Fire Fix Funding Issues?

[Irrelevant]

I can't speak to other states, but in Montana we typically extinguish 90 - 95% of all fires on initial attack. A couple years ago I believe that stat was 94%.

So, only 5-10% of the individual fires on the landscape get so out of control they are not immediately extinguished through firefighting efforts. Obviously not all fires are created equal, and the fires that do get out of control may largely be the ones that would've burned a lot of country anyway. But I do wonder what it would be like if we ceased firefighting for one summer, and allowed 15X the fires to burn on the landscape.

Stephen Pyne has written that we live in an age he calls The Pyrocene, and we are fighting it and that very well may be fruitless.

But then we're XXX% more than "natural", I can't remember the stat but it's like 90-somthing % of fires are human caused.

 

[44hunter45]

As an aside, I live in a fire prone area.

Your gift for understatement is amazing.

I was looking for this famous photo in particular, but googling, "Wenatchee fire image" will overload your browser. Every year I wonder how there is any fuel left east of the Enchantments.



On the upside, "hunt the burns" must make the North Cascades one big honey hole.

 

[Nameless Range]

But then we're XXX% more than "natural", I can't remember the stat but it's like 90-somthing % of fires are human caused.

That is a good point.

 

[44hunter45]

With 4M acres burned in CA this year the battle cries of "log it, graze it" or "it's climate change" are being shouted from their respective corners. Still trying to figure out how you graze manzanita and foothill pine that has a burn cycle every 5-10 years....or just really how much worse is climate change making it when we've suppressed fires to sometimes 5x it's normal cycle. Wind and a spark is all it needs.

Despite the tragedy of Paradise in 2018, the Sierra is still loaded with homes with not only zero defense, but many, are aiding fires by being loaded with pine needle around the home, gutters and all corners off the roof filled. My buddy lives in Grass Valley and it's just one meth lab explosion on a windy day away from becoming ashes.

Before leaving The Godless Land 30 years ago, we lived in Santa Cruz County. Enviro regs made it illegal to remove fuel without a lengthy permit process. THen you were cited for not having done it.

 

[jryoung]

Before leaving The Godless Land 30 years ago, we lived in Santa Cruz County. Enviro regs made it illegal to remove fuel without a lengthy permit process. THen you were cited for not having done it.

Fortunately I think we've made progress, the hills up here have been full of tree crews for the past few years, this year it seems like each company has added a few more rigs. Now the dialogue between NextDoor and Facebook groups is that the fuels need to be removed and defensible space built, since a controlled burn is out of the question. The CZU complex really drove that point home this year.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Fuels management is like gun control: It feels good to do something, but it ignores the underlying issues at play and leads to more spending later. Sure, we need it in the WUI, but do we need to manage timber for fire control in Roadless Areas, Wilderness or other unimproved public lands when there is no risk to human health and safety?

I agree and support the first priority to efforts in the WUI to protect human health & safety, as well as investments in property.
But to think that timber management by roading, logging, thinning, and other conventional methods over the literally millions and millions of acres of public and private land is even feasible is absurd. Then even if billions $ are spent to accomplish that ... within a few short years fire prone conditions reappear.

 

[BigHornRam]

I agree and support the first priority to efforts in the WUI to protect human health & safety, as well as investments in property.
But to think that timber management by roading, logging, thinning, and other conventional methods over the literally millions and millions of acres of public and private land is even feasible is absurd. Then even if billions $ are spent to accomplish that ... within a few short years fire prone conditions reappear.

Unfortunately when you have a state like California with 40 million people in it, the whole damn state is in the WUI.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Unfortunately when you have a state like California with 40 million people in it, the whole damn state is in the WUI.

Good point!

 

[Gr8bawana]