. But since people have moved into the foothills, a longstanding policy of fire suppression has interrupted this natural burning process, leading to greater accumulation of fuels and therefore greater fire hazard.
Those of us who live in the wildland-urban interface (or, as foresters call it, the “red zone”) have to recognize that in the absence of fire, the only way to manage fuels is through mechanical removal. Some people look at a dense stand of ponderosa pine and loathe the idea of cutting down a single one. The reality is, this kind of density doesn’t occur naturally — it’s a function of decades of human intervention.
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"The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." attributed to Margaret Thatcher
"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government." Thomas Jefferson
